Banana Bars With Browned Butter Glaze

Banana bread is the “go to” recipe to use up your dark over ripe bananas that are past their prime. But what if I told you that I found a recipe that is just as easy and even more delicious? These banana bars with browned butter glaze are an easy, crowd please dessert and the perfect alternative recipe to use up your ripe fruit fly attracting bananas.

I always have a few bananas laying around and I decided I wanted something a little more decadent that my favorite banana bread. Let’s face it, anything with frosting or glaze is always a welcome treat.

Banana Bars or Monkey Bars with Browned Butter Glaze

adapted from The Welcome Mat

Ingredients:

1-1/2 c. sugar

1 c. sour cream

1/2 c. butter, softened

2 eggs

1-3/4 (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Brown Butter Frosting

1/2 c. butter

4 c. powdered sugar

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 tbsp. milk

Directions:

Heat oven to 375F. Grease and flour 15×10-inch jelly roll pan. For the bars, in a large bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, salt, and blend for 1 minute. Stir in walnuts(optional). Spread batter evenly into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Frosting Directions

Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Let the butter turn a delicate brown and remove from heat immediately. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Mix until smooth. Immediately spread over the cake while warm, it spreads much easier.

As I said, these bars are delicious, they are moist and a little dense like banana bread. But the browned butter glaze puts these bars over the top. The glaze is sweet and a little salty from the browned butter and the little bits of browned butter are flecked in the glaze so it looks pretty too.

Notes:

I did not add the walnuts because I do not like them. Also, the next time I am going to make more glaze, I would have liked more but that is just me (the recipes is more than enough). When making the glaze be careful with the butter, if you do not watch it, it will burn. And for my cake and oven setting 20 minutes was the correct amount of time.

Enjoy the se bars for breakfast, a coffee or tea break and of course as dessert.

Come back and tell me if you try these bars, I would love to know what you think of them. If you prefer a more traditional banana cake this recipe is scrumptious and so is the frosting.