Banana Caramel Bars are so quick and easy to make, you can have an impressive dessert ready in no time at all! You’ll love the rich and nutty flavor of the browned butter in this recipe. See video below.
Use a ripe banana for this recipe, and any banana bread, banana cake, or banana muffin recipe. Ripe bananas are sweeter than green bananas, and they have more moisture content, making your baked banana goods more flavorful and overall delicious!
This recipe calls for browned butter. This steps also lends a little extra flavor to the bars. You could skip the browning of the butter and just use melted or very soft butter, but I would suggest giving brown butter. try. You’ll love it! Melt butter over medium high heat, keep stirring until butter turns a light golden brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly while yuo measure the other ingredients.
Line your baking pan or dish with parchment paper. This will make removing the bars from the pan easier, and keeps your bars neat and tidy…they won’t stick to the pan of you use parchment paper. If you don’t have parchment paper, just butter and flour your pan.
Enjoy this delicious banana caramel bar recipe! Makes a great dessert, or even a special breakfast treat with a cup of coffee. If you love homemade caramel icing like I do, try it on a cake. I doubled the icing recipe and poured it over the top of a 9×13 buttermilk sheet cake. Divine!! Give it a try and let me know what you think.
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Banana Caramel Bars
Ingredients
Bars:
- 1 c. brown sugar, packed
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and browned (see notes for how to brown butter)
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 c. banana, mashed (about 1 large banana)
Cooked Caramel Icing:
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
- 1/8 tsp. salt (omit salt if using salted butter)
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 2 Tbsp. heavy cream (or half & half, or milk)
- 1 c. powdered sugar, sifted
Instructions
For the bars:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8 inch square pan by lining with parchment paper and lightly spraying the parchment with nonstick spray, or lightly butter the parchment to prevent sticking. If you don't have parchment, just butter and flour the pan. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add brown sugar, browned butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir well. Add flour and salt. Stir just until flour is combined. Fold in mashed banana.
- Pour into prepared 8 in pan and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes, until browned around the edge. Baking time will vary depending on your oven. While the bars bake, measure the ingredients for the icing.
Caramel Icing:
- In a medium saucepan, add butter, brown sugar, salt, vanilla, and cream. Set aside. When bars are baked, removed from oven and immediately start cooking the icing.
- Over medium to high heat, melt the butter, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and cream. As soon as the mixture starts to boil, set a timer for 1 minute. Boil for one minute only! Remove from heat, let cool about 3 minutes, then sift in 1 cup powdered sugar. Stir briskly with a whisk. This icing sets up as it cools, so you need work fast. While still warm, spread the icing over the baked bars. Let cool, cut into bars, and serve. See notes for helpful tips.