Banana Chocolate Chip Bars

These chocolate chip banana bars taste just like banana blondies! They’re tender, moist, and the perfect way to use up ripe bananas.

Author: Chef Sally

Ingredients

Scale

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 113g
1 cup packed light brown sugar 200g
1 large egg, room temperature 56g
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 6g
1/2 tsp fine salt 3g
1 cup all-purpose flour 125g
1 cup mashed overripe banana about 2 large bananas 250g
3/4 cup chocolate chips, chopped 125g

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line an 8×8-inch baking dish with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together 1/2 cup unsalted butter and 1 cup brown sugar with a stand mixer or hand mixer. Mix on a medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until the mixture becomes lighter in color. You can also make this batter by hand with a whisk, but the butter will need to be quite soft.
Add in 1 large egg, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and 1/2 tsp fine salt. Mix on a medium-low speed until combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed with a rubber spatula.
Mix in 1 cup of all-purpose flour and mix on low until just combined.
Fold 1 cup mashed banana into the batter until they're fully incorporated.
Then fold in 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips or chopped chocolate chips, saving a few to sprinkle on top of the batter before they're baked.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle a few additional bits of chocolate on top of the batter.
Bake for 33-37 minutes, until the edges are golden brown, and the center is baked through. Rotate the pan halfway through to help the bars bake evenly.
Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack. Let the bars fully cool in the pan. Once cool, gently remove the bars from the pan and cut into 16 squares using a sharp, warm knife. Wipe the blade after each cut with a paper towel to get nice, clean cuts.
These bars can sit at room temperature for a few days or be covered with plastic wrap or stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Notes

If you need to make any substitutions or swaps in this recipe, please see the section in the post above on ingredient substitutions.
These chocolate chip banana bars can be made in advance! They can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days, in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to a month.
Just be sure to separate them a bit and place parchment between each layer of bars! This will help prevent them from sticking to each other if theyre stacked.
This recipe can also be doubled and made in a quarter sheet pan (9x 13). Bake for 37-42 minutes, or until the edges look golden brown and the center looks set.
These bars bake up best in a light-colored metal pan.
However, if you need to bake these bars in a glass baking pan, reduce the baking temperature by 25 degrees (to 325 F) and bake them for about 5 minutes less. Glass doesnt heat up as quickly as metal, but becomes very hot once heated up.