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Get your favorite ice cream sundae in an easy to eat bar form with this delicious Banana Split Bars. These bars are filled with all your favorite banana split ingredients – bananas, cherries, chocolate chips, nuts, and even pineapple! The creamy vanilla frosting makes them absolutely irresistible.
Summer just isn’t summer with ice cream, and a banana split is the most classic of all ice cream sundaes. These banana split bars are a great way to get that traditional summer flavor in potluck friendly form. And if you’re getting tired of making Banana Bread and Banana Muffins, this is the perfect recipe to try today!
Made similar to our favorite Banana Bars Recipe, these banana split bars will take your overripe banana game to the next level. The cake is tender and so moist, with sweetness from the maraschino cherries, rich chocolate chips and a crunch from the added nuts. If you’re a nut free family, you can easily omit the nuts and your bars will still be amazing.
That cream vanilla frosting though, just puts them over the top. It kind of a cross between a glaze and an icing, and it’s melt in your mouth creamy. It’s the best way to top off one of the best desserts since sliced (banana) bread!
What is a Banana Split?
A classic banana split has a ripe bananas sliced in half and placed at the bottom of the serving dish. Three scoops of ice cream – traditionally chocolate, vanilla and strawberry – sit on top of the bananas. Top it all off with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, nuts and a cherry for the best sundae you’ll ever eat.
These banana split bars take the essence and flavors of that sundae, bake them into cake-y bar form and cover them with vanilla frosting.
Recipe Overview
- Prep. Preheat the oven and grease a 13×9-inch baking dish. Gather up all of your ingredients and puree bananas in a blender or food processor. If bananas are extra ripe, you can mash them with a fork.
- Mix. Whisk together dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon), then add wet ingredients (bananas, crushed pineapple, eggs, oil and vanilla. Finally, add the mix-ins (chocolate chips, chopped cherries and chopped peanuts. Mix everything with a wooden spoon just until you can’t see any more specks of flour – don’t over-mix.
- Bake. Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake as directed. Use the toothpick test for doneness – the toothpick should come out of the center clean with only a few moist crumbs.
- Make the vanilla frosting. Heat melt and milk in a saucepan over low heat until the butter is melted, then remove from the heat source and use a hand mixer to beat in powdered sugar and vanilla. This will make a creamy, but easily pourable frosting that will harden up slightly as it sits. Spoiler alert – it tastes like vanilla ice cream! Top with more mini chocolate chips, nuts, or even banana slices.
Top Tips and Recipe Notes
- Because of all the mix-ins inside these banana split bars, they can be a little tricky to cut. Chilling in the fridge for 20 minutes may make them easier to cut – just be sure to use a very sharp knife.
- Sliced bananas on top for garnish are totally optional but look so pretty! To keep sliced bananas from turning brown, brush them all over with a little bit of citrus juice. I recommend having a little extra pineapple juice on hand for this since you’re already using pineapple in the recipe. Lemon or orange juice would also work. An alternative would be to use crunchy banana chips on top.
- Bananas not ripe enough? Cut a few slits in the peel and place them on a microwavable plate. Microwave for a minute or two until they turn dark brown. Handle with care (oven mitts are recommended) because they will be very hot. Let them cool 20-30 minutes before peeling and adding to your recipe.
- Pecans can be used in place of peanuts, or the nuts can be omitted altogether.
- This recipe makes about 15-36 bars, depending on how you cut them. For potlucks, I recommended cutting into at lease 24 squares, but for an at-home dessert go big and cut 15 squares.
- They can be made up to a day ahead of time. Cover and store in the fridge.
Storage
Store bars in an airtight container in the fridge. Let sit out on the counter for 20 minutes before serving.
More Banana Recipes
If you liked this banana split bars recipe, I bet you’ll also love these other ways to use up ripe bananas:
- Strawberry Banana Smoothie
- Banana Bran Muffins
- Banana Bars Recipe
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Healthy Banana Popsicles
- Frozen Peanut Butter Banana Bites
- Coconut Banana Bread with Orange Glaze
Banana Split Bars
Ingredients
- 2 extra-ripe medium bananas peeled
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 8 ounce can crushed pineapple, undrained
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup maraschino cherries drained and halved
- ¼ cup peanut chopped
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips
- Creamy Vanilla Frosting
- ¼ cup butter
- 4 tablespoons milk
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Puree bananas in a blender or roof processor to make 1 cup
- Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in bananas, pineapple with juice, eggs, oil and vanilla until well blended. Stir in cherries, nuts and chocolate chips.
- Pour into a greased and floured 13x9-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, with just a few moist crumbs. Cool 30 minutes before topping with creamy vanilla frosting (below).
Creamy Vanilla Frosting
- Heat butter and milk until butter melts. Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar and vanilla.
- Beat until smooth.
Notes
- Because of all the mix-ins inside these banana split bars, they can be a little tricky to cut. Chilling in the fridge for 20 minutes may make them easier to cut - just be sure to use a very sharp knife.
- Sliced bananas on top for garnish are totally optional but look so pretty! To keep sliced bananas from turning brown, brush them all over with a little bit of citrus juice. I recommend having a little extra pineapple juice on hand for this since you're already using pineapple in the recipe. Lemon or orange juice would also work. An alternative would be to use crunchy banana chips on top.
- Bananas not ripe enough? Cut a few slits in the peel and place them on a microwavable plate. Microwave for a minute or two until they turn dark brown. Handle with care (oven mitts are recommended) because they will be very hot. Let them cool 20-30 minutes before peeling and adding to your recipe.
- This recipe makes about 15-36 bars, depending on how you cut them. For potlucks, I recommended cutting into at least 24 squares, but for an at-home dessert go big and cut 12-15 servings.
- Make up to a day ahead of time. Cover and store in the fridge.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of "Yellow Bliss Road" is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
