Chocolate Banana Brownies is a recipe created by my friend Gloria, who is a regular at the Minnesota State Fair. She gave me this award winning brownie recipe years ago, and it's become a favorite. Or at least personal favorite. My husband doesn't care for bananas, but everyone else who tries the brownies seems to love them.
Flavor & Texture
Along with flavor, the bananas add a bit of fluffiness and lightness to the texture. I wouldn't say the brownies are cakey, but the bananas do lighten the fudgy texture in a pleasing way. The brownies are fudgy, but less dense. In some recipes bananas are used as fat replacement, but I think in this recipe they'd be more of an overall enhancer. And I'm not super keen on banana flavored things!
Semisweet and Bittersweet
I've tested the recipe using different combinations of bittersweet and semisweet chocolate as well as chocolate chips. All of the versions are good, but changing the type of chocolate affects how shiny to tops are. Incorporating chocolate chips makes the tops shinier, but using chopped chocolate makes the brownies taste a little better. The best combo is the one in the recipe.
Shiny tops aside, the banana is what makes these special. There’s just enough banana for the flavor to be subtle.
Chocolate Banana Brownies
Gloria’s State Fair Chocolate-Banana Brownies
5 oz semisweet chocolate (or a little less that 1 cup chips)
1 oz bittersweet chocolate (or 3 tablespoons chips)
6 tablespoons salted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
½ t vanilla (optional) – Gloria leaves it out, anna added ½ tsp
½ of a small banana-well mashed
¾ cup sifted flour
1 T unsweetened natural cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter, add an extra pinch)
½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
½ cup lightly toasted chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray cooking spray on bottom only of an 8 inch metal pan. Gloria noted that for the fair, she used non-stick foil to line the pan.
Mix flour, cocoa, and salt together and set aside.
Combine sugar, eggs, and banana in a separate bowl-stir until combined. I did this with a fork.
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium low heat, then reduced heat to low and add 5 oz and 1 oz of chocolates. Cook and stir over low until smooth. Cool 5 minutes.
Add chocolate to sugar egg/banana mixture-stir until combined.
Stir in dry ingredients until just combined.
Fold in that last ½ cup chips and nuts. Bake 35-40 min, check at 35 (Anna’s note: I baked a full 45 min)
Cool completely before cutting. Anna’s note: I like to chill before cutting
Yield: Obviously, this makes 1 8 inch pan. How many brownies you get is up to you. I cut mine into 9 giant squares, but if you chill the brownies before slicing, you should be able to cut the brownies as small as you'd like. You might even want to try cutting 36 squares and serving them in mini cupcake holders.
Recipe
Chocolate Banana Brownies
Ingredients
- 5 oz semisweet chocolate or a little less that 1 cup chips
- 1 oz bittersweet chocolate or 3 tablespoons chips
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ t vanilla optional – Gloria leaves it out, anna added ½ tsp
- ½ of a small banana-well mashed
- ¾ cup sifted flour
- 1 T unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter, add an extra pinch
- ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup lightly toasted chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray cooking spray on bottom only of an 8 inch metal pan. Gloria noted that for the fair, she used non-stick foil to line the pan.
- Mix flour, cocoa, and salt together and set aside.
- Combine sugar, eggs, and banana in a separate bowl-stir until combined. I did this with a fork.
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium low heat, then reduced heat to low and add 5 oz and 1 oz of chocolates. Cook and stir over low until smooth. Cool 5 minutes.
- Add chocolate to sugar egg/banana mixture-stir until combined.
- Stir in dry ingredients until just combined.
- Fold in that last ½ cup chips and nuts. Bake 35-40 min, check at 35 (Anna’s note: I baked a full 45 min)
- Cool completely before cutting. Anna’s note: I like to chill before cutting
- Yield: Obviously, this makes 1 8 inch pan. How many brownies you get is up to you. I cut mine into 9 giant squares, but if you chill the brownies before slicing, you should be able to cut the brownies as small as you'd like. You might even want to try cutting 36 squares and serving them in mini cupcake holders.
