Greek Yogurt Banana Bars with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Good morning, and happy first of June! I have a new dessert recipe to share today - Greek Yogurt Banana Bars with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting. I made this for a neighborhood party this weekend using very ripe bananas and a few healthier ingredients. These bars contain Greek yogurt and whole wheat flour, and a banana chip topping for extra crunch.

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Even though there are a few healthy ingredients in this dessert, I still used cream cheese frosting, with pure maple syrup. The bars were for a party after all! Good thing I ran this weekend, because the leftover bars are gone. Worth every bite.

K and I have a "day of the week" banana guideline. It's a way to rate bananas based on how ripe they are throughout the week. If you start with green bananas on Sunday, by Saturday they might look like the above {perfect for banana bars}! My preferred "banana day" is Wednesday. A Wednesday banana is perfectly yellow, without any green left and no brown spots. I usually eat a banana in my morning smoothie so it doesn't matter that much... but it's a fun way to discuss bananas. We're food nerds, obviously.

Anyways. I made these Greek Yogurt Banana Bars in a baking half sheet similar to this. You can also use a jelly roll baking sheet, for slightly thicker bars.

Since these are banana bars instead of banana bread, they require a much shorter baking time - only 25 minutes. Instead of nuts, I topped these bars with chopped banana chips, processed in my blender a few times. Using banana chips added a nice crunch to each bar, and lots of extra banana flavor.

Greek Yogurt Banana Bars with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Feeds a crowd.

Bar ingredients~
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 and 1/8 cups 2% Greek yogurt
1/4 cup butter {softened}
3 ripe bananas {mashed}
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting ingredients~
1 package reduced fat cream cheese {softened}
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 Tablespoons butter {softened}
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping~
1/2 cup banana chips {chopped}

How to~
*Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
*Mix sugar, yogurt, butter, and bananas in a mixer on low-medium speed, until combined.
*In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixer, mixing only until combined. Add vanilla extract.
*Bake for ~25 minutes until the bars are light brown, and a toothpick comes out clean.
*Let the bars cool before frosting.
*To make the frosting, whisk softened butter and cream cheese with powdered sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Remember to refrigerate since the bars contain cream cheese!
*To make the topping, process banana chips in a blender or food processor for ~5 seconds.

{Recipe adapted from Sour Cream Banana Bars. Frosting recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.}

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