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    Banana Bread Bars with Brown Butter Cinnamon Icing

    Published: Apr 23, 2012 · Modified: Jun 17, 2020 · by Jess Smith · Jump to Recipe · 24 Comments · This post may contain affiliate links.

    I am addicted to bananas.  Not necessarily addicted to eating them, mind you.  Addicted to buying them.

    Bananas in Thailand are unlike any bananas I’ve had in the U.S.  They are simply better.  Sweeter, more tender, and infinitely more satisfying since they don’t travel miles on a boat or truck to reach me.  Bananas grow everywhere – even wild in the trees in the yard of our apartment building.

    In Thailand there are endless varieties, and I love them all.

    Our grocery store is just across the street.  It is a luxury that means we drop by on the way home from work a couple times a week, picking up a few things or an ingredient for dinner that we want to be fresh.  I never leave without a bunch of bananas.  The constant surplus of bananas in our apartment means that I am constantly looking for ways to use bananas that are slightly past their peak.  It’s fortunate that there are so many delicious things to bake with extra ripe bananas.  These banana bread bars are a perfect example.

    As it turned out, banana bread bars are the ideal thing to serve at a Songkran brunch, like the one we hosted last weekend.  They were a hit, and I loved that they were a bit more dense and rich than my usual banana bread.

    I found the recipe via Jess at Life’s Simple Measures, whose blog I came across thanks to Secret Recipe Club this month.  Jess had so many great baking recipes on her site, but a new recipe with bananas is hard to pass up.

    For last weekend’s brunch, I also made another now-favorite recipe from a previous round of Secret Recipe Club, this tortilla espanola.  SRC is quickly becoming my go-to for brunch recipes!

    It was altogether a great meal to fortify our group for a day of getting drenched with face paint and water.

    _____

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    Banana Bread Bars with Brown Butter Cinnamon Icing

    Servings: 16
    Author: Jess Smith via Inquiring Chef

    Ingredients

    Banana Bread Bars:

    • 1 and 1/2 cup sugar
    • 1 cup sour cream
    • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
    • 2 large eggs (slightly beaten)
    • 1 and 3/4 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 3)
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 3/4 teaspoons salt

    Brown Butter Cinnamon Frosting:

    • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
    • 4 cups powdered sugar
    • 1 and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 3 tablespoons milk
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 375 F.
    • Grease and flour 15×10-inch jelly roll pan. In a large bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla extract. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir dry ingredients into the batter with a wooden spoon until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until golden brown and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.
    • While the bars are baking, make the frosting. Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Leave the butter over the heat until it turns a delicate brown and smells toasted and nutty. Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract, milk, and cinnamon. Whisk together until smooth (it should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting).
    • Using a spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the warm bars (the frosting will be easier to spread while the bars are still warm). When the bars cool complete, refrigerate until ready to serve.

    Notes

    These will keep well in the refrigerator for up to a day – slice just before serving.

     

     

     

    Filed Under: Breakfast and Brunch, Recipes

    About Jess

    Hi, I'm Jess, an amateur cook turned professional recipe developer, food stylist, and photographer specializing in quick and easy meals that make weeknights a bit more fun. I love sharing my kitchen and my journey as a chef with other home cooks on this blog. Learn more about me here.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. cindy

      April 24, 2012 at 3:44 am

      Browned butter frosting is the best. Wonderful finish to a tasty bar. Perfect SRC pick.

      Reply
    2. sallybr

      April 24, 2012 at 3:46 am

      So nice tomeet your blog!
      I am aneighbor from group D, brwsing through today s reveal day

      I was born and raised in Brazil, so I know exactly what you mean by bananas in Thailand being better. The situation is exactly the same back in Brazil

      The banana bread bars seem scrmptious!

      Reply
      • jessica

        April 24, 2012 at 7:55 am

        I don’t know how I’ll ever go back to the imported kind. Brazil is on my list – I’m interested to go there some day!

        Reply
    3. Jess Wakasugi {Life's Simple Measures}

      April 24, 2012 at 4:28 am

      So glad you chose these bars, I absolutely fell in love with them! Glad to be in SRC with you 🙂

      Reply
      • jessica

        April 24, 2012 at 7:55 am

        They were so great, Jess – thanks for the recipe!

        Reply
    4. Just A Smidgen

      April 24, 2012 at 4:44 am

      These are just the sort of bar I would love, I often bake banana bread and muffins so the addition of the brown butter cinnamon icing would just be amazing!!

