8 | 52 Monkey Squares

It happens a couple of times per year. The search for recipes that involve ripe bananas.

Because for some reason, the poor bananas already turned brown because nobody ate them...
Sound familiar?

This brown-banana-time around, I decided to try Monkey Squares.
Because there is a browned butter frosting involved. How can you say no to that?!

Monkey Squares

From The Girl Who Ate Everything

For the Banana Bread Bars:

300 g (1 1/2 cups) sugar

200 g (1 cup) sour cream

113 g (1/2 cup) butter, softened

3-4 ripe bananas, mashed

2 teaspoons vanilla

250 g (2 cups) flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

For the Browned Butter Frosting:

113 g (1/2 cup) butter

440 g (4 cups) powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons milk

• Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F). Beat sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs until creamy. Add bananas and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Spread into prepared pan (about 25x35 cm / 10x15 in) and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly.
• For the frosting, heat butter over medium heat until it is boiling and a delicate brown. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients immediately. Frost the still warm banana bread bars right away.

My modifications:

None.

The taste:

Good. And that frosting is as good as it sounds but VERY sweet! No wonder with that amount of powdered sugar... I would also reduce the amount of vanilla in the frosting to 1/2 teaspoon next time. The taste was a bit overpowering in the frosting.

What's your favorite Banana Bread recipe? I'd love to know!