Banana Bars

I had a couple of ripe bananas taking up room in my freezer and I had been looking for a great recipe to use them in for awhile.

When I saw this recipe I knew that I had found the perfect use for those bananas.

These bars are essentially banana cake with an addicting brown-butter glaze, that I couldn't help but lick of my fingers, the spoon, the bowl, and any other surface that it dripped on. 

Not only was the end result unbelievable, but the recipe was one of the easiest I had made in awhile.

 It didn't call for any sifting or chilling, basically just mix it all together and put it in a pan!

{Ingredients}

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup sour cream

1 stick butter, softened

2 eggs

3-4 ripe bananas, mashed (I only had two so I added a tbsp of banana extract)

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cup flour (I used 1 cup wheat flour, 1 cup all-purpose)

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional-- I didn't use)

{Brown Butter Frosting}

1 stick butter

4 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp milk

{Directions}

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Grease a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan (A jelly roll pan makes a lot! Make sure you have a lot of people to feed!)

3. In a large bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs until creamy.

4. Blend in mashed bananas and vanilla extract. 

5. Add flour, baking soda, and salt and blend for 1 minuted.

6. Stir in walnuts (optional)

7. Spread batter evenly in pan.

8. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

For the frosting

1. Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling.

2. Let the butter turn a delicate brown and then remove immediately.

3. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk and mix until smooth.

4. Immediately spread over cake!

*I would have liked a little more frosting, so I would add a little of each ingredient to get a better, thicker glaze on the cake. 

Like I said, this recipe makes a lot. Consider yourself lucky if saw you over the last few days because you probably got a plate of banana bars. 

My co-workers, roommates, friends, boyfriend, and girls at wine night were great taste testers and all agreed that this recipe was a winner. 

When you give a friend a banana bar...

they are going to want another.