Banana Bread Brownies

This recipe was in the La Crosse Tribune a week or two ago. I thought it sounded like a wonderful combination—banana bread and brownies! These vegetarian bars could easily be made gluten-free and dairy-free, so that’s a plus. The web site says the bars are good after refrigerating for a couple of days.

Here’s a link to the recipe: https://giadzy.com/recipes/banana-bread-brownies-giada-de-laurentiis/

I glanced at the ingredients when I printed off the recipe, but it didn’t dawn on me until I put some in the bowl that there are no eggs and only one tablespoon of sugar. However, I figured chocolate chips would make up for the lack of sweetener.

wet & dry ingredients

Changes I made:

Though the first ingredient is avocado oil, I substituted canola oil. The recipe calls for spreading half the batter in the pan, then adding the chocolate chips and cocoa to the remaining batter and spreading that on top so that you get a layered bar. The batter looked minimal to me in the bowl, so I added the cocoa and chips to the whole thing.

Out of the oven

The verdict:

· Were the ingredients easy to find? Probably. I don’t keep avocado oil in the house, but the large grocery store near me lists several brands.

· Were the directions easy to follow? They were quite clear.

· Did it come out as expected? Frankly, I didn’t know what to expect. My bars seemed overdone on the bottom, almost cardboardy, even though I baked them the minimum time suggested. However, they were sweeter than I anticipated, perhaps because of the chips. The photo on the web site shows bars that look at least one inch high—mine barely made it to half an inch. I suppose there’s a chance my baking powder is getting old since I’m at the bottom of the container, but it was fine last week.

· How did it taste? If it weren’t for the chocolate chips, I think these would be okay as a breakfast bar, but, to me, they are not dessert. Refrigeration didn’t do much one way or the other. The other adult in the house thought they were fine, though.

· Will I make it again? Unlikely. They live up to their name—flat like a brownie and tasting like banana bread but lacking the sweetness or texture of either. However, anything with chocolate chips is going to have some merit. If you have dietary restrictions, these are certainly an option.

Banana Bread Brownie

Comments

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