Banana Blondies from The View from Great Island

Banana Blondies -made December 30, 2022 from The View from Great Island

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup well-mashed banana, about 1 to 1/2 overripe bananas

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Caramel Icing

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons cream or whole milk

1 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 9 x 9-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. (I recommend making in an 8 x 8-inch pan for thicker bars.)
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together melted butter and brown sugar until well combined. Add egg and vanilla, mixing to combine. Beat in mashed bananas
3. Add flour and salt, mixing until just combined; do not overmix. Pour into prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Bake 25-30 minutes or until center is set and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
4. While cake is cooling, in a small saucepan, melt butter, brown sugar and cream or milk, whisking until well combined. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, before removing from heat and adding powdered sugar, whisking until smooth and combined. Spread immediately over cake and spread evenly. Let cool before cutting and serving.

This is one of the rare times I made something with bananas and frosting. Since 99% of my baking goes into military care packages going overseas, I don't bake or send anything with frosting and nothing with fruit like bananas. The bake would be too moist to survive potentially long mailing times without molding, even if vacuum sealed.

But we had a family gathering at my sister's with my aunt and uncle in town so I seized the opportunity to try out this recipe that I've been meaning to make for ages. It turned out really well, flavorful and perfect cakey texture.

The only tweaks I would make for next time is to bake in a smaller pan (8 x 8) to make thicker bars and to cut back on the powdered sugar by at least 1/4 to 1/3 cup. The frosting set up quickly and set more like a thin penuche. Plus it was really sweet. Less powdered sugar would keep it as a softer frosting and cut back on the sweetness. But the cake part of the blondies was superb.