Anna says
Hi Jay,
Good question! I usually put my favorite photo on top, so that first photo is actually the second attempt. The shiny crust comes from sugar added to hot chocolate (melted sugar), but the flakiness is more likely due to eggs, even though I didn't really beat them. But I did get shinier tops when using a combination of semisweet chips and bittersweet chips rather than 72% bittersweet chocolate and dark chocolate chips.
P.S. If you want a brownie with a thick crusty, try Maida's Palm Beach Brownies. The high temperature helps form a crust.
Jay says
So is the first picture the first attempt?? Was the crust a thin one? I am trying to perfect my brownie crust. thx J
gloria says
I also used mostly WW pastry flour with the changes above. Trying to make a terribly unhealthy treat a little healthier!
gloria says
I decided to add 1/2 cup of blueberries to this recipe and I cut the salted butter down to 4 tablespoons. (There are so many recipes out there that call for 2 oz of chocolate and 8 oz of butter for and 8x8 so about 10 oz of fat. This recipe altered is also about 10 oz of fat, but 6 oz are chocolate, not butter.) I also put in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, but no extra choco chips. They needed to bake an extra 10-15 minutes, but they are good and the blueberries that show in the top crust are kind of interesting! They might be good with no banana and just the blueberries and the 6 T of butter for those banana-challenged!
Tara says
Kudos from a true Minnesotan!!!
Lee Zoloto says
First of all, I was salivating when I read the recipe. I made them Saturday morning and drove everyone in the house crazy. They are the splendid and I almost followed the recipe exactly, but not quite. I added a teaspoon of instant coffee crystals and half a teaspoon of citric acid (which I add to all baking). My sister won't share her pretty good brownie recipe with anyone, but these are even better and she's not getting the recipe. Thank you for your glorious creation.
Gloria says
Glad everyone likes them so far! The MN State Fair displays all winning entries and a lot of the left overs in cases for the length of the fair: 10 days. Non-refrigerated cases I might add! For general baked item entries nothing can require refrigeration.....I would hate to be the one cleaning out those display cases on day 11!!!!!
Anna says
So the brownies stayed at the State Fair all this time? How does that work? I figured they'd get eaten the first day after all the winners were announded.
I'll let you all know how the peanut butter version tastes. I'm making a batch this morning.
Migsy says
I saw that brownie at the fair yesterday. It did look scrumptious! I'm going to make a pan today. I plan to serve it with ice cream and some chocolate raspberry sauce. Thanks, Gloria and Anna!
Anna says
I just had a recipe idea and thought I'd post it here for safekeeping. Maybe someone will see it and try it. Maybe I will.
This banana brownie might be great with Southern Living's peanut butter streusel from a few posts back. A lot of people having problems getting the cook time ironed out with that particular brownie, but maybe this one would work better. Plus, there's be a good theme -- chocolate banana peanut butter streusel.
Linda says
This month's "Modern Baking" addresses the question of adding vegetables and fruit to cookies without changing the flavor. The formula suggests using any pureed vegetable or fruit (butternut squash is noted as one that will retain moisture well and has a neutral flavor) at no more than 10% of the flour weight for best results.
gloria says
I wonder if you could make a chocolate banana split brownie somehow?
Anna says
Glad you liked the brownies, Joan! I agree with you on the peanut butter. Peanut butter chips might be good, but I think the brownies would be even better with a little real peanut butter swirled over the top. I haven't seen Ina Garten's method, but I have mixed peanut butter with a little extra vegetable oil, softened it, then swirled it over the top of brownie batter. Also, I've never tried the baking strips, but I'll bet they're really helpful for layer cakes.
joan says
Hi Anna, I made these yesterday, and agree that they are scrumptious! Something about the banana and the texture. I meant to add vanilla, but accidentally forgot it. I don't think they suffered too much. I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9X13 inch glass pan. Have you ever tried using Shirley Corriher's (Spelling of her name may be wrong. She's the author of Bakewise) trick of putting those "Magic Strips" around your baking pan when making bar cookies? They are those re-useable cloth strips that you soak in water and wrap around the outside of a cake pan to promote even baking. You need two of them to go all the way around a 9x13 inch pan. They work like a charm. The edge pieces don't get over-baked. I like your idea of adding peanut butter chips to this batter. Or, even better, adding dollops of just plain peanut butter on top of the brownies like Ina Garten does in one of her brownie recipes. You could call them Elvis Brownies.
