Peeling Good

There comes a point in a baker’s life where a conversation about not throwing away ripe bananas needs to take place. As bananas ripen, they produce excess sugar through the fermentation process, which not only makes them sweeter but also enhances their natural flavor. Therefore, they should never go to waste. When I noticed that my boyfriend was throwing away these precious items, I immediately knew it was time for “the talk”. Instead of being disposed of, these ripe bundles of joys now sit on our kitchen counter where they patiently wait for their amateur baker to come and rescue them. There also comes a point in a baker’s life where banana bread just doesn’t cut it anymore. I recently experienced this when I was trying to figure out what to bake with two ripe bananas. It can be difficult to find a recipe that not only calls for only two bananas but also allows the banana flavor to shine. Through my online research, I was able to find a recipe for Banana Blondies, which is listed below. Blondies differ from a traditional brownie since they have a brown sugar and vanilla base rather than a cocoa powder base. Most of the blondies that I have encountered taste like butterscotch, so I was excited to step outside of the box and create a new flavor profile.

This recipe has two parts, one for the blondie, and one for the icing. The blondie ingredients included melted butter, light brown sugar, two large eggs, vanilla, salt, all-purpose flour and two mashed bananas. I was a little confused by the ingredient list because it did not call for baking soda. I often use baking soda when making bars or brownies, so I was surprised not to see it in this recipe. I was also concerned about the number of eggs and the mashed bananas. Because bananas and eggs can be used interchangeably, I was worried about the consistency of the blondie. This recipe also instructs the baker to line a 9x13 pan with foil before pouring the blondie batter in. I decided to use parchment paper instead. I have had bad experiences with foil, so I wanted to air on the side of caution. I also added extra vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon to the batter before baking it for 28 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

The icing for these blondies also has a brown sugar base and requires the use of a stovetop. The ingredients for this are brown sugar, butter, milk, and powdered sugar. The recipe states to melt the butter, brown sugar, and milk in a saucepan until it boils and then slowly add in the powdered sugar after it has cooled. I made some minor changes to this. I had some leftover cream cheese and decided to melt it in with the other ingredients. Because my cream cheese wasn’t room temperature it took longer to melt and caused the icing to look grainy. This can be seen in the picture below. Luckily after I added the powdered sugar, the icing looked much better. I would recommend leaving the cream cheese out longer or melting it in the microwave first before incorporating it into the saucepan. The recipe recommends that the blondies be frosted before they are cut and taken out of the pan. I, of course, did not follow this recommendation. I instead precut the blondies and frosted them individually. This helped them cool faster and gave me more control over the icing. I then topped each one with cinnamon sugar and let the icing set.

Before I placed these iced banana blondies in the fridge to further set, I took some photos using my new wood cutting board my boyfriend made for me to display my bakes. I could not think of a better way to thank him for saving me the bananas and to show off his amazing woodworking skills. My boyfriend is also my professional taste tester and has judged many of my bakes. These banana blondies got two thumbs up and some extra cinnamon sugar on top. Thank you Tom for the beautiful board, the support, the love, and for always licking the bowl. Love you lots! <3

https://life-in-the-lofthouse.com/banana-blondies/