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Banana Bread Bars are going to be your newest obsession, these are amazing. Imagine a deliciously soft banana bread but instead of baking it in a loaf tin, you bake in a Swiss roll tin (a longer rectangular tin) so you can cut it into bars. Smoothed with a burnt honey whipped cream, it is unbelievable.
I like to make these as a baked treat for any friends who have had a baby recently. Something about it being a classic banana bread (which everyone loves!) but with the luxurious whipped honey cream on top just makes it something extra special.
What you’ll need for these banana bread bars with burnt honey cream
Butter, unsalted ideally so we can control the salt in the cake.
Light soft brown sugar, which contains molasses so using it results in a softer yet denser cake as it retains moisture. It’s delicious here.
Granulated sugar
Eggs
Banana, you will need around four very ripe bananas. When I have bananas going brown in my kitchen and I know they are past the point of being eaten as a snack, I throw them straight in the freezer. Just defrost when you want to bake and you have the ripe bananas you always need for a recipe like this!
Greek yoghurt, keeps the cake bouncy and moist.
Flour, plain rather than self-raising.
Vanilla
Bicarb of soda
Salt
Double cream, yes you need 950ml! It may seem a lot but you want the topping to be very thick, almost as thick as the cake itself as they work so well together.
Honey, which you bubble in a pan and then add cream. It creates a complex flavour in the cream that is so delicious.
White chocolate, sweet and a perfect combination with honey and cream.
Gelatin, to set the topping so it stands thick and tall.
How to make the burnt honey cream
In a small saucepan, bring honey to a boil. let it bubble and then reduce heat and add 2 cups cream. Cook until honey is fully dissolved. Then pour in the melted white chocolate and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add the gelatine whilst it’s still hot. It’ll dissolve and then you can whisk it together.
Once the gelatine is dissolved, transfer it to a food processor (or use an immersion blender) and slowly stream in the remaining cream. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until cold. Once it’s cold, you can use a whisk to whip it up until it’s nice and thick. Then smear it on the cake and top with swirled caramel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Using ripe bananas helps this as well as the use of brown butter and Greek yoghurt. The added fat helps with moistness whilst the acidity of the yoghurt works to activate the bicarb to create a fluffy lighter bake. Don’t scrimp on either ingredient and you will have a moist banana bread.
You can make the banana bread ahead of time, just wrap it tightly in clingfilm and it will keep for a day or two. You can also make the burnt honey cream. When you get to placing it in an airtight container and in the fridge, just leave it in the fridge until you are ready to ice the bars. Then whip it up when ready and spread on as you would usually.
I like to add fresh slices of banana, cut on an angle so you get longer thinner slices rather than rounds. Then I topped it with caramel sauce, but it would be great with chocolate shavings. You could drizzle with more honey instead of caramel or you could sprinkle with nuts or desiccated coconut. Or it’s great as is with no toppings.
More recipes you might like
Moist chocolate cake
No bake Biscoff cheesecake
Whipped brown butter
Fluffy banana pancakes
Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie
Banana Bread Bars
Ingredients
For the bars:
- 115 g unsalted butter, 1/2 cup
- 105 g light brown sugar, packed, 1/2 cup
- 200 g granulated sugar, 1 cup
- 2 large eggs
- 385 g ripe banana, mashed (4-ish bananas), 1 1/2 cups
- 250 g thick Greek yoghurt, 1 cup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 265 g plain flour, 2 cups
- 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
- 1/2 tsp Maldon salt
Burnt Honey Cream:
- 115 g honey, 4 ounces
- 950 ml double cream, 1 quart
- 400 g white chocolate, 14 ounces
- 4 silver leaf gelatin sheets
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Topping:
- Sliced banana
- Caramel sauce for drizzling
Instructions
For the banana bread bars:
- Preheat the oven to 175c and grease an 11×15 inch swiss roll tin.
- Add the butter to a saucepan over medium heat.
- Bubble it gently as we want to brown the butter. If you haven’t done it before, it’s very simple you just need to be patient and watch it and make sure the temperature isn’t too high. The butter will melt and then get very bubbly and noisy, and then that stops and it goes foamy and frothy. Keep stirring until it turns a light amber colour. This is easiest to see if you’re using a light coloured pan but either way, just swirl the butter and tip it to one side so you can see the colour. Brown butter is delicious, scorched butter is not, and there is a fine line – you want it to be a lovely chestnut brown.
- Once you’re happy pour the brown butter into a bowl and whisk in the sugars.
- Next add the eggs, followed by the yoghurt, mashed banana, and vanilla. Give it all a really good mix so it’s well combined.
- Whisk in the flour, baking soda and salt.
- Pour the batter into the greased pan and spread it out evenly.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
For the Burnt Honey Cream:
- In a small saucepan, bring honey to a boil. Let it bubble and then reduce heat and add half of the cream. Cook until honey is fully dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in white chocolate and salt.
- Place the gelatin sheets into bowl of water and leave for a few minutes until they are completely soft, squeeze out excess water. Add the softened gelatine to the cream mixture and whisk until it's completely dissolved. Do not boil this mixture, but you might want a gentle heat to get the gelatine to dissolve. Pour through a sieve into a bowl. Add the remaining cream and blend until smooth, using an immersion blender or blender.
- Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until cold.
- Once completely cool, pop into a bowl and use a whisk to whip Burnt Honey Cream until soft peaks form.
- Spread over the banana bread and top with banana slices, some grated chocolate and perhaps a drizzle of caramel sauce. Cut into squares and enjoy!
