Butterscotch is one of my absolute favorite things. I just love it, as a pretty much in all forms, pies, ice creams, puddings...you name it. And butterscotch banana bread goes right onto that list - it is awesome.
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Butterscotch vs. caramel
Butterscotch is basically cooked brown sugar and butter, and then hitting it with cream and vanilla. It is different from caramel in that caramel is made with the browning of white sugar, not brown sugar. I usually find that people are either butterscotch or caramel people…I am butterscotch. This is just a deeper flavor.
This is a good read on the differences.
what is the difference between banana bread and banana cake?
While the main ingredient in both is ripe bananas, there is definitive differences between the two.
The main difference between the two is texture. Banana bread has a much firmer and denser texture than a light and airy cake. Banana breads are also usually less sweet than banana cakes and, just like with mine, don't have a sweet frosting or icing.
I have a few banana bread recipes..this one here, and one other with chocolate chips. There is also have a banana snack cake...so I clearly have been down the banana baked goods road. I was really looking for something a little bit different, but that was still super simple and quick to throw together.
This butterscotch banana bread is dense and not at all dry with a good balance of banana and butterscotch. I looked at dozens of recipes beforehand for butterscotch bread or butterscotch banana bread. Most called for butterscotch chips, and I was a firm no on that one. I don't think butterscotch chips give the depth that actual butterscotch has.
And since everyone has brown sugar on hand (I think anyway), it just seemed like a natural progression from there.
Ingredients
First you will need the ingredients to make the butterscotch:
- Dark brown sugar - I prefer this for the depth of flavor, but like always, I am a use-what-you-have kind of girl, so if you've only got light brown sugar, than just go for it and cook the brown sugar and butter just a touch longer before adding the buttermilk.
- Butter - with the butterscotch, this should be fairly self explanatory.
- Buttermilk - I use buttermilk in almost all of my quick bread and cake recipes and this one is no different. I use this in pace of cream in traditional butterscotch.
- Vanilla - this is a defining flavor of butterscotch that I think helps set it apart from caramel...it makes it nice and fragrant.
- Eggs
- Flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
Tips for success
- Always use super ripe bananas - you want them to be soft enough to really mash through the entire bread.
- Definitely cook your butterscotch before mixing in or you could potentially end up with scrambled eggs in your batter
- Always adaptable - try adding some cinnamon or chai spice! Or nuts if you have them, and like some additional texture to your bread. Chocolate chips wouldn't be bad either (in fact, I might just try that next time.
Love butterscotch as much as I do? Here are some other great recipes...
Equipment
- 1 9x5 loaf pan
- 1 sauce pan or saute pan to melt the butter
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 cups buttermilk
- 3 very ripe bananas smashed
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease one 9x5 inch loaf pans.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt.
- To make the butterscotch
- In a small saucepan melt the butter with the brown sugar, bring to boil and cook over medium about five minutes – until the sugar is melted and bubbly. Remove from heat and whisk in half a cup of the buttermilk, slowly (it will bubble up), then whisk in the vanilla until smooth and set aside to cool.
- For the bread
- While the butterscotch is cooling, whisk the eggs, the remaining buttermilk, and the smashed bananas. Add the cooled butterscotch to the egg mixture and whisk well. Add the dry ingredients and mix just enough to moisten. Pour batter into prepared pans.
- Bake in preheated oven for 50 -60 minutes, or until golden brown and a tooth pick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.
