Browned Butter Banana Bread: SHV

I love banana bread, but in looking for ways to make my usual recipe healthier, I've become obsessed with pumping up the flavour but maintaining the moisture, which is key to a good loaf. Nobody likes a sawdust-y bite of anything. I am going to be browning the butter first, as that gives it a nutty taste and hopefully another layer of flavour without actually adding all those really healthy but really calorific nuts. I am also going to use as much smushed banana as I can. And we're away!

You will need:

4-6 bananas, extremely ripe. By that I mean black and / or squishy
1/4 c butter
1/4 c agave nectar**
1 egg, lightly beaten
2  tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c whole grain whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c small chocolate chips

Prep: spray a loaf pan well with oil and preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. That's it!

Melt your butter in a small saucepan at medium heat and stir until it turns brown, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat, set aside.

Squish your bananas in a large measuring cup, you want at least 2c worth of banana goo. If a fork doesn't work for you, try a potato masher. I really like to freeze bananas that are on the verge of going bad; that makes them all liquid-y when I want to make a loaf.

Mix the butter, agave nectar, egg and vanilla together in a medium sized bowl, add in the banana. **A note about agave nectar; it is a "natural" sweetener that can be used in place of sugar; I like to use it because you can use less of it, as it is sweeter that sugar. If you don't have agave, you can use 1/3 c brown sugar.

Mix the flour, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl or measuring cup, add to the banana mixture and stir only until combined.

I always use measuring cups = less dishes

Dump in the chocolate chips, then dump all that into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake in the preheated oven until a tester comes out almost clean, 50 minutes to an hour.

Let the loaf cool for 10 minutes in the pan on a rack, then remove and let cool almost completely. Just until you can handle it, but it will still melt butter. Then eat. Oh yes.

I sliced this into 24 pieces (twelve slices in half again) and came up with a calorie count of 100 per slice. And then plus butter.

Enjoy!