Chocolate Chip Banana Bars

These chocolate chip banana bars are easy to make and most important of all - delicious. They are great as a snack, breakfast or dessert.

Anyone that eats bananas daily eventually gets some extra ripe bananas. Great thing is, there are plenty of options to use them for - from banana bread baked oatmeal to whole wheat banana bread.

However, if there is one recipe that is usually my go-to, it is banana bread. But I really wanted to mix it up and these banana bars are banana bread in bar form!

They are like a healthier blondie in a way but the texture of banana bread. Best of all there is no mixer needed and everything is made in just one bowl, which means lest dishes to clean up! That is never a bad thing.

And you don't HAVE to add chocolate, although to me chocolate makes everything better.

But if you are looking for an easy recipe to take advantage of those ripe bananas, these banana bars should be on the list.

Jump to:

• Recipe Ingredients
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• How to Ripen Bananas Quickly
• Healthy Option
• Variations
• Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
• Other Dessert Recipes
• Chocolate Chip Banana Bars

Recipe Ingredients

• Bananas - the star of the show adds natural sweetness and moistness.
• Light brown sugar - can also use granulated sugar or maple syrup.
• Unsalted butter - vegetable oil or canola oil works as well.
• Milk - thins out the batter and adds some fat.
• Eggs - helps bind everything together and lets the bars rise.
• Vanilla extract - adds flavor to the whole wheat banana bread. You could always try homemade vanilla extract.
• Whole wheat flour - can use all-purpose if needed but whole wheat is more nutritious.
• Baking powder - a leavening agent the allows for the bread to rise.
• Cinnamon and nutmeg - extra flavor. Could also use pumpkin pie spice.
• Salt - enhances the flavor.
• Chocolate chips - semi-sweet or dark chocolate are my go-tos.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F and line a 10×15 pan with parchment paper. Mash bananas in large bowl. S
2. tir in sugar, butter, milk, eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combine.
3. Add in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and mix until just combined.
4. Add chocolate chips.
5. Spread batter evenly in pan.
6. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

How to Ripen Bananas Quickly

Ripe bananas are important as they are sweeter and have a stronger flavor. I usually just wait until I have ripe bananas, but there are ways to ripen them faster:

1. Place the bananas in a paper bag with an apple and close. Leave for a day and you have ripened bananas. The apple releases ethylene  which causes the ripening.
2. Heat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Place bananas on the sheet and bake for 3-35 minutes or until the peels are black. Let cool for 1 hour.
3. Take a fork and poke through the skin of the peel thoughout the banan. Microwave for 30 seconds and check for desired softness. If not soft yet, ripe in 30 second increments until ripeness is obtained.

Healthy Option

If you want even healthier banana bars, you can make these substitions and they'll still taste great:

• Replace the butter with applesauce.
• While whole wheat flour is healthy, you could try almond flour.
• Use almond milk instead of whole milk.
• Add 2 tablespoon ground flax for extra fiber.

Variations

• Flour - if you are nervous about all whole wheat flour, you could use half whole wheat and half all-purpose. If you are gluten-free, I recommend Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour.
• Mix-ins - I mentioned before, but you don't have to use chocolate chips. You could add anything from nuts to fruits. My favorite combination is mini chocolate chips and hazelnuts.
• Vegan - you can make chia eggs. Just mix 2 tablespoon of chia seeds with 5 tablespoon water and let sit for 5 minutes before adding to the banana bars. You can also use same amount of flaxseeds.

Pro Tips/Recipe Notes

• Use baking powder that is less than a year old since it has been opened. If you use older baking soda, it won’t be powerful enough to help leaven the bars. You can test it by stirring half a teaspoon of baking powder into a cup of hot water. It will immediately start to fizz and release carbon dioxide gas if it’s still fresh enough to use.
• If using nuts, don't skip out on roasting them. By roasting the nuts, they will stay crispy in the batter and bring out the flavor.
• If you want to freeze the banana bars, place on baking sheet and freeze. Then place in ziploc bag and freeze up to 3 months and then thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.

Other Dessert Recipes

• Vegan Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies
• Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
• Strawberry Lemon Bars
• M&M Brownies
• Homemade Cream Puffs
• Congo Squares
• Eggless Brownies

If you’ve tried these chocolate chip banana bars or any other recipe on Chisel & Fork, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube to see more tasty meals and anything else I'm up to.