Brown Butter Banana Bars topped with a heavenly brown butter vanilla bean frosting make the perfect portable dessert to share with friends and family.

This is one of those recipes where you take your first bite and pause. You pause because you cannot believe how wonderfully incredible the morsel melting on your tongue tastes. I dare those few crazy people who don’t like bananas to try these banana bars and tell me they’re not some of the most delicious treats they’ve ever enjoyed. I dare them.

I found this recipe because my friend Scott told me that his favorite thing that his wife, Christine, makes are these banana bars, so right then and there I naturally demanded he give me the recipe. You can’t just tell me about something like that and not either give me the recipe or actually make them for me! Christine told me that this recipe came from her old Gold Medal Flour cookbook. Every kitchen should have a classic recipe book like that that gets passed down from generation to generation. I made one tweak to the recipe though which, in my humble opinion, set it over the top in the omg-that-tastes-good category. I browned the butter, of course!

Now, if you’re wondering what a banana bar is, its very similar to cake but its portable like a brownie. Kind of genius, right? Well, they are definitely delicious on their own, but when topped with brown butter vanilla bean frosting… heaven. These are the perfect dessert to take to potlucks or to bring into work or to freeze in order to have single serving treat at the ready whenever you want. You will love them!

This recipe uses pure vanilla extract. Did you know you can make your own homemade vanilla extract? It makes the perfect gift too. Watch how in the video below.

Ingredients

1/2 cup 1 cube unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs beaten
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas about 3 large or 4 small
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
brown butter vanilla bean frosting

Instructions

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk frequently, scraping the bottom. As the butter foams, continue whisking and scraping to release any brown bits that may stick to the bottom. Once the butter has sufficiently browned (not burned) and smells heavenly, remove from heat.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper or grease with butter.
Add browned butter, sugar, sour cream, and eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed for about a minute. Scrape sides, add bananas and vanilla, and continue to mix on low for another 30 seconds.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to the wet. Start mixing on low speed just to combine and then flash on high speed for about 10 seconds to fully mix. Scrape sides, add nuts, and mix to combine.
Spread batter in pan and bake in preheated oven until light brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Allow bars to fully cool before you frost with brown butter vanilla bean frosting and cut into individual servings.
These store really well in an airtight container in the freezer.