If you love the flavors of chocolate and bananas together, these Caramel Pecan Banana Brownies are for you! These rich, fudgy brownies are the perfect decadent chocolate-banana dessert. The addition of caramel, pecans and sea salt gives them texture and balance. This recipe was a challenge to create because, while adding bananas to a brownie recipe does add moisture, it can also give the brownies a cake-like texture. That’s desirable in banana bread, but for brownies, most of us love a traditional fudgy texture. I solved that issue and I’m excited to share this fudgy, gooey Banana Brownie recipe with you!
These brownies are on the sweeter side, so I like adding dark chocolate chips or a combination of dark and semisweet chocolate chips. Adding the nuts to the top of the batter, rather than stirring them in, gives them a toasty flavor and helps maintain their crunch. An optional sprinkle of flaky sea salt adds the perfect finishing touch. They’re TDF served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
| Servings |
|
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, cubed
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) avocado oil or neutral oil of your choice
- 1 cup (200g) packed brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (45g) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (125g) mashed very ripe bananas about 1 medium banana
- 1/2 cup (65g) all purpose flour
- 1 cup (170g) dark or semisweet chocolate chips or a combination of both
- 1/2 cup (55g) pecan halves or pieces
- caramel sauce, purchased or homemade
- Flaky sea salt optional but recommended
Ingredients
|
|
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF (165ºC). Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a couple of inches of overhang.
- In a medium-size light-colored saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and cook until it's deep golden and fragrant. When brown specks start to appear, remove it from the heat and immediately transfer the butter with the brown specks to a large bowl. Stir in the brown sugar and salt until well combined.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until well blended and most of the brown sugar is dissolved. Mix in the cocoa powder and cinnamon until thoroughly combined. Stir in the mashed bananas. Mix in the flour, just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan. Arrange the pecan halves on top of the batter or if you're using pecan pieces, sprinkle them evenly on top of the batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 20-25 minutes. (If you hit a melted chocolate chip with the toothpick, test again in a different spot.) Do not over bake!
- Let the brownies cool in the pan. Remove the cooled brownies from the pan and drizzle with caramel sauce. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired.