🍌 Spiced Banana Bars with Penuche Frosting

🍌 Spiced Banana Bars with Penuche Frosting

Sometimes forgetting something is how you discover something better.

These began as banana bread.

I mixed the bananas,

butter,

sugar,

egg,

flour,

and warm spices,

spread everything into a square pan,

and put it in the oven.

Then I realized I had forgotten the leavening.

What came out wasn’t banana bread at all.

It was lower,

dense and moist

almost somewhere between banana bread and a brownie.

And really,

really good.

So Banana Bars it is.

Ingredients

For the Banana Bars

1½ cups all-purpose flour

⅛ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon cardamom

½ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon clove

¼ teaspoon coriander

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cup, mashed banana

⅓ cup butter, melted

½ cup sugar

1 large egg

Penuche Frosting

¼ cup butter

½ cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons milk or cream

⅛ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

½ teaspoon vanilla

¾–1 cup powdered sugar

Make the Bars

Heat the oven to 350°F.

Grease a 9 × 9-inch square baking pan.

Mash the bananas,

then stir in the melted butter,

sugar,

and egg.

Add the flour,

salt,

ginger,

cardamom,

allspice,

cloves,

and coriander.

Stir just until combined.

Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes,

or until the center is set.

Let the bars cool completely before frosting.

Make the Frosting

Melt the butter in a small saucepan.

Add the brown sugar and milk or cream.

Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously.

Remove from the heat.

Stir in the salt and vanilla.

Allow to cool for several minutes.

Beat in ¾ cup powdered sugar,

adding more only as needed until the frosting reaches a soft,

spreadable consistency.

Spread over the cooled banana bars while the frosting is still slightly warm.

Allow the frosting to set before cutting into squares.

🌿 From the Keeper

Not every kitchen mistake needs to be corrected.

Sometimes the recipe knows where it’s going before the cook does.

First taste the mistake.

Then decide whether it needs fixing.

And sometimes,

apparently,

what it needs is penuche. 😂

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