'Nana-rich squares.

So far, I have 3 banana recipes here in Shash Stash: Banana Maple Muffins, Simple Banana Muffins, and Chocolate Banana Bread. Today, I'm adding one to the mix, now in bar form.

Bananas are a staple in my house; guess we just love our potassium haha! My dad loves munching on bananas ever since I can remember so my mom makes sure to buy them at least once a week. Sometimes when bananas get overripe quickly, I get to turn them into baked goods that we then have either for breakfast or for afternoon snacks. That's pretty much the case here. My uncle dropped by the other day and gave us a huge fan of bananas. Since they're becoming overripe quickly, I decided to whip up a tasty batch of banana bars.

My mom has this book called Cookies! and it's a book that I've always looked at and read ever since I was young. That book has great recipes and even greater pictures that always mesmerized me and made me hungry. Luckily, one of the bar recipes is a banana chocolate chip bar- the one I made today, tweaked a bit to slightly jazz it up.

A plain banana baked good is great on its own but it gets elevated more when you put in other things in the mix. I love jazzing my banana baked goods with chocolate chips and nuts but there are other things you can throw in too like nut butters, peanut butter or sea salt caramel chips, M&Ms, jelly, and healthier options like cacao nibs, chia seeds, and oats. Banana recipes are quite customizable when it comes to mix-ins so when you experiment, your banana baked good will turn out different every time which is great!

For this banana baked good, I went with my fave combo mix-ins: chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. I added a generous sprinkling of cacao nibs on top to add more texture and flavor to the bars. Creamy banana base with hints of chocolate with a bite of nuts and cacao nibs? Count me in!

Enjoy!

BANANA BARS

(adapted from the Cookies! cookbook)

Yield: 16-20 squares

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted the measured

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, melted (option to use browned butter)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, slightly packed

1 1/4 cup mashed bananas

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

generous sprinkling of cacao nibs

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line an 9" square pan.

2. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In another bowl, beat butter and sugars until well combined.

4. Add in eggs, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract into the butter mix and beat until just combined.

5. Add in flour mix into the wet mix bowl and mix until well combined.

6. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts into the batter.

7. Transfer batter into the lined square pan and sprinkle generously with cacao nibs before baking.

8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

9. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!