Monkey Squares (Banana Bread Bars)

What is up with bananas and their incredibly short edibility window? Nobody in my family cares much for bananas except me, so I don't buy them often, but when I do it seems like I never actually get to eat more than one of them before they're brown and mushy! I've tried buying them green to give myself a little more time, but somehow they manage to go from under-ripe to overripe in less time than it takes me to convince myself to snack on a banana instead of a bag of chips.

I used to turn my brown bananas into a loaf of banana bread, but this recipe takes it up a notch with the addition of a browned butter icing that is freaking awesome! Even better, I've learned that I don't have to use my over-ripe bananas immediately, I can stick them in the freezer and pull them out when I'm good and ready! This is great for when you only have one sad, little banana left and the recipe calls for three.  The skin turns completely brown when you freeze them, but the inside is just the right kind of mushy for this yummy treat.

Monkey Squares
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 25 min
Serves 24

1-1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Brown Butter Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
4 cup powdered sugar
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbs milk

Heat oven to 375F.  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 mix just till combined. Stir in walnuts.

Spread batter evenly into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

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. (The color change happens in an instant so watch carefully or it will burn!)

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

286 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!