      Reply
    5. Christine @ Christine's Kitchen Chronicles

      April 24, 2012 at 5:34 am

      My Dad would LOVE these. I am so going to be trying this recipe out. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
    6. Kate

      April 24, 2012 at 6:26 am

      These look perfect! I like that they are more dense than the regular banana bread or muffin. The frosting would push these over the top! I now know what to do when my bananas are a little over the edge….

      Reply
    7. [email protected]

      April 24, 2012 at 7:23 am

      I love anything banana too, and this sure sounds like a delicious winner! I can’t wait to try these. The icing should put it over the top, I’m sure! Great choice!

      Reply
    8. Karista

      April 24, 2012 at 7:26 am

      What a fantastic twist to banana bread! I also am completely in love with bananas and think I’m going to have to make these. Posting this on my FB page… fans will eat this up. 🙂

      Reply
    9. Cara Peace-Burrows

      April 24, 2012 at 8:20 am

      I love that you made a brown butter icing to go with these! Delicious choice!

      Reply
      • jessica

        April 24, 2012 at 2:53 pm

        The brown butter icing was truly a perfect compliment to the banana!

        Reply
    10. Kirstin

      April 24, 2012 at 10:09 am

      I love banana bread and I love “bars” so this sounds like a winner!!! Marking this now.

      Reply
    11. Gloria

      April 24, 2012 at 10:14 am

      I have the same addiction. Buying bananas. More than I can eat. Sounds like you have access to some fabulous varities. It’s nice to have new ideas of how to use these beauties up. Saving this for next time I have overripe bananas. Which should be any day now.

      Reply
      • The Kook @ The Kitchen Kook

        January 31, 2013 at 12:21 am

        I’m totally the same. I buy bananas (way too much of them) – not to eat but to patiently wait for them to brown so that I can finally bake with them! I love baking bananas. Mmm.

        Reply
        • Jess

          January 31, 2013 at 6:47 am

          The possibilities are endless with extra ripe bananas – I keep a whole stash in my freezer, but I even go through THOSE quickly! So glad you tried these – they are a total treat!

          Reply
    12. Claire @ Claire K Creations

      April 24, 2012 at 12:20 pm

      Banana bread bar? I love it! How good are Spanish tortillas? My aunt lives in Madrid and makes the best one. I’ve tried it out with sweet potato (kumara) as well and it was delicious.

      Reply
      • jessica

        April 24, 2012 at 12:28 pm

        Ooo – sweet potato! I will have to try that soon!

        Reply
    13. The Café Sucré Farine

      April 24, 2012 at 6:42 pm

      I’ve enjoyed getting to know your blog through SRC! Love your banana bars! I know they are fabulous – I made a banana cake last week with a brown butter icing – such a wonderful combination of flavors!

      Reply
    14. Melissa

      April 24, 2012 at 9:24 pm

      This looks so good! I love bananas, especially baking with them.

      Reply
    15. eliotthecat

      April 25, 2012 at 8:38 am

      So interesting that the bananas are better there, but I guess that is a no-brainer. I am sure they pick the ones we get in the States very green and hard. This is a great SRC post. Deliciousness!

      Reply
    16. Chelsy E.

      April 28, 2012 at 5:34 am

      You had me at Banana Bread…!

      Reply
    17. Aimee @ Chickenville

      May 22, 2012 at 7:41 am

      Interesting, I never thought about varities of bananas. Since we always have the same kind here in the US, it never even crossed my mind. I just learned a new trick for ripe bananas. We made kiwi kale smoothies with them. I often use bananas in my smoothie, but had never add the greens before. I’m a convert now.

      https://fromchapelhilltochickenville.blogspot.com/2012/05/kiwi-kale-smoothie.html

      Reply
    18. The Kook @ The Kitchen Kook

      January 31, 2013 at 12:18 am

      I love this recipe! I just made some of these bars myself. I like your adaptations to use cinnamon because we’re a household of cinnamon-fiends so I’ll have to add some in next time! But really, these bars are already perfect as is! So soft and moist. And perfectly dense, too!

      Here are mine 🙂
      https://thekitchenkook.blogspot.com/2013/01/moist-banana-bars-with-brown-butter.html

      Reply

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    Hi there! We're Jess and Frank. We live in Kansas City with our three daughters. Our recipes are made with busy families in mind. We lived in Thailand which inspired us to cook flavorful, fun meals at home and we know you can too. We believe in your inner cook! More...

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