Best Ever Frosted Banana Bars

Hi everyone!  I hope that all my lovelies are doing well!  I am doing ok, but I have been super busy. But even when I am busy, I want to bake.  In fact, I think a hectic life makes me want to bake and cook more because it is my stress reliever.  Sometimes, I make up excuses to bake. Sometimes I really want chocolate chip cookies, so I make them ostensibly because I need to take a treat to work when I really just want to eat raw cookie dough.  I know, I have a cookie dough monkey on my back. But I do share whatever I make so it’s all good.

And, speaking of monkeys (who happen to like bananas), one of my favorite excuse-recipes is Best Ever Frosted Banana Bars.  I buy bananas every week and we often throw the last couple away after they have passed the point of no return. If I remember in time, I will peel and freeze them so that I can use them for baking or just eat one frozen with a little chocolate sauce. Yumolicious! So, when I see that I have too many overly ripe bananas or too many bags of frozen bananas I make these bars. I mean, after all, waste not, want not, right? It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I just plain love them.

These bars are a wonderful treat for kiddies or coworkers.  They are great to take to potlucks. And, while they keep pretty well on the counter for a few days, they keep even better in the frig for a week or more.  The bars are loaded with banana flavor and are incredibly moist. The browned butter frosting adds a layer of super sweet to the more subtle sweetness of the bars.  Everyone seems to love them, unless, of course, they just plain don’t like bananas. But, if you are a nanner fan, give them a try. You don’t have to wait for a time of banana over-abundance or make an excuse for baking this delicious treat, but you can totally steal that move from me if you want. I won’t judge you at all.

For these bars you will need 1 ½ cups sugar, 1 cup sour cream, ½ cup softened butter, 2 cups of very ripe and mashed bananas (4 or 5 bananas should do the trick), 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt.  For the frosting you will need 1/2 cup butter, 4 cups powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla and 3 or 4 Tablespoons milk. Now, these frosting ingredient amounts make a nice modest layer of frosting but if you want a thicker layer just double the measurements.  I often double the recipe and then put most of it on the cake. No problem! To each his own.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Grease and lightly flour a 9 X 13 cake pan.  Set aside.

To make the bars you will begin by mashing your very ripe bananas.  I like to use a potato masher and a bowl with a nice flat bottom. It is perfectly fine to have a few small chunks of banana.  Set the mashed bananas aside.

Then commence to beating the sugar, sour cream and softened butter in a large bowl with an electric/stand mixer until well combined.  Add the eggs and beat until creamy.

Add the mashed bananas and vanilla and blend until everything is nice and mixed.  Add in the flour, the baking soda, and salt and mix on medium speed for a minute or two scraping the bowl when needed.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and spread evenly.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with no liquid batter.  Don’t overbake. The bars will be too dry if baked too long.

While the bars are baking, you can start your browned butter frosting.  Now, don’t let the idea of browning butter scare you. I was apprehensive for a bit too but once I tried it, I realized it is easy-peasy and really does add a distinctive and wonderful flavor.  Just cube up the butter and put into a medium to large saucepan. I find that it is easier to do this in a lighter colored pan but don’t worry if you only have black. You can still do this, I promise.  Let the butter melt and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. The butter will come to a boil and then cook along until it turns a delicate brown or rich amber color. The butter will foam up a bit and make it difficult to see the color, but you can easily dip some into a spoon or ladle to see the color.  Keep checking on it and remove the butter from the heat as soon as it reaches the color you desire. As long as you don’t burn the butter there is no right or wrong on how much the butter should brown. Just watch it carefully.

Once browned, carefully pour the butter into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.  Slowly add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. Adjust the amount of milk until the frosting reaches a nice creamy consistency. This is not fluffy frosting. It is more of a very thick glaze or ganache consistency. Set this aside.

When the bars are done, allow them to cool on the counter for about 10 minutes.  While still warm, spread the frosting over the bars. The bars are very moist and will grab and hold the frosting better if they are warm and the frosting is slightly warm.

Allow the bars to cool a bit or eat them warm.  Either way, you will have a wonderful, moist and flavorful treat that is bound to be loved by every one of your nanner fans.   Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Best Ever Frosted Banana Bars

These bars are loaded with banana flavor and are incredibly moist.  The browned butter frosting adds a layer of super sweet to the more subtle sweet of the bars.

Author: Wench Sherry

Ingredients

Bars

• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups banana mashed
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 – 4 Tbsp milk

Instructions

For the Bars

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Grease and lightly flour a 9 X 13 cake pan.  Set aside.
• Mash the banana and set aside.
• Beat the sugar, sour cream and butter until well combined.
• Add the eggs and beat until creamy.
• Add the mashed bananas and vanilla and blend until everything is nice and mixed.
• Add in the flour, the baking soda and salt and mix on medium speed for a minute or 2 scraping the bowl when needed.
• Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and spread evenly.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with no liquid batter.

For the Frosting

• Cube up the butter and put into a medium to large saucepan. Let the butter melt and cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally.  The butter will come to a boil and then cook along until it turns a delicate brown or rich amber color.  The butter will foam up a bit and make it difficult to see the color, but you can easily dip some into a spoon or ladle to see the color.  Keep checking on it and remove the butter from the heat as soon as it reaches the color you desire.
• Carefully pour the browned butter into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.  Slowly add in the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Adjust the amount of milk until the frosting reaches a nice creamy consistency.  This is not fluffy frosting. It is more of a very thick glaze or ganache consistency. Set this aside.
• When the bars are done, allow them to cool on the counter for about 10 minutes.  While still warm, spread the frosting over the bars. The bars are very moist and will grab and hold the frosting better if they are warm and the frosting is slightly warm.
• Allow the bars to cool a bit or eat them warm.