Banana Bars with Brown Butter Frosting

I always have over-ripe bananas. Does this only happen to me? I don’t eat the things anyway. The kids and hubby love them, but if I get an off batch…they are left to rot. So I’m always looking for new banana recipes. These are by far the best things I’ve ever made with bananas! The thing that makes them so delicious is the brown butter frosting. Sweet and a little salty, with a deep, dark flavor. DELICIOUS!! The frosting would be to die for on a cake – that might be my next adventure:)

So if you have over-ripe bananas, try these!! You won’t be disappointed!

Banana Bars:
1-1/2 c. sugar
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
1-3/4 (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt

Brown Butter Frosting:
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter
4 c. powdered sugar
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. milk (I use buttermilk)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease and flour 15x10-inch jelly roll pan.  For the bars, in a large bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs until creamy.  Blend in bananas and vanilla extract.  Add flour, baking soda, salt, and blend for 1 minute. Spread batter evenly into pan.  Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until top springs back.

Meanwhile, for frosting, heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling.  Let the butter turn a delicate brown and remove from heat immediately. Butter can go from browned to burnt VERY fast.

Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk to the browned butter.  Whisk together until smooth (it should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting).  Using a rubber spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the warm bars (the frosting will be easier to spread while the bars are still warm).

*From Life’s Simple Measures