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These Banana Bars have the delicious moist texture that you find in your favorite banana cake but in bar form! Topped with a cream cheese frosting, they’re a total family favorite.
Check out some other great dessert bars recipes like Lemon Bars, Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Bars, No Bake S’mores Bars, and Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars.
Banana Bars
Bananas are without a doubt the most popular fruit in our house! My husband goes absolutely nuts over them and so do both of my girls. As you can imagine, we always have some bananas hanging out in our fruit bowl. While I enjoy bananas, I’m also pretty particular about the bananas I’m willing to eat. Specifically, I prefer my bananas to be on the green side. Once I see even a hint of ripeness, I want no part of them!
Now while this certainly benefits my banana-loving husband and kids, I’m also not a fan of waste. I’m always looking for new and delicious ways to repurpose ripe bananas. The great thing about baking is, the browner the banana, the better the flavor! So those bananas you forgot about in your fruit bowl? The ones looking way too overripe to enjoy? Don’t throw them out! Make this banana bar recipe instead!
How To Make Banana Bars
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9″ x 13″ pan with cooking spray and then line with parchment, allowing some extra parchment to stick up over the sides to allow for easy removal once the bars have cooled.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. I always like to combine my dry ingredients first. That way, they’re ready to add into the wet ingredients all at once when the time comes.
- In a large bowl, whip together the bananas to break them down. You can also mash them first with a fork, but I prefer to let my mixer do all the heavy lifting.
- Add sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla and mix until well combined.
- With the mixer on low, blend in the dry ingredients until just combined and pour into the prepared pan. Use a spatula to smooth the batter into an even layer.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and cool.
- To make the frosting, simply mix cream cheese, vanilla, and butter until well combined. Gradually mix in the confectioner’s sugar until everything is smooth.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled bars, cut into 12 pieces and serve.
Tips and Tricks
- Can I use bananas that aren’t as ripe? Yes, but the riper bananas equal better flavor. That said, if your bananas aren’t as ripe, mash them up a bit while they’re still in the peel before peeling and adding into the bowl to make them a bit easier to work with. Ripen them fast by piercing with a fork and microwaving for a minute. The skin will turn black but the insides will be perfectly mushy for baking.
- How do you store Banana Bars? If you’re not serving them right away, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days (if they last that long without being eaten!).
- Can you freeze Banana Bars? Yes, but I’d freeze the cake part unfrosted. Be sure to wrap it well and then make the frosting when you’re ready to thaw and serve the bars.
More Banana Recipes
- Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Sour Cream Banana Muffins
- Banana Split Bars
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Vanilla Oatmeal Banana Bread
- Chunky Monkey Banana Bread
Banana Bars Recipe
Ingredients
Banana Bars
- Cooking spray
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup ripe bananas, peeled (around 2 medium bananas)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups confectioner's sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9" x 13" pan with cooking spray and line with parchment, allowing some extra parchment to stick up over the sides.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whip together the bananas to break them down. Add sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla and mix until well combined.
- With the mixer on low, gradually blend in the dry ingredients until just combined and pour into the prepared pan. Use a spatula to smooth the batter into an even layer.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and cool.
- While the bars cool, mix cream cheese, vanilla and butter until well combined.
- Gradually mix in the confectioner's sugar until everything is smooth. Spread the frosting over the cooled bars, cut into 12 pieces and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of "Yellow Bliss Road" is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
