Peanut Butter Banana Bars (whole grain, dairy-free)
These peanut butter banana bars are like a cross between a blondie and a cake bar! They’re also made a little healthier and are 100% whole grain and dairy-free.
First of all, these taste WAY better than they look. I sprinkled some chocolate chips on top in an attempt to make them look more appealing, but I can’t do anything about the drabness. They just look blah. But once you taste them, you won’t care!
When I try a new recipe, I normally only make a fourth and sometimes a half. This means I’m something of a fractions ninja. However, I’m also pretty absent-minded and sometimes do things like halving an ingredient when I only intended to use a fourth of the rest.
And for the record, I always test recipes more than once before posting them, so you don’t need to worry about mistakes in my recipes!
When I made these peanut butter banana bars the second time, I realized that I had accidentally used twice as much flour as I should have, and was really confused because I loved how they came out.
I thought it might have been a fluke or that my mind was playing tricks on me. So I made them again with the same amount of flour, and they came out exactly the same. It was a pretty awesome morning.
I adapted these from Dinners, Dishes and Desserts’ banana snickerdoodle bars. I’m sure my version with double the flour (and an extra banana) isn’t as dense and blondie-like as the original, but I still couldn’t stop eating them!
Erin’s version uses cinnamon, cinnamon chips, and has a yummy-sounding topping, which I can’t wait to try. But first, I wanted to add peanut butter to them.
So, I mixed together a combination of peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil and poured it over the batter. The banana bar base isn’t all that sweet, but when paired with the peanut butter topping, it’s perfect.
I think it also contributes to the somewhat gooey and dense texture of the bars, so I do not recommend making the bars without the peanut butter topping! I’m pretty sure they’d be too dry and not sweet enough.
Want peanut butter + chocolate for breakfast? Try these easy vegan peanut butter banana breakfast cookies from Beaming Baker! They’re also whole grain as well as naturally gluten-free. These peanut butter blondies also look like a great sweet treat!
Peanut Butter Banana Bars (whole grain, dairy-free)
Ingredients
For the topping:
- 1/2 cup (128 grams) salted natural peanut butter (the kind with just peanuts and salt!)
- 3 tablespoons (60 grams) honey
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) refined coconut oil room temperature
For the bars:
- 1 cup (125 grams) white whole wheat or whole spelt flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 bananas very ripe, mine were each 182 with the peel and 135 grams without the peel
- 1/2 cup raw sugar or brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons refined coconut oil melted and cooled slightly
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg 50 grams out of shell, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line an 8″x8″ (20cmx20cm) pan with a piece of parchment paper.
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together all the topping ingredients until well combined. Set aside.1/2 cup (128 grams) salted natural peanut butter, 3 tablespoons (60 grams) honey, 2 tablespoons (28 grams) refined coconut oil
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.1 cup (125 grams) white whole wheat, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/8 teaspoon salt
- In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas very well with the bottom of a drinking glass (or mash however you wish). Add the sugar, coconut oil, and vanilla and stir until well combined. Add the egg and stir just until combined.2 bananas, 1/2 cup raw sugar, 3 tablespoons refined coconut oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 large egg
- Add the dry mix to the wet and stir just until combined.
- Pour into the prepared pan. Add the topping – it will cover the entire surface.
- Bake for 16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without any batter on it, keeping in mind that the peanut butter layer may still be sticky or gooey.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
- Cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- I used refined coconut oil, which doesn’t have any coconut taste. If you use unrefined coconut oil, these may have some coconut taste to them.
- The nutrition information provided is calculated as a courtesy and is only an estimate. I am not a licensed nutritionist or dietitian. For the most accurate nutritional data, consult a professional or use your preferred calculator. This recipe yields 12-16 bars. The nutritional info was calculated based on 16 bars.
- Adapted from Banana Snickerdoodle Bars on Dinners, Dishes and Dessserts.
The recipe looks good. I don’t eat eggs. How can I substitute eggs for your recipes
Thanks! It depends on the exact recipe. Sometimes chia or flax eggs work, but not on all recipes.
In this recipe for one egg as mentioned, what can I substitute it with?
Thank you
I haven’t tried it in this exact recipe but you should be able to use a chia egg or flax egg and most likely, any kind of egg replacer that you’d normally use. :)
Is it normal for the topping to be super runny? It was really hard to tell if these were done enough. Guess I’ll find out when I dig into them. I didn’t have an 8×8 so hopefully a 8×10 non stick works. Thanks.
Before baking, the topping will be super liquidy! After baking and chilling, it should be much firmer and you should be able to cut the bars without any issues. I hope you like them!
Hi Erin ! They are just in the oven and we are waiting for them to be ready. As I am a fearless baker and did not have all the ingredients I used an egg replacer and coconut sugar instead of raw. Let’s see how the bars come out. :) Greetings!
Haha. I love that you’re a fearless baker! Good luck with the subs and I hope you’re enjoying the bars. :) Thanks for your comment!
Yes! They were delicious. Have a good weekend and thank you for all the great recipes!
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know and you’re welcome. :) I’m happy you’re enjoying them!
awesome super easy just made yum but I put crumbled white chocolate chips on top thank you my boyfriend is lactose so this is perfect
I bet these would be great with white chocolate chips on top! Thanks for the tip and for your feedback. :)
I need to make these gluten free. Do you think using almond flour would work? What about using maple syrup instead of the white sugar? Thanks!
Unfortunately, nuts flours aren’t interchangeable with non-nut flours. You could try a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour sub like this but I haven’t tried it here so I’m not positive it’d work. Sorry about that! And adding 1/2 cup of liquid sweetener in place of a granulated one would require reworking the recipe a bit. You could try coconut sugar instead of white sugar (though I think the flavor would compete a bit with the banana taste).
I am in love with how simple this recipe! They looks so yummy yet so healthy too. Pinning for my next late night baking sesh :)
Thanks so much for pinning! I hope you’ll enjoy the bars. :)
Holy cats! I just got this to cool off enough to have one… I don’t want to share! This is straight up amazing. Thank you so much!
Haha. I’m so happy you liked it! I don’t like to share this one, either. ;) Thanks for your feedback!
great recipe.I think it looks really good and tastes even better.I made it two days ago and today my brother asked if I can make it again!
I didn’t have natural peanut butter(and was lazy to make it myself) so the topping was not easily pourable.next time I’ll use natural.
thanks for awsome recipes
That’s awesome that you and your brother enjoyed them so much! And good to know that regular peanut butter works here, too (though I bet you’ll like your next version better with the natural stuff! ;)) Thanks a ton for your feedback!
BEST banana cake ever, the texture is divine!! Spongy/sticky/cakey all in one. Total winner. I’ll be making a chocolate/cinnamon version today. Thanks for a killer recipe, used spelt and will try with Enkorn next .
Oooh! A chocolate cinnamon version sounds great. Did you add cocoa powder or chocolate chips? Good luck with einkorn! I’ve had a terrible time subbing that for whole wheat and spelt so I hope it works out better for you. :) Thanks for your feedback!