Peanut Butter Banana Bars

These nutritious peanut butter banana bars are made with overripe bananas, peanut butter, and honey — no butter, oil, or white flour needed. These fudge-like, chewy bars can be made in one bowl and don’t require any stops to a special health foods grocery store.

Try some of our other better-for-you baked goods like this peanut butter granola, these healthy zucchini muffins, or this banana bread with Greek yogurt.

Peanut Butter Banana Bars

If you’ve got some overripe bananas laying around, grab ’em and some peanut butter and let’s get started! These delicious bars are the perfect afternoon pick-me-up, on-the-go breakfast, or healthier treat.

While overripe bananas don’t always look the most appetizing, the fruit is still good. In fact, the more overripe, the sweeter the fruit and the better it sweetens these bars. Thanks to utilizing the natural sweetness of bananas, these bars don’t need to much additional sweetness, just a little bit of honey and brown sugar go a long way!

The peanut butter adds a great fudge-like, thick texture to these bars and also ensures they’re a good satiating snack. My kiddos will eat these after school and be full until dinnertime which feels like a huge win!

Peanut Butter Banana Bars Tips

• Thoroughly mash the bananas to avoid unpleasant chunks. If you don’t want to take the time to mash with a fork, use an electric hand mixer to mash them quickly.
• Use overripe bananas. The riper the banana, the sweeter the bars (and overall the more flavorful they are). We like to use bananas that are speckled all over.
• Adjust the sugar. If you’re used to lower-sugar treats, the amount of sugar in this recipe will likely be perfect. If you’re new to lower-sugar treats, feel free to increase the brown sugar by 2-3 tablespoons. I would avoid increasing the honey amount for sake of the texture on these Peanut Butter Banana Bars.
• Line the pan with parchment paper (I don’t recommend foil) before adding in the batter. If the pan is unlined, it will be nearly impossible to get these bars out nicely. 
• Powdered oats (or oat flour). What is it? Basically just regular oats that have been blended up (see “quick tip” box below). It adds a great texture, a different flavor, and a healthier aspect to this recipe. 

Peanut Butter Chips

We love adding these Reese’s peanut butter baking chips to the bars. You’ll find these chips with the other baking chips in the grocery store. If you’d prefer to use a more nutritious option, try sugar free chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips instead! 

How To Know When These Bars Are Done Baking

There is a lot of variances in baking such as altitude, humidity, actual oven temperature, pan used, etc. Here are a few cues to look for and tips to keep in mind:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. It’s easy to go on autopilot and assume these bars are baked at 350 degrees F, but they don’t bake properly at that temperature.
• Preventing under-baked peanut butter banana bars: Make sure your oven is correctly calibrated; wait for the oven to fully preheat before adding the bars to the oven and position the pan in the center of the oven.
• Visual cues for doneness: Bars will slightly pull away from the edges of the pan, edges will slightly darken, and the top will look set (not glossy).

More ways to use overripe bananas

• Cinnamon Banana Bread with a quick streusel topping
• Chocolate Banana Bread with Greek yogurt
• Flourless Banana Muffins with miniature chocolate chips
• Banana Pancakes with maple syrup
• Strawberry Banana Smoothie with honey

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5 from 17 votes

Peanut Butter Banana Bars

By Chelsea Lords

These nutritious peanut butter banana bars are made with overripe bananas, peanut butter, and honey -- no butter, oil, or white flour needed. These fudge-like, chewy bars can be made in one bowl and don't require any stops to a special health foods grocery store.

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 22 minutes minutes

Total Time: 42 minutes minutes

Servings: 16 bars

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1/2 cup (118g) very ripe banana (~1 medium banana)
• ▢ 1/2 cup (111g) creamy peanut butter (we use Skippy)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (40g) honey
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/4 cup (50g) light brown sugar lightly packed Note 1
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1 cup (92g) oat flour (just oats that have been blended up) Note 2
• ▢ 1/2 cup (85g) peanut butter chips (or chocolate chips)

Instructions 

• PREP: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper. Allow the parchment paper to hang over the sides to create a way to pull out the bars from the pan with the parchment paper. These bars are near impossible to remove from an unlined pan. I wouldn't recommend lining the pan with foil.
• BANANA: Remove the banana peel and mash well using a fork. Measure the banana after it has been well mashed to ensure it is a level 1/2 cup.
• WET INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, using electric hand mixers, cream together the mashed up banana, peanut butter (do not warm it up), honey, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. Beat until completely combined. Beat in the egg until incorporated.
• DRY INGREDIENTS: Beat in the salt, baking soda, baking powder, and oat flour (Note 2). Add in the peanut butter chips and fold in with a spatula.
• BAKE: Using a spatula, transfer the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the mixture to ensure it is in one even layer. Bake for 18-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown and bars have slightly pulled away from the edges. Be careful to not over-bake or they end up dry and less flavorful.
• ENJOY: Remove and allow the blondies to cool before using the parchment paper overhang to pull the bars from the pan. Cut into bars and enjoy! Bars are best enjoyed within 1-2 days of making. (They do have a tendency to get moist as they're stored)

Recipe Notes

Note 1: If your banana is not overly ripe (or sweet) you may want to slightly increase the amount of brown sugar.

Note 2: To make oat flour, take oats and pulse them in a blender or food processor until they are in a flour like consistency. Make sure to measure the oat flour after blending and not before or the amounts will be off.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 111kcal | Carbohydrates: 13.8g | Protein: 3.3g | Fat: 5.2g | Cholesterol: 11.6mg | Sodium: 44.1mg | Fiber: 1.1g | Sugar: 7.3g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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