Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Tender morsels with a cake like texture and light banana flavor these Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting so special!

Banana Bars with Frosting Recipe

These Frosted Banana Bars are the sweetest, richest and best banana recipe we have!  And we have several great recipes with bananas from our Banana Split Cake to Banana Pecan Bread.

Natural banana flavors from nicely ripened bananas creates a sheet cake that is a wonderful treat on it’s own. The cake is made in a quarter sized sheet pan, so it is thin yet so moist from the bananas and sour cream. Add the rich and creamy frosting to make a wonderful dessert or snack.

The frosting is so rich and creamy it just sets the banana bars apart from our Chocolate Chip Banana Bars.

A friend in western Ohio that follows along with all of our recipes often shares her best family recipes.  Thank you, Amy, for sharing this recipe!  She and her husband are dairy farmers and this banana cake recipe is filled with butter and sour cream and iced with a cream cheese icing that also has butter.

I like knowing that when I buy name brand or store brand dairy products at the grocery store I’m supporting farmers like Amy and her family and many other similar families across the United States.  There are lots of farmers that work hard every day to grow the food that is sold in the grocery store!

Ingredients Needed To Make Frosted Banana Bars

• Butter
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Sour Cream
• Flour
• Baking Soda
• Ripe Bananas

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

• Cream Cheese
• Butter
• Vanilla Extract
• Powdered Sugar

While we’re fans of whipping up a homemade Cream Cheese Frosting another poplar option is Brown Butter Frosting. My friend Kelsey is a food scientist that created these amazing Pumpkin Bars with Brown Butter Frosting. Her frosting could be used on these bars for another delicious variation.

What To Do With Bananas About to Go Bad

I work hard to keep an eye on how quickly our bananas are ripening so that we can be sure and use them before they get rotten.  If we have several bananas that are about to go bad I may freeze a few to use in smoothies. Or I make a banana flavored baked good like Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins.

Putting bananas that are about to go bad in the refrigerator will make them turn brown, so I always avoid that.  We store bananas on the counter or place them in an airtight bag in the freezer.  Bananas may continue to turn slightly more brown in the freezer, the process will be slowed significantly compared to storing on the counter or refrigerator.

What Does a Ripe Banana Look Like

A ripe banana is yellow and fairly firm!  The amount of green on the banana peel will decrease as it ripens.  As the ripening process continues the banana will get soft and the skin will begin to turn brown.  The browning process can happen more quickly than turning from greenish to yellow.

What Should Bananas Look Like For Baking

Bananas used for baking should not have any green on the peel.  As the banana peel turns from yellow to brown the banana flavor will strengthen.  I like to use bananas that are yellow or have a few brown spots when baking, but this is personal preference.

A piece of the banana can be eaten to determine if you like the flavor before including in a baking recipe.  If the banana is too soft and strong tasting I would recommend not using that banana.

How to Make Frosted Banana Bars

1. Soften butter and cream cheese prior to beginning the recipe
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
3. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla
4. Mix flour and baking soda
5. Gradually add flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture
6. Stir in bananas and spread batter into greased baking sheet
7. To make frosting beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy
8. Gradually beat in powdered sugar to achieve desired consistency
9. Warmer icing spreads easier, also spreads easier on a warm cake

Step By Step Instructions

In a mixing bowl beat softened stick of butter and sugar.

Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream and mix well.

The mixture should become light and fluffy.

Use a fork to mix flour and baking soda together.

This is a quicker and easier way to sift the dry ingredients.

Pour half of the flour mixture into the wet mixture in the mixing bowl and mix.

Use a spatula to scrape the edges of the bowl and then add remaining flour and mix it up.

Mash up two bananas in a measuring cup. Use about 1 cup of mashed bananas.

Add to the batter and stir it up. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl a couple times until batter is uniform.

Pour into a lightly greased 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan.

Bake in a 350°F oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool for about 30 minutes and mix up frosting ingredients. Cover with frosting and enjoy!

How Many Bars Does This Recipe Make?

We can cut 20 pretty generous sized bars or 40 smaller bars that only take a few bites to eat.

It’s nice to have options. My kids made these to serve along with No-Bake Cookies without Cocoa and our White and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies for a snack at a 4-H meeting. The smaller pieces went over better since there were other options.

Storage & Freezing Directions

The bars are best eaten in 1 to 2 days.

Be sure to store in the refrigerator since ripening fruit is in the bars and dairy products are in the frosting.

If you would like to freeze the bars they will preserve the best quality being frozen without frosting.

With frosting on the bars the quality will decrease a bit in the freezing and defrosting process because of the amount of moisture in the frosting.

Other Easy Cakes for a Potluck or Family Meal

• Cinnamon Applesauce Cake
• Pumpkin Carrot Cake
• Milky Way Cake
• Carrot Cake Loaf
• Heath Bar Cake

Originally shared on May 4, 2019 with pictures updated on March 21, 2023.