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.
Just made these and can’t wait to dig in! One note on recipe – combining the wet and dry ingredients isn’t mentioned (unless I looked over it a bunch of times – ha). It’s a little thing but might trip up a novice baker. :-)
Yikes! Thanks so much for letting me know. I’ve fixed it! I hope you enjoyed the bars. :)
Those look delicious! I love when happy accidents improve recipes.
Same here! :)
These bars look amazing, Erin!! See – I never mess with recipes because of what you have described. I’m glad it worked out for you, though – how lucky! I’d like me some of that peanut butter – banana action ;)
OMG – these peanut-buttery-chocolatey-banana-gooey-squares of wonderfulness were just devoured by my whole family. I love your recipes in general, and this one is truly incredible! Thanks!
(BTW, we didn’t wait til they were cooled ;-) )
Haha. I’ll tell you a secret – I never do that, either. I just write it because you’re “supposed to.” :D
What a nice comment! Thanks, Rainier. :) I’m so happy that you all enjoyed these bars! Thanks a ton for your feedback. :)
The peanut butter topping over these banana bars just sounds freaking awesome. Oh and those chocolate chips are perfect on top! I love peanut butter, banana and chocolate together!
I don’t think these look “blah” at all! In fact, I started to mentally scour my pantry for the ingredients (I think I have them all!) because I know my family would love these bars.
These banana bars look so good! Love that they are whole grain!
These bars are not drab! They look totally knock off your socks delicious! No that I’m one to every turn down an extra sprinkling of chocolate chips ;)
Oh, these sound just delicious! I always enjoy a combination of peanut butter and banana.
Yummy! I would love such snack!
These sound delicious!
I can’t even tell you how much I like these bars! The flavors go so well together I know they would be addicting to eat!
I think you did a great job at making these look more appealing with those chocolate chips! I want to dig right in. I love everything peanut butter! I just can’t get enough…
Has anyone tried these using all purpose gluten free or oat flour?? Or even almond flour?
I haven’t tried it but I’m guessing an all-purpose GF flour would work. I think they’d fall apart if you used oat flour and I don’t think any kind of nut flour works well as a sub for whole wheat. Sorry about that! I hope you’ll enjoy them if you try AP GF flour. :)
Oh, girl! These bars look everything but blah! Perhaps you have been just looking at the batter too many recipe tests in a row? It happens and I can totally identify with all the recipe testing. Although, I do think they look swell with the mini chocolate chips on top! To me, they look irresistible! xo
you don’t see many recipes featuring natural peanut butter…that is all I use so I love this.
Peanut butter and bananas are such a comforting combination for me. I grew up eating pb and banana sandwiches, but I’m thinking a dessert bar would be miles better!
I love peanut butter and banana together! Always have! And these couldn’t possible taste better than they look because they look simply irresistible.
I can’t believe this! I have a post coming out over the weekend that is almost the same exact concept……save for the fact that mine are neither whole grain nor dairy-free……so I guess you win. I’m going to call this a “great minds think alike” situation, and I am honored to be on the same wavelength as you. And yes, I agree: these taste way better than they look, although I think yours look great.
Thanks! And don’t you just hate that?! Peanut butter banana bars aren’t super unique or anything but I’m always bummed when someone posts something really similar right before I post it. I’m happy you told me so that I can go check out yours on the weekend! :)
I think these look great.I am not big on peanut butter but they sure look good. So you used 2 cups of flour?? If you grind your own and didn’t weigh it I bet that is why they were still good and moist. Freshly ground just weighs so much less.
Thanks, Charlotte! And nope – I only used one cup of flour. What’s in the recipe box at the bottom of the post is how I made them. :) The original recipe used 1 cup of flour for a 9×13 pan but since I only made an 8×8, I should have used 1/2 cup of flour but I messed that up and used 1 cup. I don’t have a mill but sure wish I did! I used store-bought flour and went by weight so I’m guessing it was the extra banana that made it possible for my extra flour version to work. :)