These banana blondies are rich, dense, and fudgy, with an irresistible caramel frosting! Think banana bread meets butterscotch blondies!
these banana blondies are literally irresistible…
And I have to say it took me a little bit by surprise — they look so innocent! But the combination of the very dense banana cake and the very sweet caramel icing is intense. I tested the recipe on 2 consecutive days, and my self control failed miserably. I spent 48 hours in a banana blondie induced coma. Proceed with caution.
I ate these warm out of the oven…I ate them chilled from the fridge the next day…suffice it to say I’ve had them every which way and every way was amazing.
ingredients for banana blondies
If you’ve got a ripe banana or two, the rest of these easy bars come together from the pantry.
- ripe bananas
- brown sugar
- butter
- egg
- all purpose flour
- vanilla
- salt
- milk
- confectioner’s sugar
The frosting is a quick cooked caramel, but don’t let that scare you, that just means you melt some butter, brown sugar, and a touch of cream or milk together in a saucepan and heat it to a boil, then whisk in powdered sugar. It’s not fussy at all, but it does set up quickly, so plan to slather it on the cake right away. You can actually cut these and eat them warm, which is unusual for a frosted dessert.
do yourself a favor and make these 🙂
Self control issues aside, I’m so happy with this recipe, it’s reliable and easy to do. if you’re a banana lover, or just happen to know one, this is a must try. There is a ton of banana flavor packed into these slim bars, which also surprises me because I only used one banana. They are moist and dense, almost like a banana fudge, (if that thought doesn’t blow your mind.) They’re good.
banana blondie FAQs
You can freeze the bars before frosting. Just cool them completely, wrap in plastic then in foil, and freeze for up to 3 months.
They will last a couple of days at room temperature, just cover loosely with foil. You can also store them in the refrigerator for a different but equally lovely effect.
Yes, that will work.
Blondies are meant to have a dense chewy texture. Rising agents create more of a cakey texture and so blondies and brownies usually don’t include them.
You might try mini chocolate chips, chopped walnuts or pecans, or even some shredded coconut. Next time I bake them I may add some chopped toasted pecans to the frosting for a praline effect!
Yes, a high quality 1:1 gluten free baking mix should work.
“I’ve baked many things over the years and I have to say these are some of the best. Really delicious.”
SHAR
we’re obsessed with bananas
- Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
- Double Chocolate Banana Bread
- Better than Starbucks Banana Walnut Bread
- One Banana Banana Bread!
- Banana Cake with Spiced Vanilla Buttercream
- Banana Cake with Nutella Buttercream
Banana Blondies
Equipment
- 9×9 inch baking pan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup well mashed banana, about 1 to 1 1/2 bananas
caramel icing
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 Tbsp cream or milk
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar (possibly a little bit more)
Instructions
- Set the oven to 350F. Lightly spray and line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper, if desired, to enable you to lift out the blondies for neater cutting.
- Beat the butter and sugar together for several minutes until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- Mix in the mashed banana, and then the flour and salt. Mix just until everything is well blended, don’t over mix.
- Spread into your prepared pan.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the center is set. I check with a toothpick.
- Let the cake cool most of the way before you make the frosting.
- To make the caramel frosting put the butter, brown sugar and milk or cream in a small saucepan and melt the butter, whisking all the time. Continue whisking until the mixture comes to a boil, then turn off the heat and add the sifted powdered sugar, whisking until completely smooth. You may need to add a little bit more powdered sugar if it seems very thin.
- Spread it immediately onto the cake, it will set up very quickly.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
It says butter melted? It would be impossible to make it fluffy with melted butter. Do you mean softened?
It says in the recipe, that this is a dense blondie. Thats why there is no baking powder or baking soda. It is not a fluffy cake! ?
Tried this recipe this afternoon and it was delicious. I didn’t read the instructions for the frosting and put everything in together but it still worked !