Banana Chocolate Cookie Bars with Coffee Glaze

  • Banana Chocolate Cookie Bars

    Yes, we have no bananas!

    Remember that 1920s song?  Me neither- but I’ve always liked the title, so there.

    I do have bananas.  Two, in fact, and they’re ripe and ready.  When I have three or four waiting on the counter to be put to use in their respective afterlives, I’ll make my Banana Nut Bread (favorite, favorite, favorite), but what’s a girl to do with two?  I can almost always find something to do with almost-blackened bananas, and in this case, this pair is put to good use in these bars.  They don’t overwhelm in that Banana Take Charge way, but they do provide and nice contrast to the mocha theme, and they do create that great consistency that only bananas can provide in a recipe.  Moist.  Chewy.  Yummy.

    Enjoy!

    Adapted from my Banana Chocolate Chip Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting…

    BARS:

    1 cup sugar

    1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 medium)

    1/3 cup vegetable oil

    2 eggs

    2 teaspoons Kahlua (or other coffee liqueur)

    1 teaspoon vanilla

    1 cup all-purpose flour

    2 teaspoons instant espresso powder (or 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules)

    1 teaspoon baking powder

    1/2 teaspoon baking soda

    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

    1/4 teaspoon salt

    1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

    2/3 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

    COFFEE GLAZE:

    1 cup confectioners’ sugar

    1 – 2 tablespoons Kahlua coffee liquor (or very strong coffee/espresso)

    1. Heat oven to 350° and grease a foil-lined 13 x 9″ pan or two greased smaller tart pans (as pictured above).
    2. In large bowl, mix sugar, bananas, oil, eggs, Kahlua, and vanilla until well combined.  Stir in flour, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, chocolate chips and walnuts.  Spread evenly in prepared pan(s).
    3. Bake bars 25 – 30 minutes (25 minutes for the two tart pans), or until cake tester inserted in center comes out mostly clean of crumbs.  Cool completely, about 1 hour.
    4. GLAZE: stir ingredients together until smooth, adding more sugar or liqueur/coffee as needed to reach pourable consistency (slightly runnier than honey).  Scoop into a piping bag (or ziploc bag with a tiny corner snipped off) and squeeze icing out somewhat decoratively over bars.  Allow glaze to set before slicing, and serve at room temperature.

     Tips:

    • Use any kind of chocolate that you’d like.  Semi sweet is obviously sweeter than bittersweet, so if you’re after sweetness, then that might be your ticket.  I find bittersweet goes nicely with mocha, but they all play so nicely together.
    • Toasting the nuts makes these bars fantastic… spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet, and bake for about 10 minutes in your hot oven.  Be careful not to overdo, ahem.  (Use toasted pecans or hazelnuts if you so desire.)
    • You will end up with more glaze than you need.   This is a good thing.  Freeze for later (really- just put your piping bag in another air-proof bag and toss it in the freezer, or just dip Classic Shortbread or Espresso Shortbread Cookies in the glaze.  Or anything.  Or pour it on ice cream.  You have options.
    • Make your life easier when cutting the bars… chill them in the refrigerator first and they will slice so much easier.
    • Want to be healthier?  Skip the frosting, and maybe just sift a bit of confectioners’ sugar over the top before you serve.
    • Enjoy!

     

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    December 27th, 2014 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags: , ,

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