Move over banana bread. We’re making Banana Bars with Chocolate Ganache. These banana chocolate chip bars are perfect for parties and celebrations of all kinds.
Weeknight-easy
Minimal prep
You’ll Learn: The best ratio for ganache
Worth It: Puts overripe bananas to good use
Bonus: Simple swaps to match what’s in your pantry
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Use up your ripe bananas – this is the perfect way to use up those super ripe bananas that always linger too long on the kitchen counter.
- Soft texture you love from banana bread – these banana chocolate chip bars have that soft and moist texture you love from banana bread, but in a snack cake form! It also bakes faster than banana bread because its not in a deep loaf pan.
- Serve as a snack or dessert – Serve this without the icing for a delicious snack OR add the chocolate ganache on top to make it a decadent dessert.
- Decorate with toppings – serve this in place of a birthday cake or another cake at a special gathering. Top it with sprinkles to really make it festive.
Trick for ripening bananas
In order to make these banana chocolate chip bars you must use extra ripe bananas. Extra rip bananas are much sweeter and that sweetness is key.
Luckily you can ripen bananas quickly in the oven. Heat your oven to 300F and place the bananas on a baking sheet.
Place in the oven at 300F and cook until the peels turn black. Remove from the oven, cool completely and use for this banana bar recipe!
Looking for some other banana bread recipes? This pumpkin banana bread has rich pumpkin spice flavor and is a delicious treat for fall. This cinnamon swirl banana bread has a ribbon of decadent cinnamon sugar running through the middle. Make banana bread with brown butter for a classic banana bread recipe that has rich, butter flavor.
Ingredients
- Very ripe bananas
- Unsalted butter
- Brown sugar
- Eggs
- Sour cream
- Vanilla extract
- All purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Semi sweet chocolate chips
- Heavy cream
Ingredient Substitutions
To make these chocolate chip banana bars gluten free, use a 1 to 1 gluten free flour blend in place of the all purpose flour. You can also use dairy free substitutes for the butter and sour cream.
If you do not like the taste of chocolate ganache, feel free to top it with a different icing. The chocolate and banana flavors pair beautifully with a cream cheese frosting.
To add a little extra protein to this recipe, you can use Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream.
What is chocolate ganache?
Traditional chocolate ganache is 1:1 mixture of chocolate and warm heavy cream. When stirred together, the two form a smooth and glossy chocolate sauce.
You can make ganache thicker or thinner by adjusting that ratio. I like to use a 2:1 ratio to make a thicker chocolate ganache that is better for spreading over cakes like an icing.
How to make Banana Bars with Chocolate Ganache
Step 1: Prepare banana bar batter
To begin, preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper or grease with cooking spray.
Then, place ripe bananas in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher or the back of a fork.
Melt the stick of butter and pour into the bowl with the mashed bananas followed by the brown sugar, eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract (Image 1).
Next, stir with a whisk to combine the wet ingredients (Image 2).
Pour the flour, baking soda and salt into the bowl (Image 3). Fold dry ingredients into wet with a flat spatula. Pour chocolate chips into the mixing bowl (Image 4). Then, fold them into the batter.
Step 2: bake banana bars and prepare ganache
Then, pour the batter into a lined or greased 9×13 baking dish. Place in the oven and back at 350F for 28-30 minutes.
Insert a toothpick into the center of the pan and if it comes out clean they are fully baked. Remove from the oven and cool completely (Image 5).
While they are cooling prepare the ganache. Heat heavy cream on the stove top until just starting to boil. Pour scalded cream over the chocolate chips in a mixing bowl.
Then, mix the ganache constantly with a whisk until the milk is fully incorporated into the chocolate and a smooth ganache remains.
Step 3: pour ganache over top and serve
Allow the ganache to cool completely. ONLY when the banana bars and the ganache are completely cool, pour ganache over top of the bars (Image 6).
Finally, garnish with flakey sea salt and cut into squares
Storage
I prefer to store the cut banana bars in the fridge. It helps the ganache stay firm and prevents them from going bad too quickly. I store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Other easy dessert recipes
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Banana Bars with Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
Banana bread ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 1 stick unsalted butter 8 tbsp
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Ganache ingredients
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Place ripe bananas in a large mixing bowl and mash with a potato masher or the back of a fork. Melt the stick of butter and pour into the bowl with the mashed bananas followed by the brown sugar, eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract.
- Whisk to combine the wet ingredients. Pour the flour, baking soda and salt into the bowl and fold in with a spatula. Then fold in the chocolate chips
- Pour the batter into a lined 9×13 baking dish. Place in the oven and back at 350F for 28-30 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of the pan and if it comes out clean they are fully baked.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely. While they are cooling prepare the ganache. Heat heavy cream on the stove top until just starting to boil. Pour scalded cream over the chocolate chips in a mixing bowl.
- Mix the ganache constantly with a whisk until the milk is fully incorporated into the chocolate and a smooth ganache remains.
- Allow the ganache to cool completely. ONLY when the banana bars and the ganache are completely cool, pour ganache over top of the bars.
- Garnish with flakey sea salt and cut into squares
Recipe Notes
- Use extra ripe bananas – to ripe banana quickly place in the oven at 300F until the peel turns black
- To make gluten free use a 1:1 gluten free flour blend
- Use regular chocolate frosting in place of ganache if desired
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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