Banana icing tops these delicious, soft banana bars. Wow, wow!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 24 |
| Yield: | 1 – 9×13 inch pan |
Ingredients
- ½ cup shortening
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 very ripe banana, mashed
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- ½ ripe banana
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
- In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until smooth. Stir in the milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Mix in 1 banana, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let bars cool in the pan on a wire rack.
- To make the frosting: In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 banana, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice using an electric mixer. Beat until smooth. Spread over cooled bars and then cut into squares.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 172 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 27 g |
| Cholesterol | 3 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 132 mg |
| Sugars | 19 g |
| Fat | 7 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
My husband and I loved these bars. I had 2 small changes: I used a stick of vegan butter instead of shortening and I used 1 1/2 bananas in the batter so that I wouldn’t end up with half of an old banana. I think the next time I make these that I’ll cut the sugar to 2/3 cup. They were great.
Flat heavy cake – terrible!
The banana bars were terrific. I made them exactly as the recipe was written; except, I added more chopped walnuts after I frosted the cake. Also, I did not use all of the icing, only a thin layer (about half). I will definitely make again, and again.
they were great. i split the recipe and made them in an 8X8 glass dish. i frosted them too.
Used carbalose flour, coconut sugar and extra banana. Baked longer and everything turned out great
I made few changes based on ingredients. 50/50 with butter and crisco. Added one egg and extra banana. I did cook it in a 9×9 but it was to think for a bar. So I will cook it in a larger pan next time. Loved it.
One of my more popular recipes that others ask me for.
I made these. I was unsure if my family would like the topping so i only did half. Without the icing its too dry but I do like the flavor. I would make again but add sour cream.
Added 2 banana’s to the batter. Put them in a 9 x 9 pan. Also added 1 whole banana to the frosting…turned out perfect!! Baked for 26 minutes!!
loved the end product, but it lost one star for me because I found it waaaaaay too sweet. Next time I’ll figure out a way to make it with less sugar content. I increased the banana by two, and substituted the shortening with coconut oil. As another reviewer did, I doubled the icing recipe so it would cover the entire pan well.
very quick & easy to make and tasty even without the icing.
Made this today and I was actually shocked to find that it was moist and really delicious. I used 1 stick of butter, 4 bananas and a tad more milk and flour. It didn’t need frosting, but had some on hand for my husband. He loved the bars. This is a keeper!
Very good and easy. I used 2 bananas, a 9×9 pan and did not add the frosting, it was sweet enough as is. I also baked it longer, until it sprung back when lightly touched, as another reviewer recommended
I did make changes based on other reviews. Used 1/3 cup of butter in place of shortening, 2/3 cup brown sugar instead of 1 cup of white sugar & added an egg & extra bananas. It was delicious! I made the icing as is & oh, yes, baked in a smaller pan, 7 x 11, for 30 minutes. I will definitely make again!
I did use butter and half brown and white sugar. What amazed me was the no egg! I reread the recipe four times and scanned the reviews to be sure it wasn’t a mis print. So, butter is better and it is true that the center bounces back but it’s still pretty gooey inside. Otherwise these were really yummy.
These tasted OK, but were really thin. They could use a bit more banana flavor, also. I will try again using two bananas and make in a smaller pan with a longer bake time.
This is one of the most delicious banana desserts I have ever eaten in my life and and I generally don’t like banana anything. This is the first recipe that I have ever spent the time to rate. The only extra thing that I did was put in more banana’s because I wanted to use all of 4 of them. Best dessert ever!
like the bread icing too strong
Yes, I made changes to the recipe. The first time I made it was not so good. My kids still ate it. The second time I made it I followed the directions. The only thing I did was cut the sugar to 2/3 cup and used raw sugar. I used two bananas and butter because I did not have shortening.
I made these with high expectations. Unfortunately they did not come out to my standards. Taste is fine for the bar part. The icing was way too sweet and extremely runny. I ended up adding more banana and more powdered sugar to make it even somewhat acceptably spreadable. If I make these bars again, I will frost with my own cream cheese icing. ***I changed my original review from 3 stars to 4. The reason? I made these to take to a function, being very skeptical if I should even take them. Hubby convinced me to take them in and I’m glad I did! There were a number of “20-something”-year-old young men at this function and they all loved these. One even offered to pay me $20 a week to make him a batch and send to his house! I personally was a tad disappointed in them, but young men love them.
Great, love that there are not any eggs! They also taste like banana cake.YUMMMMMMMMM!