These Banana Nut Bars are dense, fudgy, and full of banana flavor, covered in a delicious Brown Sugar Frosting.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword banana bars, banana blondies, banana cookies, brown sugar frosting
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Total Time 50 minutesminutes
Servings 16bars
Author Rachel Conners
Ingredients
For the bars
½cup1 stick unsalted butter, melted
¾cuplight brown sugar
1egg
1½teaspoonvanilla
1teaspooncinnamon
¼teaspoonsalt
¼teaspoonnutmeg
1cupall-purpose flour
½cupmashed banana1 medium banana
½cupchopped pecans or nut of choicetoasted
For the frosting
¼cup½ stick unsalted butter
½cuplight brown sugar
2tablespoonsmilk
1cuppowdered sugar
½teaspooncinnamon
Instructions
For the bars
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8-by-8-inch pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper and spray with cooking spray; set aside.
Melt ½ cup butter in the microwave. Combine remaining brown sugar and melted butter in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the egg, vanilla, and whisk to combine. Add the flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix. Gently stir in the banana. Fold in the pecans. Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula or offset knife.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the bars are set. The edges will be slightly pulling away from sides of pan. Let cool while you make the frosting.
For the frosting
Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in brown sugar and milk and stir until it comes just to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Whisk in powdered sugar and cinnamon.
Spread on top of blondies and let frosting set. Allow bars to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving into 16 squares. I like to refrigerate them before cutting to make them easier to cut. Bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
If you want to double the recipe, use a 9x13" pan.