Bananas are ubiquitous to most American kitchens. But often they ripen faster than they can be peeled and enjoyed as a snack, or on cereal, or in a fruit salad. Their blackening skins cause guilt feelings: We should not waste food! So they go into breads and sometimes, cookies. I used to make these Banana Bars a lot when the kids were around to gobble them up.

Now, about mashing bananas. So many contemporary recipes call for “mashed bananas” to be added to a batter being mixed in a stand mixer. It’s my opinion that that mixer is going to do a heck of a better job of mashing the bananas than I am. Therefore, I only mash bananas enough to get an estimate of how many cups there are, then I let the mixer do the work.

Banana Bars

• 3/4 cup margarine
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 cup lightly mashed bananas (about 2 or 3, this recipe is forgiving if you are not exact)
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 oz. package mini chocolate chips
• powdered sugar for sprinkling on top

Cream the margarine and the sugars, add the vanilla and egg, then add the bananas. Mix well, until all big chunks of bananas are gone.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then add to the creamed mixture. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.

Bake in a greased 15 1/2″x 10 1/2″ pan at 350° for 25-30 minutes. Cool, then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Please refer to my Cookie Recipe Basics to make sure your cookies turn out!
Read the introduction to my 1990s cooking blog for background information.