Chocolate

Banoffee Bars

by:
March 16, 2018
3
1 Ratings
Banoffee Bars
Photo by Posie Harwood
  • Makes one 9" square pan
Author Notes

A cross between a millionaire's shortbread recipe and a banoffee pie, these gooey bars are quite sweet but balanced out by the buttery shortbread crust and sprinkling of sea salt. —Posie (Harwood) Brien

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the shortbread base
  • 3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • For the top layers
  • 10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter
  • 14 ounces (397 grams) sweetened condensed milk
  • 3/4 cup (160 grams) packed brown sugar
  • 2 bananas, sliced
  • 3/4 cup (127 grams) dark chocolate
  • 1 tablespoon flaky sea salt
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9" square pan with a parchment paper sling and grease the parchment and sides.
  2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour and salt and beat until the batter just begins to come together in clumps. Press into the bottom of your pan and lightly prick the dough all over with a fork.
  3. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until pale golden in color. Remove from oven and let cool while you make the filling.
  4. For the top layers, melt the butter and the brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, then stir in the condensed milk. Bring to the boil and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes until the caramel begins to thicken.
  5. Arrange the sliced bananas in an even layer, overlapping if needed, over the cooled shortbread base. Pour the caramel in a layer over the bananas and smooth with a spatula. Chill for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.
  6. Once the caramel is chilled, melt the chocolate (I do this in the microwave) and pour it evenly over the caramel layer. Let it set until firm before slicing.
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4 Reviews

Shayla N.
Shayla N. March 20, 2021
Every step of this recipe felt like a failure. The shortbread didn't come together so I added a couple of tablespoons of cold water at a time until it was a bit more cohesive. I used 2 bananas (total of ~250g) which when sliced thinly, just barely covered an 8x8" pan. The caramel does not brown or look like the picture above. It's a very pale color and the fat (used Cabot butter) separated no matter what I did. I would maybe reduce the condensed milk by a 1/4 or a 1/3. There was a lot left over and would have helped the color.

Dismayed, I continued and used one bar of Baker's dark chocolate for the final layer and topped with flaky Maldon. Please please please score your chocolate once it begins to set. It will help so much with cutting the bars later.

Partner and I took a bite, looked at each other, and agreed it turned out pretty darn good despite all of the complications. Love when a recipe surprises me like this. In short, go ahead and make this. It is very sweet but the flavor combination is fun and delicious.
 
Jared
Jared April 23, 2020
Let me first say that I am not the type to say something is too sweet. Ever. However, this dessert is quite sweet and received ho-hum reviews from my family and I. The caramel, however, was A+ delicious. I would make it again but instead of a full layer of chocolate, I would instead do a pretty drizzle. It was fun to make.
 
allekas
allekas April 14, 2018
These were a huge hit at an impromptu dinner party. As such, I was very pleased that they came together so quickly. Everyone was surprised by the flavor combination and liked it very much. We did use GF flour (Cup4Cup) which made a nicely sandy shortbread that didn't brown much - no worries though. We nearly ran out of bananas but just sliced a few thinner. I'll use about an 1/8 - 1/16" slice next time. Thanks for the new favorite!
 
kauffmannbeard
kauffmannbeard April 4, 2018
I usually read the comments before I make something on this site but since there were none, I just took the plunge. I have never commented on Food52 before though I use it very consistently. On this one, I have to as nothing worked for me; not the shortbread (really hard to pat out, lots of butter), not enough banana to cover the shortbread, not enough chocolate but most importantly the flavors do not come out at all, it only tastes like bananas! Really disappointing I'm very sorry to say