You must eat these!

In spite of recent evidence to the contrary, I'm not a big banana fan.

 About once a month I might talk myself into eating one but only if it's still half green. Once they become even all the way yellow (let alone really ripe), I'm outta there.

 Now that you know this about me, you'll understand how good these bars must be for me to recommend them.

 They're called Banana Bread Bars but they're more like moist banana cake.

 Really, it doesn't matter what the bars are like because the real reason they're so good is the brown butter frosting with which they're topped. After trying it for the first time, I knew I had found my new boyfriend.

Seriously. Yum.

This frosting could possibly make shoe leather edible.

I found the recipe here. Via Pinterest of course.

 Is there any other way these days? 

Even if you don't have any ripe bananas hanging around, call the neighbors, go to the store, whatever-just find some. Then, after you try these, call me and we'll brainstorm other things on which we can put this frosting. 

That is, besides on a spoon, heading into my mouth. 

Already done that one.

Banana Bread Bars:

1 1/2 c. sugar     1 c. sour cream     1/2 c. butter softened     2 eggs

1 3/4 c (3 or 4 ripe) bananas, mashed     2 t. vanilla

2 c. flour     1 t. baking soda     3/4 t. salt     1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Frosting:

1/2 c. butter     4 c. pwd sugar     1 1/2 t. vanilla     3 T. milk

Heat oven to 375 degrees. grease and flour 15x10 jelly roll pan. In a large bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, butter and eggs until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla. Add flour, b. soda and salt. Blend for one minute. Stir in walnuts. Spread batter evenly into pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, make frosting. Heat butter over med. heat until boiling. Let the butter turn a delicate golden brown and remove from heat immediately. Add rest of frosting ingredients and whisk until smooth. Spread the frosting over the bars while they are still warm. 

 Makes about 2 dozen bars. 

Note: I don't have a 15x10 pan. I used my 13x9 pan and it worked out fine. You just end up with slightly taller bars with thicker frosting.

Have you seen the Muffin Man?

I was just telling a few of my sisters about my new favorite muffin.

 I'm always ordering someone to make my new favorite whatever so this is nothing new to them. Yes, I'm one of those annoying people that is always calling you up to tell you about the latest thing I made and then demanding that you make it too. Thank heaven for tolerant friends and family that still answer their phones. Since Turner tagged me with her lovely head cold earlier this week, I can't stop thinking about eating these muffins and chocolate chip cookies. Weird, I know. Especially since I haven't wanted to eat ANYTHING in days.

Anyway, since I can't get these out of my head, I am now demanding that everybody try them. (and like them too of course) 

AND bring me some because I'm waaay too tired to make some myself. 

They're not as fluffy as regular muffins because they don't contain any flour and you blend them in the blender but they're super moist and intensely flavored. A fair trade in my opinion. Not to mention the fact that they're crazy easy and pretty good for you. Bonus and Bonus.

 I originally found the recipe (via Pinterest. Is there any other way?) here. I went back to the original recipe from there; found that the original had strawberries so I have also made a version substituting thawed frozen strawberries for the bananas and almond extract along with the vanilla that were pretty tasty too. Now I'm thinking I'll have to try peach and a berry besides strawberry. Just for kicks. Oh the possibilities!

Oatmeal Muffins

2 1/2 c. old fashioned oats     1 c. yogurt     2 eggs     3/4 c. sugar      1 1/2 t. b. powder

1/2 t. b. soda      2 bananas     1 t. vanilla

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Place bananas, yogurt, eggs and sugar in blender. Blend until smooth. Add 1/2c. oats, baking powder and baking soda. Blend. Add the rest of the oats, 1/2 c. at a time, blending after each addition until mixture is smooth. Pour into muffin tin and bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

*a few notes (just in case you check out the original and start to wonder about me)*

The original recipe tells you to use foil liners or a silicone muffin pan. (paper liners won't work) I had a silicone muffin pan and hated it so much that I stomped on it before I trashed it. Nor did I want to go get foil liners just for these. I made sure I used my non-stick pan and sprayed the cups well. They popped right out. If you don't have a non-stick pan then go blow 6 bucks or whatever on one at Wal-Mart. It's worth it because it's also the best thing in the world for making baked eggs. I also wipe the excess oil off of the top because I hate the way it goes gummy in the oven. Ick. I added the vanilla because it seemed like the kind of recipe that needed it. If you don't have real vanilla, up it by another teaspoon. I didn't use the plain Greek yogurt as in the original. Not that I have anything against Greek yogurt; I just didn't have any. Used vanilla Sam's Choice and it worked just fine. The second time, when I made the berry I used strawberry banana and it seemed to not make a difference. Use old-fashioned oats. Nothing else. Trust me, it matters. You shouldn't be buying anything but old-fashioned anyway. Lastly, I finally got around to trying these because I had bananas that needed using up and ended up using 2 1/2 REALLY ripe bananas. I think if my bananas are that ripe next time, I'll reduce the sugar by maybe 1/4 cup.