Frosted Banana Bars

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This recipe produces light, fluffy and moist banana bars that are a perfect way to use those nasty 'nanas that accumulate on top of your refrigerator. The bars, which are mildly flavored, are frosted with a cream cheese icing that adds richness to an otherwise plain dessert. It takes about 20 minutes to make them, and depending on the pan size you use, 25 to 35 minutes to bake. The original recipe calls for a jelly-roll pan for baking. As you can see, my bars, which baked in a standard 13 x 9-inch pan, are higher than those that would be produced in the larger pan. Somewhere in this house a jelly-roll pan is lurking, but it defied my efforts to find it tonight and I settled for what was readily at hand. My bars took 35 minutes to bake. This simple recipe makes a large batch of delicious bars and I urge you to try it.  Here is how the bars are made.


Frosted Banana Bars...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Taste of Home recipes

Ingredients:
Bars
1/2 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
Frosting
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3-3/4 to 4 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 15 x 10 x 1-inch baking pan.
2) Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla.
3) Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in bananas.
4) Spread in prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (do not overbake). Cool.
5) To make frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in enough confectioners' sugar to achieve consistency for frosting. Frost bars. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 3-4 dozen bars.

                    

                                  Older Posts

                 One Year Ago Today:                                                          Two Years Ago Today:

      Sunomono Japanese Vinegar Salad                                     Two Skillet Shrimp and Rice Supper

                Three Years Ago Today:                                                    Four Years Ago Today:

      Shaker Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder                      Rhubarb Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Sugar