Banana Blondies

 

I was a bit reluctant to make these blondies. Not because I didn't think they would be delicious, but because it's been in the 90s here in Los Angeles. Yeah, I know, some of you are still inundated with snow and are probably like oh poor you with the 90 degree weather! But, it's hard to justify turning on the oven when it's that hot, and you don't have air conditioning. 

Not so fun fact about LA: If you want an affordable living situation, you will likely not have AC, a dishwasher, or laundry in your own apartment. If you want to go live in the valley where it's even hotter than 90 degrees, sure. But, bleck.

Despite my reservations, though, I decided to heck with it, I'm going to make these things. And I'm glad I did. They are so good! The recipe I saw these at originally had an additional frosting element, but man I feel like that would just overload the sweetness factor for these. They are already pretty sweet (but not too crazy sweet or anything), so they don't really need that extra frosting business. Of course, if you are wanting these to be more of a dessert, then by all means, get on that frosting.

But I think what we all know and love about any baked recipe that has bananas in it is this - it is always nice and moist. I hate a dry bar more than anything, but these are anything but dry, and still cooked all the way through. The original recipe said to put in foil and then spray that with cooking spray, but I said pish posh and just sprayed my pan. Turned out just fine for me. I hate wasting foil and such when it's not needed. I also didn't use a mixer, just a bowl and a spatula, to make these. So you know they are even easier than normal!

What are you waiting for? Get on it!

Banana Blondies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (approx 1 medium banana)

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray; set aside for now.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the butter and brown sugar until combined.Then, mix in the egg and vanilla extract until fully incorporated. Stir in the salt, flour, and banana until batter is nice and smooth.
3. Pour that into your prepared pan and smooth out the top. Bake that in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the middle is set.
4. Place your pan on a wire rack to cool. Once cool, dig on in! 

Recipe adapted from Cookies and Cups via Smitten Kitchen