Why you will love this recipe
This easy recipe for banana brownies was born out of the fact that somehow there are always, always, ALWAYS brown and smooshy brownies on my kitchen counter.
They start out like this…
…and (like their friends the avocados!) in about 15 minutes they have brown spots on the peel and nobody wants to touch them with a ten foot pole.
So one of my missions in life has been to figure out how to work ripe bananas into snacks and desserts that everyone will love. I’m talking the world’s easiest banana muffin recipe.
I’m talking a coffee walnut banana bread that will rock your banana bread world.
And in this case, I’m talking a pan full of brownies that have a rich chocolate flavor with just a hint of banana deliciousness.
Ingredients you need to make this recipe
- Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Bananas
- Cocoa Powder
- Flour
- Salt
- Baking Powder
- Mini Chocolate Chips
Here’s how to make this brownie recipe
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 F and grease and line an 8×8-inch square pan with parchment paper. Don’t skip the parchment paper step – trust me!
Step 2: Put ¾ cup of melted butter, 1 ½ cups of sugar, 2 eggs, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 2 ripe mashed bananas in a mixing bowl and whisk whisk whisk until they are all combined.
Step 3: Take another mixing bowl and whisk together ¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, 3/4 cup of flour, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon of baking powder.
Step 4: Fold the flour mixture into the bowl with the butter mixture with your handy spatula until they are all mixed together. Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
Step 5: Scrape the batter into the baking pan and bake it up for 45 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center of the brownies comes out clean.
Step 6: Cool the brownies in the pan for about 15 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely – you should be able to slide a big spatula right under the parchment paper, or if you have parchment paper coming up out of the sides of the pan, lift it out that way. Seriously…cool ‘em completely, or they won’t cut obediently.
Step 7: Slice into 16 squares and serve them up!
Banana Brownies FAQ
These brownies are pretty moist (yum!) to begin with because of all that delightful banana, so mini chocolate chips help them hold together better than the regular sized ones.
I know, the waiting is the hardest part! Put them on a cooling rack and in your fridge for 30 minutes and that should speed things up.
Cocoa powder is made of cocoa beans (otherwise known as where chocolate comes from!) that are dried and ground into a fine powder. It is not sweetened…that chocolate bar you know and love has sugar added in to get that sweet chocolate taste. You can find cocoa powder near the chocolate chips in the baking aisle of your supermarket.
Pop your question in the comments section below and I will answer you pronto!
Now, I’m not saying you’ll never want to make banana coffee cake muffins out of your elderly bananas again…but these banana brownies are about to give your other banana recipes a run for their money!
OTHER BROWNIE RECIPES WE LOVE!
Could you leave us a review?
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! ) and your thoughts in the Comments section. Your thoughts and advice will help both us and your fellow readers.
PrintBanana Brownies
This easy recipe for Banana Brownies combines two favorite flavors and is the perfect way to use up those ripe bananas!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cooling Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 16 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter, melted
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (approximately 2 bananas)
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¾ cup flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease and line an 8×8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
- Put the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and mashed banana in a mixing bowl and whisk until they are all combined.
- Take another mixing bowl and whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder.
- Fold the flour mixture into the bowl with the butter mixture until they are all mixed together.
- Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
- Scrape the batter into the baking pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center of the brownies comes out clean.
- Cool the brownies in the pan for about 15 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Slice into 16 squares and serve.
Notes
Bananas: You want them to be nice and mushy (this is never an issue in my house!). I either use a fork or a potato masher – small lumps are fine, but try and squish up any big ones.
Cocoa Powder: This is a powdery, unsweetened chocolate and it can be found in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips.
Laurie Baker says
This Banana Brownies delicious, thanks for the recipe, it doesn’t look complicated to make.