Banana bars with cream cheese frosting are totally worth letting your bananas get overripe! This is the world’s best super moist cake that’s quick and easy to make.
And, I know you’re going to fall in LOVE with the brown butter cream cheese frosting that’s actually more like a glaze! Swapping regular butter for browned butter is so worth the little bit of extra effort!
If you have a habit of buying more bananas than you can eat and end up with overripe bananas be sure to check out my Strawberry Banana Bread, Banana Pancakes, Peanut Butter Banana Brownies, Banana Peanut Butter Cookies, and Coconut Banana Bread!
I used to really not like eating plain bananas at all, but I must be growing up because I’ll eat a bite or two now! I’d still prefer to eat bananas in recipes though!
You can make minor changes to this recipe to make it exactly what you want it to be. Feel free to add walnuts, chocolate chips (mini are my favorite because you get a little bit of chocolate in every bite), or sprinkle toffee chips over the icing.
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- Quick and easy! This cake bakes in a jelly roll pan so it’s like a thin snack cake. Becuase it’s thin it bakes faster than if it was baked in a 9×13 pan or if you were making loaves of banana bread. They’re best frosted while the icing and the cake is warm, which means no cooling time. They are delicious served at room temperature or cold straight from the fridge.
- Keeps well! These banana bars can be made ahead of time then freeze or refrigerate until you’re close to serving. Add the frosting and serve! Even after they’re frosted they’ll keep in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
- Serves a lot! I love cake recipes that are made in a baking sheet becuase they are big enough to serve a crowd! And these are yummy enough that any crowd will go crazy for them!
Ingredients:
Scroll down to the recipe for a full list of ingredients.
Almost all of my recipes are made with simple, pantry/refrigerator staples and banana bars are no different! Although I don’t have a lot of substitution ideas for you, here are a few tips for some of the ingredients.
- Bananas: It’s an important part of making banana bars and I’m not giving you a substitution for them (I think applesauce might work just fine and I’ve heard that you can replace one banana with 1/2 cup of applesauce in baked goods. I’ve never tried it though.) You can thaw frozen bananas and use them. See my tips below for choosing perfectly ripened bananas.
- Sour Cream: You’ll have the best results using full fat sour cream. I’ve also substituted all or a portion, or all, of the sour cream with plain Greek yogurt. Substitute 1:1. You can also use 3/4 a cup of buttermilk instead of 1 cup of sour cream in this reicpe.
- Cream Cheese: Use full fat cream cheese. Reduced fat cream cheese has extra water in it and will alter the consistency and flavor of the bars.
How To Make Banana Bars with Browned Butter Cream Cheese Icing:
Making these homemade bars is a piece of cake! See what I did there? Really, they are simple to make. Let’s go over the details!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with nonstick baking spray before starting to make the banana bars recipe.
Step 1: Mash bananas with a fork or electric mixer. It’s okay if it’s a little chunky. Add vanilla. Stir. Set aside.
Step 2: This picture doesn’t show this, but I recommend creaming butter and sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon together. Start beating on low speed and gradually increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy. Add eggs and sour cream. Beat for about one minute, or until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Step 3: Add mashed bananas to sour cream/egg mixture. Stir to combine.
Step 4: Add flour. Stir or mix until completely incorporated. Don’t overmix.
Step 5: Pour cake batter into prepared jelly roll pan. Smooth into an even layer.
Step 6: Bake cake for 20-22 minutes. It should spring back when you touch it. Be careful to not overbake. Remove from the oven to cool. NOTE: I like to do step 7 as soon as I put the cake in the oven. That way the brown butter is partially cooled by the time the cake is baked.
Step 7: Heat a skillet to medium heat. Add butter. Stir frequently until the butter is completely melted and is slightly brown. It should smell nutty. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Using an electric mixer, whip cream cheese until smooth. While the mixer is on low gradually add the butter. Mix until smooth and creamy.
Step 8: Add powdered sugar and a pinch of kosher salt, vanilla, almond extract, and a few tablespoons of cream. Mix with a whip attachment.
Step 9: Add additional cream as needed for the right consistency. It should be smooth and a little more like a glaze rather than a frosting.
