These Banana Bread Blondies are the perfect way to use up those ripe bananas! They’re dense, loaded with the classic banana bread flavor but made into the perfect handheld treat! Load them with chocolate chips and you’re all set for a delicious breakfast, snack or dessert!
Okay so…you probably know by the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, Zesty Lemon Blueberry Banana Bread or even my Banana Bread Overnight Oats that I’m seriously obsessed with banana bread. Growing up in the South, I was always around people who had just made fresh fruit breads like this…and believe me, I was so happy! Nothing beats a delicious hunk of banana bread with a cold glass of milk!
For these Banana Bread Blondies, I wanted to make a super simple, one bowl recipe that resulted in the best hand held treat you could pack as a mid day lunch snack or eat for breakfast on the go. Or, if you really wanna get crazy, warm it up after dinner and add a big ol scoop of vanilla ice cream! (But if you do the last option, please invite me over!)
As someone who has to truly experiment with each baking recipe to crack the code, I love the way bananas help me out. Not only do they add a natural sweetness to breads, muffins and cakes, but also a delicious moistness!
These Blondies are so super soft, yet dense. I love that they are made with whole wheat flour so it makes them healthy-ish. They are thick, loaded with banana flavor and of course, studded with melty chocolate chips. If you’re not a fan of chocolate chips, I suggest adding chopped nuts instead! Or if you’re feeling the Fall vibes super early, definitely add some cinnamon chips or even butterscotch chips! Holy cow, I just got so many Fall feelings! I CAN’T WAIT.
Okay, so anyway….yeah. These Banana Bread Blondies are super simple, delicious and the perfect end of Summer snack! Let’s get into how to make them!
Ingredients You Need for Banana Bread Blondies:
- whole wheat flour
- baking soda
- melted butter (salted of course!)
- ripe bananas
- brown sugar
- vanilla extract
- egg
- chocolate chips (or any other mix in you prefer!)
How to Make Banana Bread Blondies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, add your melted butter along with the brown sugar. Whisk these two together until they are combined. To this, add the mashed ripe banana, egg and vanilla extract. It’s most likely going to look a little bit grainy but fear not!
Using a sifter over top (or mix in another bowl and add to the wet ingredients), sift the whole wheat flour, baking soda and pinch of salt). Using a wooden spoon, mix gently until combined – make sure not to overmix!
Lastly, for my Banana Bread Blondies, I added chocolate chips (about ¾ cup). You can add chopped nuts or any other mix in you would prefer. Gently mix until combined.
Grease an 8×8 baking dish or use parchment paper! Add the mixture to the baking dish.
Bake for 30-34 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (my sweet spot was about 32 minutes!).
Let it cool in the pan for 5 or so minutes and then gently remove it and slice into bars.
Enjoy as breakfast, snack or dessert! My personal favorite way is a mid day snack: warmed up banana bread blondie with a pat of butter, pinch of salt on top and a glass of cold milk. SO. GOOD. Hope you guys enjoy this one! XO.
Did you like this recipe? Here are a few others you might enjoy:
Whole Wheat Peach Cobbler Bars
Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Muffins
Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie
Banana Bread Blondies
These Banana Bread Blondies are the perfect way to use up those ripe bananas! They’re dense, loaded with the classic banana bread flavor but made into the perfect handheld treat! Load them with chocolate chips and you’re all set for a delicious breakfast, snack or dessert!
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 2-3 medium very ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup melted salted butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Dry Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Optional:
- can sub the chocolate chips for chopped nuts
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, add the melted butter along with the brown sugar. Whisk these two together until they are combined and smooth. To this, add the mashed ripe banana, egg and vanilla extract. Mix together until they are combined.
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Use a sifter to add the dry ingredients over top the wet ingredients. (If you don't have a sifter, mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add them in to the wet ingredients). Sift the whole wheat flour, baking soda and salt into the wet ingredients. Gently mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Make sure not to overmix!
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To the batter, add in the chocolate chips and gently fold them in.
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Grease an 8x8 baking dish. Add in the banana bread blondie batter and gently smooth out. Top with additional chocolate chips if desired.
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Bake for 30-34 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 or so minutes and then gently remove and slice into bars. Enjoy!
Oh YUM! Haylie, I have such an addiction to banana bread! Drooling over these! Definitley trying these in a few days when my bananas are ready!
Right?! I have an addiction to banana bread too LOL! At least there is a lot of fruit in it, right?! 😉
I love banana bread, so this spin on blondies has my name written all over it! They look like they have a great texture, and you can’t go wrong with chocolate chips!
Thanks, Leanne! And yes – always gotta add chocolate 🙂
Hi Haylie! I made these and both my husband and I gobbled them up in 2 days. They are absolutely delicious! Thank you for your fantastic recipes. So far, I’ve made probably half a dozen of your recipes, and we love all
of them. God’s many blessings to you in the new year.
Oh my word, Rose! This comment absolutely made my day. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making my recipes! I’m so glad you have been loving them 🙂 God’s blessings to YOU and your family in the New Year as well…hope to hear from you soon! XO – Haylie
My batch came out a little mushy I followed the recipe religiously. Please advise. The flavor was great though.
Hi Deborah – I’m so sorry to hear they came out mushy 🙁 Did the toothpick come out clean when you checked them at around 30-34 minutes? If not, maybe they needed a few more minutes of baking time. Of course all ovens/temperatures vary (unfortunately haha!) so that also could’ve had something to do with it. I would try baking them for a few more minutes and seeing if that helps! And then make sure to let them cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes 🙂 Fingers crossed. Thank you for your feedback, Deborah! Best – Haylie
Can you use whole wheat pastry flour?
Hi Riley! I’ve never personally used it before in this recipe but I think it should work. I quickly googled it and I think a 1:1 substitute would work. Let me know how it goes!