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Brown Butter Banana Bars topped with a heavenly brown butter vanilla bean frosting make the perfect portable dessert to share with friends and family.
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5 from 10 votes

Brown Butter Banana Bars

Brown Butter Banana Bars topped with a heavenly brown butter vanilla bean frosting make the perfect portable dessert to share with friends and family.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 48 bars

Ingredients

Banana Bars:

Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Frosting

Instructions

To make the banana bars:

  • 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.

To make the frosting:

  • In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the vanilla beans. Whisk frequently, scraping the bottom as well as the insides out of the vanilla bean. 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. Remove vanilla bean pods from butter and scrape and remaining seeds using a sharp pairing knife to return to the butter.
  • Using the whisk attachment on your stand mixer, beat browned vanilla bean butter with the confectioner's sugar. Start slow to incorporate and then turn the speed up to medium and then high until the frosting is light and fluffy.
  • One tablespoon at a time, add the milk (I used half and half) and continue beating the frosting until you've reached the desired consistency.

Frost and serve:

  • Allow bars to fully cool before you frost with brown butter vanilla bean frosting and cut into individual servings.

Notes

These store really well in an airtight container in the freezer.

Nutrition

Calories: 132kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 77mg | Potassium: 39mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 163IU | Vitamin C: 0.5mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 0.3mg