Nutella Banana Bread Bars
We have been doing a lot of thinking about banana bread recently. Apparently it was the #1 searched recipe on the internet in 2014. No one seems to know why! The banana industry didn’t explode. Our problem is usually having too many unripe bananas at hand – so who knows why? Certainly it is delicious and appeals to all ages and is simple to make, so that must be part of it. It also lends itself to variations and this Banana Bread with Nutella is our newest. And we have to admit, our favorite.
We took our favorite banana bread, spread the batter into an 8-inch square pan, swirled in Nutella and then topped it with crunchy dried banana chips. The combination of banana, brown sugar, the tender texture of the crumb, the creamy pockets of Nutella and the crunch of banana chips is a huge winner. Super easy too. You can get this into the oven in less than 10 minutes. If your bananas are quite ripe enough yet, check out our Tip on How to Ripen Bananas Instantly.
- 1 batch of batter of Banana Bread, made without nuts
- ½ cup Nutella, softened (see Tips)
- ⅓ cup dried banana chips, broken or roughly chopped (see Tips)
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Position rack in center of oven. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray.
- Prepare the banana bread recipe as described, leaving out the nuts. Scrape about two-third of the batter into the pan and spread into an even layer. Dollop Nutella here and there evenly over batter. Scrape remaining batter on top of Nutella and swirl gently using a butter knife or small icing spatula (see image). Evenly scatter banana chips on top.
- Bake for about 25 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick almost tests clean. Cool pan on rack. Cut into squares. The bars are ready to serve immediately or may be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Bakepedia Tips
- Nutellacan get very sticky. Softening it in the microwave (after transferring to a microwave safe bowl/container) can allow you to dollop it more easily on top of your batter. Scrape some out into a microwave safe bowl and zap in 10 second intervals until softened.
- Banana Chipscan be found in the bulk section of some markets. They come in sweetened and unsweetened and either can be used. We prefer the sweetened for this recipe.
I finally got a chance to try this – even without the banana chips, which were not in my local store, this was a big winner with my family and guests of all ages!
Thank you for the feedback! We will have to send you a care package of banana chips!