On the Menu Monday: Banana Nut Bars

In keeping up with my new plan to try a new recipe once a week, I decided to make this uh-mazingly delicious dessert that I stole from none other than Pinterest (originally from The Girl Who Ate Everything). Seriously...this is SO good...you must make it! Yesterday was Daniels birthday but today we were celebrating with my family so I needed a dessert. Every year on his birthday, Daniel likes banana nut cake with cream cheese frosting as his birthday cake so this year I decided to mix it up with these Banana Nut Bars with Brown Butter Frosting. Yum!
The recipe didn't call for anything I didn't already have and the brown butter frosting for the tops of the bars sounded awesome. Truly, I tell you these bars were for him and not me! ;)
They turned out so ridiculously good that I will definitely be making these in the future! The birthday boy was definitely happy!
I do reccommend that you make doubly sure that they are cooked all the way in the center as I did not and had quite a few non-edible pieces. I think it's REALLY important to make sure the batter is spread even to ensure this doesn't happen since it is so thick...live and learn! I hope you enjoy these delicious bars as much as I did. Enjoy!

Banana Nut Bars:
1-1/2 c. sugar
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
1-3/4 (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Brown Butter Frosting:
1/2 c. butter
4 c. powdered sugar
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. milk
*This frosting is SO delicious and easy I will most definitely be making it again.

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375F. Grease and flour 15x10-inch pan. For the bars, in a large bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, salt, and blend for 1 minute. Stir in walnuts (optional).

2. Spread batter evenly into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Meanwhile, for frosting, heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Let the butter turn a delicate brown and remove from heat immediately.

4. Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk. Whisk together until smooth (it should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting). Using a spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the warm bars (the frosting will be easier to spread while the bars are still warm).

Makes: 2 dozen large bars