Bourbon Banana Butter ~ this fruit spread is the stuff of your wildest B&B fantasies ~ silky, rich, and a little bit decadent. Spread it on toast, biscuits, croissants, pancakes… let’s just say mornings are about to get a whole lot more interesting.
This is my favorite kind of stuff to share — something neither of us probably even knew existed, but turns out to be fantabulous. Banana butter is definitely unusual, but, when you think about it for a minute, it makes perfect sense. Every other fruit has been jammed, jellied, or made into a butter…why not bananas?
This amazing banana butter takes just 10 minutes to make!
I admit I wasn’t sure what I was in for as I sliced up my 2 pounds of bananas and pureed them with some brown sugar, and then set it all on the stove top to reduce down — but very soon my nose told me it was going to be good. The banana puree thickens up quickly. I cooked it until there was a clean trail when I ran my spoon across the bottom of the pan, it only takes about 5 minutes. I stirred in lots of vanilla bean paste and a pinch of cinnamon, and then filled a couple of small jam jars.
The butter continues to thicken even more as it chills in the refrigerator.
Team this up with the obvious — toast, scones, hot biscuits…but after that, why not make a to-die-for peanut butter and bourbon banana sandwich? Or even bake it into the best banana bread you’ve ever tasted, or use it as a filling for crumble bars.
Bourbon Banana Butter
Ingredients
- 2 lbs bananas, peeled and sliced (weigh your bananas BEFORE peeling)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp bourbon
- 1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste, or extract
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Peel the bananas and break them up as you add them to the bowl of a food processor. Add the sugar and pulse a few times and then puree to a smooth consistency. You don't have to get out ALL the lumps. Your puree will be quite thin.
- Transfer to a heavy bottomed saucepan and add the bourbon. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until the mixture thickens. Be careful not to let it scorch. Turn down the heat if necessary. This should not take more than 5 minutes or so.
- Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and cinnamon. Pour into a small jar, or jars, and let cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
- Plan to eat within a couple of weeks.
notes:
- No need to wait for your bananas to turn black, I used yellow bananas and the flavor was great.
- Leave out the bourbon if you don’t like it.
- Change out the cinnamon for nutmeg, or cardamom for a different flavor.
- You can experiment with using honey or maple syrup in place of the sugar.
Thanks for pinning!
With only 1.5 lbs of over ripe bananas on hand, I proceeded with the recipe. Used less sugar but full amount of bourbon – result: perfect Covid-19 isolation breakfast. Thank you Sue!
Glad I could help 😉
🙂 Stay healthy!
With access to “more than I can use, but too cheap not to buy” bananas I went looking for banana butter on the interwebz as I was unfamiliar with it. Out of the roughly dozen options this one caught my eye. Wouldn’t you know I forgot to replace my brown sugar and had plenty of maple syrup (75% vs. sugar). It then dawned on me that I also had a half a bottle of maple flavored bourbon. Perfect! As my fruit was well past ripe and being too lazy to pull the food processor I simply used a wooden spoon and whisk while heating the mixture. Consistency was fine, and the flavor even better. Thanks for for posting your recipe Sue.
You made this even easier Steve, and the maple bourbon is pure genius!
Do I have to wait two weeks before consumption or can I eat it after I wait one or two hours?
You can eat it right away.
This looks awesome. But please don’t can it! https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/fruit_puree.html
Bananas are too thick and not acidic enough for canning, according to all reputable sources including the University of Georgia Extension and NCHFP. Just a word of caution!
Must this be refrigerated prior to opening? I want to make some and ship to a friend out of state. TIA
This is a refrigerator jam, Anne, so it should be kept refrigerated at all times.
Goggled banana butter on a whim to see if it had been done. This looks delicious now – golden and lovely.
I’m wondering about its appearance after a few days in the fridge; does the bourbon prevent any browning? Or does it inevitably turn an unpleasant color after some air exposure? I realize the taste is probably still divine, I just have a very picky child in my home! 😉
In my experience it turns a light brown no matter what, because of the cooking, but I don’t find it unappealing, Dani. I hope it’s a hit with your little one!
This sounds so good! I’ve got a bunch of overly ripe bananas right now…they’re pretty soft. Could I use those, do you think?
Sure, I think they’d be great, I think you can use ripe or unripe bananas for this.
Excellent! Thanks 🙂
Do you know what modifications would be required to make this into processed preserves? I process and can apple butter using a 10 minute water bath but that has a lot more acid (I think).
I have seen a few recipes for canning this they add 1/2 c lemon juice and 1 pkg fruit pectin for 4 lbs bananas. And then water bath for 10 minutes in jelly (8 oz) jars. But there isn’t any bourbon so don’t know what effect the bourbon would have on the canning process if any. Let the experimenting begin. Lol.
This looks fantastic!
thanks Gayatri!
I love the butter and those scones look divine. Now this is the way to do breakfast!