Got a ripe banana or two sitting around? These Gluten Free Banana Bars are a delicious banana filled healthy snack!
Raise your hand if you love banana desserts! You may also know this combination of flavors as monkey bars...that name also works because we go bananas for treats. If you love bananas, you will want to try this amazing gluten free banana microwave cake or any of my gluten free cookies recipes.
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These easy banana chocolate chip bars are sure to please even the pickiest dessert lover. They are moist and so sweet. I even have a dairy-free option for this gluten free cookie bar recipe. You only need to use dairy-free chips!
(If you want even more banana deliciousness, try these Gluten Free Grilled Banana Whoopie Pies or these Gluten Free Banana Oat Muffins!)
I need to get better at using bananas before they turn to mush on my counter, and I have to make something fast with these. We just had a delicious gluten free banana bread, so I really wanted to create a new recipe.
Thinking along the lines of ripe banana recipes, there are many other ingredients that could be fun to play with. I have some Meyer's Dark Rum in the cabinet, that flavor would work with the bananas in a cookie bar. I used Meyer's Dark Rum in these Gluten Free French Apple Cakes Recipe and it adds great flavor!
Tips to ripen bananas:
If your bananas are not ripe enough, don't worry. Try one of these ideas to ripen your bananas:
- Place your bananas on a baking sheet and bake at 225º F for 20 minutes.
- If you aren't in a hurry, you can put your bananas in a brown paper bag and let them sit on the counter. (Don't forget to close the bag!)
- You can grill the bananas. Just slit down the skin and place on a grill. Close the lid and cook at 300º F for 15 minutes.
Chocolate is a must. This is a big rule my kids are trying to push on me. Other requirements...these cookie bars need to be gluten free, dairy-free, and the recipe must use coconut sugar for a low glycemic sweetener. (No need to have sugar buzzed kids running around!)
Mix-ins:
- Chocolate chips. Chocolate is made to go with bananas! You can use bittersweet, dark, or milk chocolate!
- Nuts like pecan, walnut, or even almond!
- Caramel chips. Did you know that caramel brings out the flavors in this banana bar recipe?
- To make this banana bar recipe dairy-free, use chips by Enjoy Life. Their chips are vegan and melt really well in recipes.
We hope you enjoy this recipe. These gluten free monkey bars are moist and delicious. You may also want to try this delicious gluten free banana bread pudding too! Are you ready to make them?
When you are mixing up this easy banana bar recipe, there are several ways to puree the bananas. I like my bananas mashed so there are some chunky banana bits in my baking, but if you like your banana bar recipe to be smooth, puree the bananas until silky smooth.
Instructions:
Add your dry ingredients to a bowl and whisk to blend.
Add your wet ingredients to a smaller bowl and whisk to blend.
Add your bananas to a bowl and use a fork to mash them into a puree. Add to the wet ingredients and mix well.
Easy ways to mash bananas:
- Place the ripe bananas into a bowl and mash them with a fork. This is easy to do :-).
- Use a blender (like a Vitamix) to puree the bananas.
- I love to use this Cuisinart Immersion Blender with the mini food processor attachment. This tool is my favorite kitchen tool. It saves me so much time with all of its handy attachments.
- A mixer will also do the job quickly, and you have the added bonus that you can just add in all of the ingredients into the mixer after you mash the bananas.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and add chocolate chips or mix-ins.
What size pan?
Add the batter to a greased 8x8 baking pan. I use a metal non-stick baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, or until done. Allow to cool, then slice.
When are these bars done baking?
It can be difficult to tell when something is done baking by just looking at it. I like to use a toothpick test to see if baked goods are done baking. Insert a toothpick into the center of these bars. If the toothpick comes back clean, your bars are finished baking. If you see batter or crumbs, they need to bake a little longer.
Make them nut-free!
You can easily make these banana bars nut-free by omitting the almond flour. Add ¼ cup additional gluten free flour blend.
More delicious gluten free recipes with bananas to try:
Tools:
- Mixing bowls. When mashing bananas, it is no fun when you bowl slides all over the place. I really love this rubber bottom mixing bowl.
- 8x8 baking dish. This is the perfect size pan for making these monkey bars 🙂
- Almond flour. The best way to hide protein in your kids' snacks...and Anthony's is certified gluten free.
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📖 Recipe
Gluten Free Monkey Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten free flour blend
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 1 ½ cups smashed bananas
- 2 tablespoons dark rum
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup raisins or chocolate chips
- ½ cup almond flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Use coconut oil spray to cover an 8x8 baking pan.
- In a small bowl put mashed bananas, dark rum, coconut sugar, melted coconut oil, vanilla, and eggs. Mix well.
- In a large mixing bowl add all dry ingredients and whisk thoroughly to blend.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
- Add in the raisins or chocolate chips (depending on how much sugar you want in these.)
- Pour mixture into baking pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until done.
Notes
Nutrition
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(*Photos updated from the original 9/2015 post date.)
Dee
These are simply divine. I have made them three times and they came out perfectly each time.
I didn't have rum so I omitted that and it was just fine.
This is now a favorite of mine. Thank you so much for creating this. LOVE this blog!
Sandi Gaertner
You made my day. These banana bars are one of my very favorites on the blog 🙂
K
Hi! Lovely recipe! Yum! I made a few variations to the recipe, based on what I had on hand. I used ‘Jo’s gluten free all purpose flour mix’ from Jo Stepaniak’s ‘Food Allergy Survival Guide’ cook book. I try to always have some mixed up & on hand. I also used xanthan gum. I used the real sugar, the kind with the minerals and such still in it. My local grocery store chain brand, nothing special. I’m not meant to consume coconut, so I used olive oil for the oil. I didn’t use rum, cus I didn’t have any on hand, I used a bit each of vanilla, almond & lemon extract. My family loves that combination in baked goods. I used flax ‘eggs’ for the eggs (1 tablespoon ground flax seeds, 3 tablespoons hot water, per ‘egg’. Mix with a fork or whisk to combine & let rest til thickened), cus if a child wants to lick the beaters or the mixing spoon, I don’t have to worry about raw egg in the batter. I started doing that when my children were small & I’ve been using flax eggs ever since, cus I always have ground flax meal in a bag in my freezer, but, sometimes I don’t have eggs & I live way out of town, so a run to the store takes too long. I had some Pamela’s brand ‘Nut Flour Blend‘ in my freezer, so I used that for the nut flour. I did use milk chocolate chips for the chocolate chips, cus my husband prefers them. I also used 1/2 cup of the raw nut & seed mixture I have in a jar in my fridge. It was a mixture of sunflower & pumpkin seeds & cashew & pecan pieces. Again, this is a mixture my family loves in recipes. Gotta keep the troops happy! I used a small rectangular baking pan, instead of the square pan, I was worried it might overflow the pan cus I mixed my wet ingredients in my food processor work bowl so a lot of air went into the mixture. I worry about a pan overflowing in the oven as it bakes. It was just the right size pan. The recipe came out well & baked for the amount of time you listed. Even with all the changes, the cake came out well & my family is enjoying it for dessert! Thank you for the delish recipe!
Sandi Gaertner
I am so glad you enjoyed them. I love your modifications!!