These cookies have chewy centers, crunchy edges, and tahini gives them a light nutty flavor. Chopped nuts can be added for an extra crunch.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Additional Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 – 9×13 inch pan |
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, with juice
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup maraschino cherries, halved
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 4 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Make a well in the center and pour in the crushed pineapple, eggs, oil, bananas and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cherries. Mix well and pour into prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Frost cake while still warm.
- To make the frosting: in a medium bowl, combine melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla and confectioners’ sugar. Beat in milk, one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is achieved.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 428 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 73 g |
| Cholesterol | 42 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 218 mg |
| Sugars | 53 g |
| Fat | 14 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
The cake was delicious. I did add pecans and extra cherries to the batter. I also made a homemade cream cheese frosting. Delicious, I will make it again.
Made these as cupcakes with a chocolate frosting. I think a less sweet frosting would go a bit better next time, maybe a dark chocolate instead. Also added 1 cup of chocolate chips (we like our chocolate!) They were a big hit at the party I brought them to!
I will definitely make this again. Just love it. I followed the recipe, except I used cream cheese frosting from Pillsbury, and added chopped walnuts over the frosting.
Super easy to make… I made no changes, except to add a bit of food colouring to the frosting.
A yummy banana cake………while the flavor of the bananas over-powers the taste of the cherries and pineapple, they still add an interesting texture and color (the cherries do) to the cake. The frosting is good too. I will make this again sometime in the future, though the calorie content makes it a treat for special occasions where it can be shared with many others. Guess that’s my way of saying that it was too available for me to eat it, since there’re only the two of us in the household! Back to counting calories……
omg what an amazing recipe, tasted just like a banana split! I followed the recipe exactly, just quartered the cherries instead of putting whole ones into the batter. I needed a little more icing than the recipe called for, so I just added a little more of the ingredients until the taste and consistency were good. I added walnuts on top of the icing while it was still warm, then after that cooled I drizzled Hersheys hard shell syrup on top and added more walnuts. The only con of the recipe is that the bars were really messy, next time I’ll leave it in the fridge for a few hours before serving to see if that helps. A must try recipe though, perfect for summer. 🙂
These didn’t work for me. Followed recipe to a “T” and they were mushy and bland in the middle. Too bad, I had high hopes for this one!
Yum! I added a little extra pineapple and it was STILL hard to taste! I also put regular cream cheese frosting on it to save time but added crushed pineapple, chocolate syrup, nuts, and cherries to the top as a garnish that really helped bring out the whole theme/flavors. Also, i only baked it for 30 minutes and it probably could have been taken out a little earlier than that (i used an aluminum pan and electric oven)! Really yummy though. My husband loves it!
Sooo Good!!! Had to use a cup of fresh pineapple no juice..didn’t need it. Next time I’ll use more cherries. Made with cream cheese frosting. Thank you for this recipe!!
MMMmmmm!!! These were the most delicious banana bars! I followed the directions and ingredients for the batter to a “T”. The bars rose up a bit while baking and smelled like “bananas” in my house. They were done in 35 minutes. The bars had a light brown color with flecks of maraschino cherries baked in. I set the bars aside to cool while I made the frosting. Instead of vanilla extract I replaced it with banana extract for more banana flavor. I added the confectioner’s sugar, to taste, and the milk, to desired consistency. After I frosted the bars I sprinkled some finely chopped walnuts. The bars were moist, flavorful and just banana-y good! The bars look and taste more like a light and airy banana cake (not bread). The banana flavor is pronounced in the bars complemented by the sweet maraschino cherries. I couldn’t taste the pineapples and forgot it was even in there. The frosting is light, buttery with a banana-y flavor. It is sweet without it being overly sweet. I found the directions, baking time and servings all spot on! I think the next time I bake these I will add a little more cherries. This was an absolute joy to bake and eat.
These are incredible banana bars. I took these to the teachers’ lounge at school and had several requests for the recipe. They are very moist, and all of the flavors work so well together. I topped my piece (I always try to sneak one piece) with hot fudge sauce, and it was wonderful. One of the best banana recipes I’ve tried!
These are terrific! I only made the cake and we ate it without frosting and they didn’t need it. I did double the cherries and next time i’m going to add 1 cup of chocolate chips.
Pretty good. I added 1 cup of chocolate chips. I couldn’t taste the pineapple that much and I wish I had doubled the cherries. I like the frosting and enjoyed these bars in general.
Was good, would maybe use a different frosting next time though!
The recipe took longer to cook about 45-50 min & was not good! Too sweet & doughy. Very disappointed.
I tried making this recipe in cupcake form instead, and it turned out great! Just grease and flour the muffin tins, and only bake it for 15 min. at the same temp. It makes 24 cupcakes, but make sure you ice them once they’ve cooled, or else they get REALLY messy!