Boozy Bananas Foster Bread

Inspired by a recent trip to New Orleans and looking for a novel way to celebrate National Banana Bread day, I created this Boozy Bananas Foster Bread recipe. As much as I love to cook (and eat) Bananas Foster, pouring rum and flambéing is not part of my typical weeknight routine. I decided that browning the butter and roasting the bananas would be the next best way to get close to traditional Bananas Foster flavor, without actually lighting anything on fire. Adding some New Orleans spiced rum flavored with extra vanilla completed the picture and resulted in a banana bread with special appeal.

How patient are you? The final step in this recipe comes from my co-host, Stefin, who taught me in Episode 14 that wrapping banana bread in plastic wrap and foil, then allowing it to sit overnight, produces incredibly moist, flavorful banana bread. If you can wait a day, this step is totally worth it!

NOTE: This recipe uses Ronald Reginald Vanilla, a premium slow-aged vanilla popular in New Orleans. If you can’t find it, any good, high-quality Madagascar vanilla will work.

NOTE: This recipe uses Old New Orleans Cajun Spice Rum, lightly flavored with all the best baking spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ginger, and vanilla. They take things a step further (this is New Orleans, after all) and add chicory and cayenne for an extra kick. I added a few vanilla beans to the rum bottle (borrowing a trick from Joy the Baker) to make it even better for baking. You can use any dark spiced rum, such as Captain Morgans, Meyer’s or Kraken Black Spiced Rum.

Ingredients

  • 3 ripe bananas, roasted
  • 5 Tablespoons butter, melted and browned
  • 3/4 Cups dark brown sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 Teaspoon vanilla (see note)
  • 2 Tablespoons spiced rum (see note)
  • 1/8 Cup buttermilk
  • 1 1/2 Cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 Teaspoon salt
  • 1 Teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 Teaspoon baking powder

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9×5 loaf pan and line with parchment. Butter the parchment. Set pan aside.
  2. Peel and slice the bananas, placing them on a parchment lined baking sheet in the oven. Roast for 20-25 minutes.
  3. While the bananas are roasting, brown the butter. Have a pint sized mason jar nearby. Place 5 Tbsp. of butter in a small heavy pan over medium-low heat. As it begins to melt, the milk solids will begin to evaporate, and the butter will turn from light brown, to medium brown, to a darker brown (mine took about 4 minutes). Swirl the pan occasionally to keep things moving, and don’t walk away – it is easy to burn if you’re not careful. When the butter is a nutty, dark brown with foam on top, remove from heat and pour directly into the mason jar. Set aside to cool.
  4. In a medium bowl, mash the roasted bananas. Stir in the browned butter, brown sugar, beaten egg, vanilla, rum, and buttermilk. Stir to combine.
  5. In a large bowl, add flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir to combine. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
  6. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.
  7. Pour banana mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 50 – 55 minutes, until tester comes out clean.
  8. Remove bread from pan and place on wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.
  9. OPTIONAL: Wrap banana bread tightly in plastic wrap, then again tightly in foil. Allow to sit, overnight, on the counter, until the following morning. Slice and enjoy!