Frosted Banana Bars
These Frosted Banana Bars feature a tender, delicious banana cake topped with brown sugar cream cheese frosting. They’re delicious!
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This recipe is proof that frosting makes everything better. Don’t get me wrong here. I love a good cake. The cake is an important part of the equation. Frosting is delicious, but there’s only so much it can do. Frosting can turn good into great. It can even turn great into amazing. However, frosting can’t turn bad into good. It’s not bacon.
For these Frosted Banana Bars, I started with a delicious cake. Well, to be fair, I started with bread. Banana bread. The cake portion of this recipe is the same banana bread recipe that I’ve been making for years and years. I did tweak it slightly to make it a bit more tender and “cake-like,” but it’s essentially banana bread…in cake form.
Frosted Banana Bars
Instead of baking that banana bread in a loaf pan, I spread the batter into a 9″x13″ baking pan. (Bonus: since the batter was spread thinner in the baking pan, this cake baked a lot quicker than the bread version!)
I truly could have eaten that banana cake by itself when it came out of the oven. It’s a family-favorite recipe, and it’s made hundreds of appearances over the years. It’s the very first thing I learned how to bake once I got my own place. The mashed bananas give this recipe so much banana flavor!
But that banana cake was destined for more. It was destined for greatness. It was destined to be covered with a brown sugar cream cheese frosting.
If it was socially acceptable to eat frosting by itself, this frosting would be in my top 3 of all-time. The cream cheese gives it a nice tanginess, while the brown sugar and cinnamon bring the flavor of traditional baking spices. I wish I could convey in words how good this frosting is. Just trust me here!
Once that banana cake had cooled, I spread the cream cheese frosting evenly on top. I served these Frosted Banana Bars directly from the baking pan itself. I like the rustic feel of slicing the cake into bars and serving it straight from the pan.
I did sprinkle some chopped pecans on top of these Frosted Banana Bars. The pecans add a nice crunchy texture, and I highly recommend ’em. Other nuts – namely walnuts – would work well in this recipe, too.
Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
The key to a good cream cheese frosting is the ratio of cream cheese to butter. Years ago, a good friend shared her amazing recipe with me, and I’ve always gone back to that recipe. Cream cheese frosting should be 2 parts cream cheese and 1 part butter. (In this case, that’s 8 oz. of cream cheese and 4 oz. of unsalted butter.)
The other piece of the formula? Sugar. I add the cream cheese + butter and divide by 4. That’s the number of cups of confectioner’s sugar to use. (In this case, that’s 12 oz. of butter and cream cheese. Divide by 4 gives you 3. Go with 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar.)
You can play around with this formula a bit, but it’s a good place to start. For instance, I snuck in a bit of brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract in this version. Oh, and make sure your cream cheese and butter are both room temperature before you start. And use an electric mixer to whip that frosting on high speed for a minute or two longer than you might normally think. The results are worth it!
How to Store Frosted Banana Bars
Leftover leftover banana bars can be stored for 3-4 days in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature.
If you’re looking to make this recipe ahead, the cake portion freezes beautifully! Just wrap the cooled bars in plastic wrap and then place in a freezer-safe bag. Let the frozen bars thaw at room temperature before frosting. (I recommend waiting to make the frosting until the day you serve these bars though.)
If you’re looking for a fantastic banana flavored dessert recipe, then put these Frosted Banana Bars on the menu. It took an insane amount of willpower to keep from eating about 5 of these bars right after these pictures were taken! Happy baking!
Did you bake a batch of these Frosted Banana Bars at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!
Frosted Banana Bars
Ingredients
For the Banana Bars
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 3 ripe bananas mashed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- {optional} ½ cup chopped pecans
For the Frosting
- 8 oz. cream cheese room temperature
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- {optional} ½ cup chopped pecans lightly toasted
Instructions
For the Banana Bars
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Spray a 9”x13” cake pan with nonstick cooking spray; set pan aside.
- Using a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (~2-3 minutes on medium speed.)
- Add eggs, bananas and vanilla extract; stir until just combined.
- Using a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add half of dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients; stir until well combined. Repeat with remaining dry ingredients.
- {Optional} Add chopped pecans; stir until well combined.
- Transfer batter into prepared cake pan. Use a spatula to spread the batter evenly into the pan.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out mostly clean.
- Place pan on a wire rack and let cool.
For the Frosting
- Using a stand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter until well combined.
- Add the brown sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon; beat until smooth.
- Add the confectioner’s sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until smooth after each addition.
- Increase speed to high and beat for 1-2 minutes.
- Frost cooled banana bars and serve.
Looking for more banana dessert recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
Cant wait to make this soon for me for the frosting can i use vegan cream cheese i never had frosted banana bars before perfect for my after office snacks love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
Yes! Vegan cream cheese would work well in this recipe, Ramya. I love the flavor of this cake + frosting. I hope you enjoy it, too!
I love a cream cheese icing (frosting). I am a bit of a maverick when it comes to baking (hehehe) and I always use salted butter in sweets! I love that tang from the salt in sweet dishes.
You know, I’ve had some great sweets with salted butter. In general, I shy away from it because their is no ‘standard’ for amount of salt in different brands of salted butter. With that said, I do love a sweet + salty dessert! You should make these banana bars with salted butter and let me know how they turn out!! 🙂
I love this recipe, and I also love all the explanations, tips, and math that goes with it! My favorite thing, though, is “If it was socially acceptable to eat frosting by itself…”, which leaves me suspecting that eating frosting by itself is exactly what you do when no one’s watching. (Just between you and me, you’re not the only one.)
Oh I definitely eat frosting straight when no one is looking! I mean I always look over both shoulders before I duck into the coat closet with the bowl of frosting. Gotta make sure no one catches me! 🙂
Love this great way to use those overripe bananas instead of making banana bread! Love that they have a frosting on it too… the perfect snacking cake!
I’m never gonna complain about banana bread, but I gotta say these banana bars + frosting are pretty darn fantastic! I highly recommend baking up a batch. 🙂
I love baked goods with ripe bananas – the kitchen always smell amazing, nearly intoxicating. Plus, the addition of cinnamon, vanilla, brown sugar, and cream cheese is a win-win. And you know what other kind of frosting would go well here? The combination of cream cheese and thick dulce de leche! Bonus: you may not even need to add any additional sugar. And I’m quite surprised that you didn’t add a splash or two of bourbon to this frosting! 🙂
You are totally right about the smells, Ben. Baking with bananas is a lot like baking with traditional fall baking spices – the kitchen just smells amazing! Hmmm, I’m really loving your idea of a dulce de leche frosting on these banana bars. You should make that! And now I’m thinking I need to make these again with a splash of bourbon – I mean we have enough bottles. Haha! Thanks for the inspiration, my friend!
These Frosted Banana Bars sound like the ultimate treat! I totally get what you mean about frosting – it’s like the cherry on top of a delicious cake. The combination of tender banana cake and brown sugar cream cheese frosting has me drooling already. And those chopped pecans for added crunch? YUMMY! I can’t wait to give this recipe a try and indulge in some banana goodness.
The banana bars are good enough to eat by themselves – they’re tender and flavorful. But add in that brown sugar frosting? It’s a whole new level of delicious! I hope you like this recipe, Raymund!