Step 10: Drizzle frosting on the cake and gently spread. It’s easier to frost while the banana bars and the frosting are both a little bit warm. Completely cool. Cut frosted banana bars into squares.
Tips and Tricks:
- Overripe bananas are a softer and sweeter and the best for making banana bread and cakes. They should have black spots on them and be mushy.
- Here’s how to freeze overripe bananas to use later in baking. I like to remove them from the peel Set on a baking tray to freeze. Remover from the baking tray and keep them in a sealable freezer bag. They keep in the freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, or defrost in the microwave before using in baked goods. They’ll be super soggy and look a bit nasty! It’s okay! They’re completely fine for baking and work great!
- Banana bars are easier to cut in squares after they’ve been in the fridge, or at least cooled, for a bit.
FAQs:
They should be refrigerated. I like eating banana bars when they are cold, but I also really like them when they are at room temperature. If you like them at room temperature, remove them from the fridge a little before serving.
I don’t like to freeze them because I feel like the frosting isn’t quite the same. They’re really easy to make so I prefer making them fresh. If you want to make them ahead of time I’d recommend making the cake part and refrigerating or freezing that part. You can also make the icing a little bit ahead of time and keep it refrigerated until you’re ready to frost the cake. Microwave it for a few seconds so it’s stirrable and spreadable before spreading it on the cake.
Yes! You could make it in a 9×13 pan. You’ll need to increase the bake time because it will be thicker. It will probably take about 35-40 minutes. You’ll need to watch it and take it out when it’s set in the middle.
Other Easy Cake Recipes:
I’m not sure why my go-to is always cookies when I’m deciding what to make for dessert. Cake recipes are so much easier because than scooping, baking, and cooling cookies. I think it has something to do with my love for cookie dough!
Maybe I should start making cakes more often! These cake recipes are easy to make and taste amazing! Some are made with a cake mix, others are made from scratch. All of them are easy and delicious!
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake
- Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Picnic Spice Cake
- Strawberry Poke Cake
- Zucchini Texas Sheet Cake
Printable Recipe:
Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Banana Bars
- 3 bananas overripe
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- dash kosher salt
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tablspoons heavy cream
Instructions
Banana Bars
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 15x10x1 inch baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with nonstick baking spray. Set aside.
- Mash bananas with a fork or electric mixer. It’s okay if it’s a little chunky. Add vanilla. Stir. Set aside.
- This picture doesn’t show this, but I’d recommend creaming butter and sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon together. Start beating on low speed and gradually increase speed to medium. Add eggs and sour cream. Continue beating for about one minute, or until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add mashed bananas to sour cream/egg mixture. Stir to combine.
- Add flour. Stir or mix until completely incorporated. Don’t overmix.
- Pour cake batter into prepared jelly roll pan. Smooth into an even layer.
- Bake cake for 20-22 minutes. It should spring back when you touch it. Be careful to not overbake. Remove from the oven to cool. NOTE: I like to do step 7 as soon as I put the cake in the oven. That way the brown butter is partially cooled by the time the cake is baked.
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- Heat a skillet to medium heat. Add butter. Stir frequently until the butter is completely melted and is slightly brown. It should smell nutty. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Using an electric mixer, whip cream cheese until smooth. While the mixer is on low gradually add the butter. Mix until smooth and creamy.
- Add powdered sugar and a pinch of kosher salt, vanilla, almond extract, and a few tablespoons of cream. Mix with a whip attachment.
- Add additional cream as needed for the right consistency. It should be smooth and a little more like a glaze rather than a frosting.
- Drizzle frosting on the cake and gently spread. It’s easier to frost while the banana bars and the frosting are both a little bit warm. Completely cool. Cut into squares.
Jane says
Is there anything else that I could substitute for the vanilla yogurt? I have sour cream but would that be sweet enough? Thanks much!
Amy Engberson says
Hey Jane! You could definitely try using sour cream. There is enough sweetness in the recipe that I think it would work just fine! Let me know how it goes!
Ashraf says
Fantastic job
Elaine Duckett says
Love the dash of salt in the frosting. All frosting recipes should call for it.
Amy Engberson says
It’s my love of salty sweet! Just gotta do it!