Banana Chocolate Chip Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Banana Chocolate CHip Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

    This is a bar that really just wants to be a banana cake, because of its sort-of-cakey consistency and the fact that it has a thick layer of cream cheese frosting going on all over the top of it.

    I don’t care if we call it a bar or a cake or a bread or a pudding- the point is that this recipe is easy to make, it’s great, and you should probably just make it tonight.  (Unless your bananas are still mostly yellow, in which case you can’t go near this recipe.  Don’t even think about baking with bananas that aren’t seriously spotted and reeking up your kitchen, begging to be put out of their ripened misery.  You must promise me this.)

    I’m waiting for you to promise me.

    Okay, thanks.

    You can make these now.

    Adapted from Betty Crocker’s recipe…

    BARS:

    1 cup sugar

    1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 medium)

    1/3 cup vegetable oil

    2 eggs

    1 teaspoon vanilla

    1 cup all-purpose flour

    1 teaspoon baking powder

    1/2 teaspoon baking soda

    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

    1/4 teaspoon salt

    1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

    FROSTING:

    1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

    1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

    1 teaspoon vanilla

    2 cups confectioners’ sugar

    1. Heat oven to 350° and grease a foil-lined 13 x 9″ pan.
    2. In large bowl, mix sugar, bananas, oil, eggs and vanilla until well combined.  Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and chocolate chips.  Spread evenly in prepared pan.
    3. Bake bars 25 – 30 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool completely, about 1 hour.
    4. FROSTING:  In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until combined.  Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar (scraping sides of bowl occasionally) until smooth and spreadable.  Add more sugar if consistency is too soft.
    5. Spread cooled bars with frosting, and store covered in refrigerator.

    Tips:

    • Nuts would make these bars fantastic too… add 1/2 or 3/4 cup of chopped up toasted pecans or walnuts if you so desire.
    • You might end up with more frosting than you need.   This is a good thing.  Freeze for frosting fun later, or just lick the damned bowl clean.
    • Make your life easier when cutting the bars… chill them in the refrigerator first and they will slice so much easier.
    • Want to be healthier?  Skip the frosting, and maybe just sift a bit of confectioners’ sugar over the top before you serve.
    • Enjoy!

     

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    September 17th, 2014 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags: ,

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