Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
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These incredible Banana Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting are insanely amazing. The bars are fluffy, tender, and moist. The cream cheese frosting is so good you could lick it off your finger.
Serve a batch of banana bars to friends and family for various events, and you will see them get gobbled up in a matter of minutes.
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Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Incredibly moist and delicious banana bars topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting that’s certain to brighten anyone’s day. These banana bars are incredible…of course; it is hard to go wrong when something is topped with a thick layer of creamy cream cheese frosting. Especially when that something is a moist and flavor-packed banana bar.
These bars get an extra boost of banana flavor by adding a splash of banana extract. Make sure you use really ripe banana in this dessert to get the best flavor. You know, those bananas that you are embarrassed to have out on your kitchen counter, so you hide them in your pantry only to find them a week later? Yeah, those bananas.
The bananas that are so spotted and black you wonder if you should just throw them away? That’s them! 😉
How Can I Ripen Bananas Fast?
There are several methods for making sure your bananas are nice and ripe before baking. It’s important for them to be very ripe so that way they can incorporate well into the cake batter. Otherwise, they will be lumpy and not as great of texture as ripe bananas. If you want the bananas to ripen quickly naturally, leave them all stuck together.
When you take them apart, they will take longer to get overly ripe. That’s a great option if you are just eating the bananas, but for baking, it’s better to leave them bunched.
Keeping the bananas warm is important for them to ripen quicker too. They can be kept anywhere in your home that is warm and comforting, like near a heater vent or your stove. You could also bake the bananas at 300 degrees for 15-25 minutes. Keep an eye on them, and once the banana peel has blackened, they should be ready to go. Another option is to store the bananas in a brown paper bag because it speeds up the process a fair amount.
Lastly, you can poke holes in the banana peel and toss it in the microwave for 30 seconds. This will ripen them very fast and is ideal when you need them quickly. You may need to heat them for a little longer if they aren’t all the way ripe when you check.
Do I Have to Refrigerate These?
Yes, due to the cream cheese in the frosting, you will for sure want to refrigerate the banana bars. Plus, they actually taste even better when they are chilled too. To refrigerate the banana bars, allow them to cool down all the way. After you add the frosting, then place them inside of a storage container with a tight-fitting lid. Refrigerate the bars for up to 5 days.
Ingredients for Banana Bars
I’m pretty much drooling just thinking about these amazing banana bars. They are just so good I knew I had to share them with you. Take a look at the list of ingredients to get prepped for this impressive dessert.
For the Banana Bars:
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Butter softened
- White sugar
- Eggs
- Sour cream
- Vanilla extract
- Banana extract
- Mashed ripe bananas
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Cream cheese softened
- Butter or margarine softened
- Sifted confectioners’ sugar
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
If you are making these banana bars, then you have already made a great decision! Everyone is going to rave about how delicious they are. We often like to take them to parties and potlucks because everyone loves them so much. Here are the simple steps to follow to make your own.
First Step: Preheat the oven to 350F and butter the bottom of a 13×9 inch baking pan. Insert a long piece of parchment in the bottom of the pan with extra to extend up 2 sides and leave a little bit overhanging repeat perpendicular to the first one. Butter the parchment. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
Second Step: Using the paddle attachment in a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium until light and fluffy or about 3 minutes. One at a time beat the eggs then stir in the sour cream, vanilla, and banana extract. Mix in the flour mixture and mix just until combined. Then fold in the mashed up banana—next transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center has only a few moist crumbs. Put the pan on a wire rack and cool completely.
Third Step: Using the paddle attachment in a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in the sugar at low speed until combined, then stir in vanilla and mix again. Spread onto the cooled banana bars.
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Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the Banana Bars:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon banana extract
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8- ounce package cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9×13 inch metal baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up two sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. Place another piece of parchment paper in the same manner, perpendicular to the first sheet. (This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.) Butter the parchment.In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sour cream, vanilla, and banana extract. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in the mashed banana. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bake 22-25 minutes. or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the cream cheese frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled banana bars.
Notes
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If you love these banana bars with cream cheese frosting, I have a feeling you are going to be in heaven when you taste these other desserts too. Take a look, and you can find some inspiration for your next yummy dessert.
- Classic Marshmallow Chocolate S’ mores Cupcakes – These are basically like eating a piece of summer any time you want them! They are so simple to make and are perfect for holidays like the 4th of July too!
- Margarita Sandwich Cookies Recipe With Lime Buttercream – I love drinking margaritas, so I figured why not make some tantalizing margarita cookies too. They are awesome!
- Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies – If you are a fan of hazelnut flavors, then these cookies are screaming your name. They are so tasty it’s next to impossible to eat only one.
- Lemon Poppy Seed Sugar Cookies – Sometimes, I get in the mood for lemon and tangy flavors. These poppy seed cookies fill any void I may have in the dessert department.
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