The next time you have overripe bananas sitting on the counter, these Banana Blondies will come to the rescue. I’m a sucker for a good banana bread, and this recipe tastes just like your favorite delicious dessert, just in bar form!
What You’ll Need
You’ll need these easy ingredients and some overripe bananas to whip up a batch of these delicious banana blondies! A full list of ingredients with measurements for this recipe is available in the printable recipe card below.
- Banana – When baking with bananas, it’s always best to use very ripe bananas. You can tell the ripeness by how many brown spots they have.
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Butter
- Light brown sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Cream cheese
- Powdered sugar
How to Age Bananas Fast
Only have nice, new bananas? Here is how to make them banana blondie worthy in a pinch!
- Microwave– The quickest way, but least likely to produce super sweet results. Nuke it for 30 seconds to one minute. Basically, you are cooking it and allowing the sugars to release a little before you put it into the recipe.
- Oven- the same concept as the microwave. Heat to 350 degrees and bake for 5-30 minutes.
- Brown Paper Bag – My mother used this technique, but it still takes about a day. Place your bananas in a brown paper bag and roll it closed. Ethylene will build up and speed up the ripening process.
- Tropical Environment – Everything ages faster in the heat. Place your bananas someplace warm, like in a sunny window. It will still take up to a day, depending on how ripe the banana was to begin with.
- Single them out – lastly, pull your bananas apart. They ripen much faster separated than they do still hooked together.
Mix Ins
You could add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the mix as a great way to step up this banana blondies recipe.
Other yummy add-in options:
- Chopped walnuts
- Chopped pecans
- Peanut butter chips
- Chocolate chips
- Toffee bits
- Cinnamon bits
You could even add a dollop of almond butter or peanut butter to the batter to make them peanut butter banana blondies.
Other frosting options that would be good, vanilla buttercream, light and fluffy chocolate frosting, cinnamon buttercream, cinnamon cream cheese frosting, chocolate ganache, powdered sugar glaze, peanut butter frosting, brown butter frosting or brown sugar frosting. Also just a dusting of powdered sugar or plain they are still phenomenal.
Banana Blondie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , melted
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar , packed
- 3/4 cup mashed banana
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make The Blondies:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk or sift together the 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, set aside.
- Place the melted 1/2 cup unsalted butter into a large bowl with the 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, 3/4 cup mashed banana, 1 large egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, whisk until smooth.
- Add the flour mixture and stir until combined with no dry patches. Do not overmix.
- Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Place the baking dish on a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the Frosting:
- Place the softened 8 ounces cream cheese and 1/4 cup unsalted butter into a large bowl and whip it until smooth with an electric hand mixer. You can also do this with a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
- Add the 2 cups powdered sugar a little at a time until combined, scrape down the sides as needed. Add the 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, turn the mixer on to medium speed and whip for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Lift the blondies out of the baking dish using the parchment paper to help. Frost them and cut into bars, serve immediately.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.
Notes
Nutrition
Storage and Freezing
If you are making the cream cheese frosting, these will need to be refrigerated. If you are not adding cream cheese frosting, these can stay at room temperature for up to 3 days in an airtight container, but they are best at room temperature so take them out before serving. The frosting is creamy and light, and does not harden. Since the frosting does not set up, I suggest not storing them stacked.
Wrap the bars individually or place in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
More Delicious Bars
When it comes to portable, handheld desserts, these brownies and bars are the best! Here are some of our favorites.
These blondies got the most perfect texture! Also the cream cheese frosting looks to die for good!
Wow! Banana Blondies are a hit! Everyone loves them. Thanks for the great recipe.
Oooh bananas and cream cheese – my favorite combo! I cant wait to try this recipe!
These were super yummy! A great way to use up those ripe bananas that isn’t bread.
These banana blondies look and sound scrumptious. It’s nice to have a new and delicious recipe that uses my overripe bananas.