Banana Chocolate Bars

Satisfy your chocolate craving today with Banana Chocolate Bars! These are a delicious, chocolaty dessert bar, full of ripe bananas, chocolate chips, bran cereal and walnuts and covered with a rich chocolate frosting!

Love that over-the-top chocolate flavor? Then next up enjoy a Better Than Sex Cake - a chocolate poke cake recipe dripping with chocolate syrup, butterscotch and topped with crunched up candy bars!

Jump to:

• Recipe backstory
• ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe 
• 🗒️ Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 👍 Tips
• 🙋‍♀️ FAQ's
• 👍 Tips
• Storage
• Related recipes
• Banana Chocolate Bars

Recipe backstory

Can you hear that? It's those over-ripe bananas on your counter trying to get your attention. They are saying "please turn me into something spectacular." Don't let them down, turn those sad brown bananas into these scrumptious Chocolate Banana Bars!

Hi, everyone! My name is Michaela and I blog over at An Affair from the Heart. I've been around a while, in fact, I have almost a decade of recipes on my site. 

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe 

I am super excited to be here with you today, guest posting on my buddy Debra's blog. When Debra and I chatted about what she would like me to make, she said she would love something sweet. 

So, I am delivering something sweet, but with a bit of a healthier twist, and help when you ask the question, "What am I going to do with these ripe bananas?"

Now if I didn't tell you that these gooey bars contained a bran cereal, you would never know.  I mean, there isn't a trace of them once they are baked.  But it leaves behind the benefit of having it in there. 

You see, most people don't want to chat about fiber in their diets, but also, most people aren't getting the amount they should. Adding more fiber to your diet can help to lower cholesterol, control blood sugar, helps with digestive health and can even make you feel fuller longer, aiding in weight loss for some. 

Now I am not saying that these Banana Chocolate Walnut Bars aren't rich and decadent, nor am I touting that they are some sort of health food. But what I am saying is adding the All Bran Cereal to them, along with the bananas, is doing you some good while you enjoy your chocolate dessert bar. 

🗒️ Ingredients

Chances are, you might have everything you need to make banana chocolate chips bars right in your pantry this very minute. Most of the items are pretty basic, actually, the only thing I didn't have on hand was the cereal!

• flour
• baking powder and soda
• salt
• cinnamon
• granulated and powdered sugar
• vanilla
• butter
• room temperature egg
• milk
• dark chocolate chips
• ripe bananas
• all bran cereal

🔪 Instructions

Banana Chocolate Bar Instructions

These chocolate chip banana bars and their chocolaty frosting come together in minutes! All you will need for tools is a mixer, mixing bowl, rubber spatula, a sifter or fine mesh strainer and a 9x13 baking dish.

1. First, in a large bowl, cream together the wet ingredients; butter, egg, sugar and mashed bananas.
2. Mix in All-Bran Cereal.
3. After that, the melted chocolate.
4. Next, sift the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon into the wet mixture. Add milk. Mix to combine.
5. Fold in walnuts.
6. Finally, Spread into the prepared baking dish and bake.

Chocolate frosting instructions

1. Once you have cooled the chocolate banana bars in the pan, it's time to frost them.
2. First, melt butter and chocolate chips together.
3. Next, stir in powdered sugar, milk, salt and vanilla.
4. Finally, spread frosting on cooled bars.
5. Cut into 32 squares.

👍 Tips

• These are great for pot lucks. Note if there are people with allergies, it might be a good idea to not add the walnuts if you don't know for sure who will be eating them. Alternatively, you can place a walnut on top of each bar like I did, to make sure people know there are nuts inside. 
• These are really super moist. I found that placing them in the fridge, then cut them when they were cold made it much easier. 

🙋‍♀️ FAQ's

👍 Tips

• As mentioned, swapping out some of the AP flour for whole wheat flour is doable. It will even increase the "healthiness" of the banana bar recipe.
• Don't like walnuts? Use pecan or peanuts, or leave them out entirely. 
• Use milk chocolate chips, or use bittersweet chocolate if you love that dark chocolate like I do!
• Frost them with a cream cheese frosting or a peanut butter frosting for something different.

Storage

You can freeze banana bars easily! Just wrap them well in Saran Wrap and place in a ziplock bag. Freeze up to 3 months.

Related recipes

I love recipes that use bananas! Bananas might be one of the fruits that I bake with the most.  There are loads of ways you can use ripe bananas in bread recipes, dessert recipes, cookies and even smoothies!

• The BEST Banana Bread - seriously, this is the only banana bread recipe you'll ever need!
• Banana Bread Coffee Cake - I love how moist and delicious this is!
• Chocolate Orange Banana Bread - this is the perfect combination!
• Banana Bread Pancakes - need I say more?
• Nutty Monkey Smoothie (also can be made into a yummy cocktail)
• Chocolate Banana Cake - magnificent and chocolatey!
• 3 Ingredient Oatmeal Cookies - easy to make and delicious!
• Blueberry Banana Bundt Cake with Blueberry Buttercream Icing

I hope that you enjoy these Chocolate Banana Bars! It's been a pleasure sharing them with you all. I hope that you pay me a visit sometime soon, and browse through my recipes.  I like to think I have something for everyone to enjoy!

For more over-the-top sweets, be sure and try this recipe for Chocolate Covered Nuts - AMAZING! Or this easy Lemon Bar Recipe - indulgent and rich, these won't last long!

Find me: An Affair from the Heart.com , On Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. Be well, Michaela