These bars are a perfect treat! They are sweet and {relatively} light - perfect as an accompaniment for midday tea or coffee, a quick and easy dessert, or even breakfast…I mean, hey, it IS banana…which is a fruit soooo healthy-ish?!🤣
For the bars, I use a single recipe of the our standard all time favorite banana cake which can be found HERE , baked in a jelly roll pan, and then top them with a layer of brown butter frosting instead of the cream cheese frosting that I use for the cake.
Browned butter is magic -it imparts a nutty, slightly caramel flavor and is a glorious ingredient with many applications. It makes a fantastic frosting; I use it for these banana bars and as a cookie frostingbut butternut filled ravioli with browned butter and sage leaves is a favorite savory use for it around here as well!
Banana Bars with Brown Butter Frosting
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350º
Prepare the batter as directed in the banana cake recipe
Spray a jelly roll pan (10” x 15” x ~1”) with nonstick spray like Pam
Spread the batter in the pan, bake for 20 minutes
While the cake is baking, prepare the brown butter frosting (recipe below)
Spread the frosting evenly over the warm cake still in the pan
Cool 10-15 minutes before cutting into 24 bars
These keep well covered at room temperature for a few days (honestly they’ve never lasted long enough to see how long, but you could also freeze them just like I do with the frosted banana cupcakes)
Brown Butter Frosting
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/2 Tbsp vanilla
~ 1/4 cup milk (add 1 Tbsp at a time)
Directions
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and bring to a boil
Simmer until the butter turns golden brown - be careful not to let it burn! The process of browning butter essentially evaporates the water out of it and caramelizes the solids in the dairy. Browned bits are tasty little flavor nuggets, burned bits…not so much!
Stir in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 Tbsp of the milk
Stir vigorously with a spoon, adding milk 1 Tbsp at a time until it is a consistency somewhere between a glaze and a frosting.
Stir or whisk until smooth
Spread the browned butter frosting evenly over the warm cake - an offset spatula is the easiest tool for this.
The frosting will set a bit as it cools
Enjoy!
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