February 2019 / Mainly Marta :: A Motherhood + Lifestyle Blog

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What started as a digital diary to document a newfound journey as a stay at home mom / wife has quickly evolved into my own little corner on the internet where I share all that life brings my way -- the good, the bad, and everything in between. Thanks for stopping by; I hope you stay awhile!

2.06.2019

Recipe | Chocolate Chip Banana Bars


Today I thought I'd share my favorite way to get rid of ripe bananas that doesn't consist of me throwing them away. Since wasting food is something I try to avoid, I use my ripened bananas to make these yummy chocolate chip banana bars. They're the perfect bite sized bar that will knock out any sweet tooth craving in just minutes! These are great for breakfast with some coffee, a cold glass of milk or maybe you need a little mid day pick me up? No matter when or what you pair it with, they're simply delicious!

What I love about this recipe is that even if you're not a fan of chocolate, you can totally omit that ingredient and use something else -- you can get creative and still make something totally delicious using other fun ingredients. I'll share some of my other favorite chocolate replacements later on in the post, but for now, let's get baking!

What You'll Need 

Ripe bananas
5

Brown Sugar

3/4 of a cup 

Canola Oil

1/4 of a cup 

Milk

1/4 of a cup

Eggs

2

All Purpose Flour

1 3/4 cups 

Baking Soda 

1 tsp. 

Salt

1/2 tsp.

Cinnamon

1 tsp. 

Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

2 cups


How To Make

Step One. 
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking pan(s) with non-stick spray.

Step Two. 
Peel and mash the bananas well and by well, I mean really mash these babies! After you've made the banana mesh creamy and smooth, go ahead and stir in the brown sugar, oil, milk and eggs.

Step Three. 
Stir in dry ingredients -- the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Step Four.
Add 1 cup of the chocolate chips to batter and stir in -- skip this step if you hate chocolate and scroll down to see what you can use to substitute the chips if you're still wanting a bit of flavor / kick to your bars! 

Step Five. 
Spread the batter in prepared pan(s) -- I usually place about 2 inches of batter per pan due to the fact that I want to make the bars pretty thin, but if you want to make a banana bread loaf or muffins instead of bars, you totally can! Just remember that the number of pans may vary. 

After you are done spreading the batter evenly onto the pan, it's time to sprinkle remainder of chocolate chips on top of batter. 

Step Six. 
Place pan in oven and cook for about 18 to 24 minutes. One way to see if they're ready is to place a fork (or toothpick) in batter and see if it is dry when pulled up -- if it is, then yaaaaaay, they're done!

Step Seven. 
Take out of oven, let cool, and cut them into squares. Place on pretty serving dish & enjoy!


+++++++ PREP TIME: 40 MINS +++++++  YEILDS ABOUT 23 BARS +++++++ 



Chocolate Chip Substitutes

If you're not crazy about chocolate -- that's okay, here are a few other things you can place in or on top of the batter to give it a little kick. 

Chopped Walnuts 

Raisins

Blueberries -- tip:: cover them with flour first before sprinkling on top, so they won't sink to the bottm of pan when baking in the oven. 

Dried Cranberries 

PB Protein Powder -- I'd add about 1 tsp. of powder when mixing in the dry ingredients for a hint of peanut butter flavor.

Coconut Shavings

& any other substitute you can think of -- if you're daring. 

ORRRRRRRRRRR... you could just leave the chocolate chips out all together and move along with the recipe without a substitute if you're feeling like you want to be healthier and avoid a few extra calories -- It'll taste as just delicious, I promise! 

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