Ashley Nicole

One of my new goals is to start cooking and baking more often. I used to love baking when I was younger, but with a sister who is an incredible baker it can be hard to try out a new recipe when I can just steal some cake scraps when I get a sugar craving. I’ve been collecting recipes for a while now on Pinterest and this one caught my eye. I was sold. Who wouldn’t love a banana bread that claims to be more moist and dense than the traditional version?

My notes? The next time I make this recipe (because there definitely will be a next time!) I won’t be as nervous when I’m browning the butter. I could have let the butter simmer for another minute or two but I was too worried about creating burnt butter icing which just doesn’t have the same ring to it. The icing was almost too sweet (and I LOVE sweet), so I think I’d like to try a browned butter glaze next. This one looks good.

Banana Bread Bars
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
½ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Browned Butter Frosting
½ cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
about 3 tablespoons milk or half and half

Steps
1/ Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 10×15 jelly roll pan. Beat first four ingredients until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla for one minute. Add dry ingredients and blend for one minute. Stir in nuts and spread in pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Cool slighty until warm but not hot and frost with Browned Butter Frosting (recipe below).
2/ For the Browned Butter Frosting: Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat past the melting point until it is boiling and a delicate brown. Remove from the heat and immediately add the remaining ingredients. This should be thicker than a glaze and thinner than frosting. Using a spatula smooth over the top of the Monkey Squares immediately. The frosting will be easier to spread once it’s on the warm bread.

Happy Easter!