Recipe for Homemade Black Bottom (Chocolate) Banana Bars

There’s nothing that tastes better than chocolate and bananas together, and one of my favorite desserts to make (and eat) is chocolate banana bars. In our family we call these delicious treats black bottom banana bars. They are simple and quick to make. I make them quite a bit in the summer because my bananas seem to turn from ripe to over ripe very quickly. I hate throwing them away, so this dessert is a great way to use bananas that might otherwise end up in the garbage.

I’ve had this recipe for a few years and I’m not sure where I got it. I don’t claim to have created it on my own, but it’s been so long I forget where it came from. Should any readers know the origin of this particular recipe please leave a comment so I can edit this hub and give credit where credit is due.

Here are the ingredients you need to make this recipe for homemade Black Bottom Banana Bars.

½ cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas (you will need about 3 to 4 bananas to get 1 ½ cups)
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup baking cocoa

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 13 x 9 x 2 baking pan and set aside.

Mash your bananas and set aside.  I have my children help me with this step.  You can use a potato masher if you like, but I usually just use a fork to mash them up.
 

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.  Blend in the mashed bananas.

One tip I like to share when baking – I always break my eggs into a separate bowl before adding them with the rest of the ingredients.  It gives me the chance to catch any egg shells that might have fallen in along with the eggs.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add it to the sugar/banana mixture and stir until it is just mixed.  Divide the batter in half.  Add ¼ cup baking cocoa to half the batter and mix well.

Spread the chocolate batter into the bottom of your baking pan.  Spoon the remaining batter on top and swirl with a spatula or knife.  (This would be the same technique you would use if you were making a marble cake.) 

Bake for 25 minutes or until the bars test done.  Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

The recipe makes about 2 ½ dozen bars, depending on how big you cut them.   We like to eat these bars warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.