Do you ever have just one super ripe banana left? If you can answer yes to this, you have probably also noticed that hardly any recipes that use ripe bananas seem to call for just one. I am pretty sure all of my banana bread recipes call for at least two ripe bananas. When I do searches for recipes where only one banana is used, I cannot find much. So, I created such a recipe!
My daughter, D, loves bananas. It is one of her favorite things to eat. My husband also enjoys them, so I tend to buy a good amount of bananas at a time. However, if you have been around toddlers much, I am sure you are aware of how their tastes change on a daily basis. It is common to have bananas completely refused when they were devoured the day before. So, I have really unpredictable leftovers from time to time.
My peanut butter banana oat bars recipe is a play on monster cookies – those delicious oatmeal cookies with peanut butter and M&Ms. I used crunchy peanut butter (that’s what we eat at my house) and wheat flour to make them a little different, as well. Besides M&Ms (which disappear before I can even attempt to use them in a dessert), I used semi-sweet chocolate chips. There are many substitutions for the various ingredients that would be great, though! If you try out different variations, be sure to share below. I’d love to hear what you come up with!
Peanut Butter Banana Oat Bars
Ingredients
- ¼ cup salted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- ¾ cup crunchy peanut butter
- 1 egg
- 1 ripe banana, mashed
- ½ tbsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ cup wheat flour
- 1½ cups old fashioned oats
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and spray a 7×11 baking dish with nonstick spray. Set the dish aside.
- In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to mix the butter, brown sugar, sugar, and peanut butter together. Mix until completely blended.
- Add the egg, mashed banana, and vanilla extract. Mix well again.
- Add the baking soda, wheat flour, and oats. Mix until just combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.
- Allow to cool before cutting into bars.
