Ingredients:
Banana Bread Bars:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
3 or 4 ripe bananas
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Brown Butter Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
(Mark recommends cutting this in half to 1/4 cup butter)
4 cups powdered sugar
(Mark recommends cutting this in half to 2 cups powdered sugar)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
(Mark recommends using 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
3 tablespoons milk
(Mark recommends still using 3 tablespoons milk)
1 banana cut into slices (optional)
(Mark highly recommends adding the optional banana slices).
Instructions:
For the Banana Bread Bars:
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees
2. Grease and flour 15x10 jelly roll pan
3. In a large bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs until creamy
4. Blend in bananas and vanilla extract
5. Add flour, baking soda, and salt
6. Blend for 1 minute
7. If using walnuts, stir in walnuts (optional)
8. Spread batter evenly into pan
9. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown
For the Brown Butter Frosting:
1. Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling.
2. Let the butter turn a delicate brown and remove from heat.
3. Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk.s
4. Whisk together until smooth - it should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting.
5. Using a spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the banana bread bars while the bars are still warm - it is easier to spread the frosting on while the bars are still warm.
6. Spread the thin banana slices evenly on top of the frosting. (optional)
7. Enjoy!!
Marks' Notes -
This is a recipe Trish sent me that she wanted me to try. I made two mistakes in the making of this batch. Instead of using 1/2 cup butter for the banana bread bars, I only used 1/4 cup thinking that for some reason the recipe required only a 1/4 cup. The other mistake I made is that I used 2 tablespoons vanilla extract rather than 2 teaspoons. Both mistakes are somewhat inconsequential.
This recipe turned out extremely extremely rich. In my opinion, slightly too rich. After the first time I made it, it was way too rich. The second time I made this, I cut the butter and the powdered sugar in half. It turned out well. There was enough of the frosting to spread around. Then I cut up another banana into slices and placed those on top of the frosting.
