The Best & Easiest Monkey Bars Recipe (8 Ingredients, 35 Minutes) Desserts Cakes/Cupcakes Snacks Fruit Gluten-free

Don't you love it when a recipe combines two popular ingredients? This monkey bars recipe combines those overripe bananas we use for banana bread and creamy peanut butter. The combination is irresistible to humans – and monkeys, too, apparently! These monkey bars have a muffin-like consistency and are perfecting for dessert or snacking. 

To make these sweet monkey bars, you need just a few simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry and refrigerator. Here is your short list of ingredients to gather: butter, brown sugar, creamy peanut butter (check out the health benefits of peanut butter), an egg, a ripe banana (check out the health benefits of bananas), vanilla extract, flour, baking powder, salt and powdered sugar to make them pretty.

Serve these peanut butter and banana bars for dessert or with a cup of coffee or tea in the morning or afternoon.

Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 to 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 to 40 minutes
Servings: 16

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour or whole-wheat flour (you can use gluten-free 1:1 flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Optional Ingredients

• powdered sugar, for dusting

Here's how to make it:

1. Put the butter, brown sugar and peanut butter into a mixing bowl. Beat until well combined. Add the egg, banana and vanilla. Mix to combine. (Make sure the butter is at room temperature before making the batter. Use very ripe bananas. The bananas should have brown spots on them.)
2. In another mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. (You could add a dash of salt, if desired.) Add it to the wet ingredients. Mix well. (You could fold in some chocolate chips or chopped nuts to the batter before baking. For gluten-free bars, use gluten-free flour.)
3. Spread the batter into a greased 8x8-inch baking pan. 
4. Bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool, then dust with powdered sugar, if desired. Cut into squares. Store the bars in an airtight container to keep them fresh.

Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. Any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.

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