Katrina says
For the record, I used a VERY ripe banana. I don't think it matters, as long as it's not too green.
Anna says
Hi Christine,
That's a great question and I should have addressed the ripeness issue in the post. The bananas I've been using were at the "edible" stage. They didn't have any green on them, but they weren't over-ripe either. I don't think using a brown banana would hurt anything, but you might get a little more banana flavor and the brownies might be a tiny bit sweeter.
I usually bake with over-ripe bananas, but this was a case where I wanted to make these right away and couldn't wait for the banana to mature.
Anna says
I sent (most of) the rest to Todd's office and people gave them a thumbs up. Next time, I might add chunks of Oreo or even peanut butter chips. They're great as is, but I think you could have fun with the chocolate banana theme and incorporate some more things that go with both.
Katrina, I agree about the blue ribbon.
Christine says
Hi Anna,
Is there any requirement on the ripeness of the bananas? (I have some black bananas in the freezer awaiting use in banana bread. I just wonder if I could use a half of one of those, or if you think I should go with a fresh, less ripe banana.) My guess is that I could use a half of a frozen ripe banana, nuked for a spell to thaw with excess water drained.
Can't wait to try this recipe for the upcoming tennis event. Enjoy your website so much.
Thanks.
Christine
Gloria says
Thanks Katrina! And thanks again to Anna-without this blog I'd still be in brownie limbo. Blue Ribbon? Maybe next year!
Katrina says
I made these today. What? I told all ya'll I would. They are fabulous, perfectly fudgy and GREAT tasting. The banana is a very subtle flavor. I gave one to a friend and didn't tell him about the banana, but asked if he could tell there was something different in them. He couldn't think of it. When I told him it was banana, he was surprised, but could then taste it.
GRRREAT brownies. I think Gloria should have taken the blue ribbon! 😉
Kay says
Yum! These look so good! I oughta try to make brownies from scratch. I always use the mixes. So these won 3rd place?... that's pretty good!
Not that this has anything to do with brownies, but my family has a gazebo/shed/lawn furniture booth at the MN State Fair. 🙂
Katrina says
So, I still want to know if Todd and Emma tasted the brownies and like them or not. If I didn't tell someone who doesn't care for bananas that there's any in it, would they be able to taste it?
Hi Spam. Just checking. 😉
Maura says
Thanks Anna!
Anna says
Most definitely the spam filter. OR, it's hanging in limbo somewhere. Todd said that might happen to a few comments that were posted a specific time.
Louise says
So it was perhaps the SPAM filter and not Anna who deleted one of my comments.
Maura says
THX ANNA !!!!
Anna says
I'll check the spam filter and make sure other comments didn't get blocked by accident. We're on a new server, so things have been a little strange today.
Katrina says
Weird, it went through that time.
Katrina says
Interesting, I just sent a comment and it didn't pass the spam test.
I said,
You know I'll love these and try them beings how they are banana brownies and all. Question is, did Todd and Emma like/try them, since they don't like bananas?
Let's try this again. And send.
yesilkivi says
very nice !
Pearl says
Congratulations to Gloria - those look like some scrumptious, decadent brownies!
Anna says
Hi Maura, that's right. She melted together 5 oz of semi-sweet chips plus 1 oz bittersweet (I put the volume amounts next to the weights) and then threw in an extra half cup of semi-sweet chips at the end. So in the end, the total amount of semi-sweet chips was 5 oz (which is a little less than a cup) plus 3 oz (half cup) of semi-sweet chips. That last half cup is added at the end.
Sue says
Congratulations to Gloria! No doubt there was a lot of stiff competition! The brownies look like winners!
Valerie says
I have some bananas that I need to use so hopefully have time to try these. I can't get enough chocolate. 🙂
Emily says
I agree with AJ; they do look decadent.
I wonder if you added corn syrup to the batter or into the melted chocolate, would it make the brownies shinier? Just in general, not particularly this recipe.
Maura says
So Gloria used 5 oz. semisweet chips AND 1/2 Cup semisweet chips?!? IS that correct for the "original" recipe she used?
Big laugh at the test pattern--nice picture!!!
AJ says
They look so decadent! Congrats to Gloria, and thanks for sharing the recipe!