Banana Bread Bars with Vanilla Bean Browned Butter Glaze

Glazed Banana Bread Bars — 🍌🍞😍 Banana bread in bar form with a glaze that soaks in and is just so darn good! Dense enough to be satisfying, but still perfectly light, fluffy, and packed with rich banana flavor!

Glazed Banana Bread Bars Recipe

I love banana bread anything and could eat it every day and not get sick of it. I have 40+ banana bread and banana recipes but no banana bread bars. What? Time to change that.

This banana bread bars recipe combines two of my favorite recipes into one: Cream-Cheese Filled Banana Bread and Fudgy Banana Bars with Vanilla Bean Browned Butter Glaze.

It’s a fast and easy recipe that uses melted coconut oil so there’s no butter to cream and no electric mixer to dirty. Oil keeps bread softer and springier than butter, and I prefer the taste. 

Then, the sour cream (or Greek yogurt) is extra insurance for a soft, springy, bouncy, fluffy loaf. Using sour cream, Greek yogurt, or buttermilk in quick bread and muffin recipes ensures more tender results.

The glaze makes the banana bread bars go from great to out-of-this-world amazing and I’ve been topping everything I can with it. Browned butter and glorious specks of vanilla beans can do no wrong.

After pouring the glaze over the warm bars, it seeps down and soaks in, and makes the bars even moister and softer. The rippled appearance that’s created as it sets up is unadulterated homey comfort food.

The banana bread bars are dense enough to be satisfying but are still perfectly light, fluffy, and packed with rich banana flavor. And that glaze. Oh my! It makes for a dessert worth dreaming about.

What’s in Banana Bread Bars? 

To make these banana bars with sour cream, you’ll need a handful of simple ingredients including: 

• Egg
• Light brown sugar
• Coconut oil – This adds a nearly imperceptible undertone that’s sweeter and more fragrant than canola or vegetable oil, but substitute if you prefer
• Sour cream 
• Vanilla extract
• Ripe bananas or overripe bananas
• All-purpose flour – If needed, you can use a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour to keep these banana bread bars gluten-free. Do not substitute almond flour, coconut flour, or any other gluten-free flour substitute
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Unsalted butter
• Confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
• Vanilla bean paste – I used vanilla bean paste in the glaze but scraping the seeds of a vanilla bean works too. Vanilla extract is okay, but won’t be as flavorfully intense as paste or seeds
• Cream or milk

Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.

How to Make Banana Bread Bars

Recipes don’t get easier than this simple moist banana bread bars recipe! Here’s an overview of the process:

1. Combine the wet ingredients in a bowl, and stir in the mashed bananas. Then, fold in the dry ingredients, being very careful not to overmix.
2. Turn the batter into a prepared baking pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.
3. Bake until the center is golden brown and set, springy when lightly touched, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Start checking for doneness around teh 25-minute mark! Cool the banana bread on a wire rack at room temperature.
4. Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat to create brown butter. Be careful not to let it boil! Then, transfer it and any browned bits to a large mixing bowl. Add the confectioner’s sugar, vanilla bean paste, and salt. Slowly add the milk, whisking until smooth.
5. Pour the glaze evenly over the banana bread loaf, smoothing it out evenly. Allow the bars to cool in the pan uncovered for 2 to 3 hours, slice, and serve.

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4.88 from 8 votes

Banana Bread Bars with Vanilla Bean Browned Butter Glaze

By Averie Sunshine

🍌🍞😍 Banana bread in bar form with a glaze that soaks in and is just so darn good! Dense enough to be satisfying, but still perfectly light, fluffy, and packed with rich banana flavor!

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 27 minutes minutes

Cooling Time: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 2 hours hours 37 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 servings

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Equipment

• 1 (9×9) Baking Pan
• 2 Large Bowls
• 1 Small Saucepan

Ingredients  

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Bars

• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
• ▢ ¼ cup liquid-state coconut oil, canola or vegetable may be substituted
• ▢ ¼ cup cup sour cream, lite is okay; or Greek yogurt may be substituted
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 cup mashed ripe bananas, about 2 large/3 med bananas
• ▢ 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ pinch salt, optional and to taste

Glaze

• ▢ 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, browned (how to brown butter tutorial)
• ▢ 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste, or seeds from 1 large vanilla bean; 1 tablespoon vanilla extract may be substituted
• ▢ pinch salt, optional and to taste
• ▢ about 1/4 to 1/3 cup cream or milk, or as necessary for consistency

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Instructions 

Make the bars:

• Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9-by-9-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
• To a large bowl, add the egg, brown sugar, coconut oil, sour cream, vanilla, and whisk to combine.
• Add the bananas and stir to incorporate.
• Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, optional salt, and fold with spatula or stir gently with a spoon until just combined; don’t overmix.
• Turn batter out into the prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula and pushing it into corners and sides as necessary.
• Bake for about 27 to 28 minutes (start watching closely by 25 minutes) or until the center is golden and set, springy when touched lightly, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Baking times will vary based on moisture content in bananas; bake until your bars are done.
• Place pan onto of a wire rack to cool while you make the glaze.

Make the Glaze:

• Brown the butter. Cook butter over medium-high heat in a small saucepan until it’s amber to brown in color, about 5 minutes depending on pan size, but watch it closely so it doesn’t burn. I swirl the pan in the last minute or so to make sure I can really see the color changes. Butter will go through stages of hissing, sputtering, and making noise until the water cooks off at which point the browning occurs. Butter will smell nutty and aromatic.
• Transfer butter, including brown bits at the bottom of the pan (they’re flavor powerhouses, keep them) from pan to large mixing bowl which stops carryover cooking.
• Add the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla bean paste, optional salt, and slowly add the milk, whisking until smooth.
• As necessary, add additional cream (or confectioners’ sugar) to reach desired glaze consistency. Glaze should be of medium thickness and easily pourable.
• Evenly pour glaze over bars (they don’t have to be cooled first), smoothing it lightly with a spatula if necessary, but glaze will likely just slide into place.
• Allow bars to cool in pan uncovered for at least 2 to 3 hours, (or overnight and cover with a sheet of foil) before slicing and serving so glaze can set up.

Notes

• Bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week (I’m comfortable storing glazed items at room temp), or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
• Adapted from Cream-Cheese Filled Banana Bread and Fudgy Banana Bars.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 279kcal, Carbohydrates: 39g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 37mg, Sodium: 162mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 28g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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The Best Strawberry Banana Bread — This strawberry bread is packed with fresh, juicy strawberries in every bite! This is an easy, no-mixer quick bread recipe you’re going to love!