Chocolate Banana Marble Bars: Modified Banana Black-Bottom Bars

I was planning to make Kahlua bars but my mom wanted to have me bake another banana bread. Seriously, they can't seem to get enough of the stuff! I tell you it's a comfort food, anti-depressant and all.

So I was preparing mash bananas while I was sulking a bit because I really wanted to make bars. They're easier to eat and store. So my curious self wondered, are there any interesting banana recipes? I went online and browsed through Banana based bars; I got intrigued with Black Bottom Bars from eHow.com. What made it black bottomed, cocoa. Hmmm... chocolate and banana sounds mighty nice.

So I whipped up a batch, but instead of layering it, I decided to create a marble-like effect to make them look pretty. It's really a good alternative than baking banana bread whenever you have over ripe bananas. You can add chopped nuts, choco/caramel chips or dried fruit.

CHOCOLATE BANANA MARBLE BARS

INGREDIENTS

Makes approximately 24 bars

3 medium sized bananas (mashed to make 1 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup softened salted butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup cocoa powder

PROCEDURE

Preheat oven to 350F and line/grease a 13x9 baking pan.

1. Combine all dry ingredients (except cocoa) in a bowl with a wire whisk.

2. In a larger bowl cream butter and sugar. Mix in egg and vanilla until well combined. Pour in mashed bananas.

3. Into the wet ingredients, pour in the flour mix and whisk until combined. Split the batter between two bowls. At this point you can add in chopped walnuts.

4. In one bowl, add in cocoa powder and mix well.

5. Use two separate spoons and drop alternating amounts of each mixture into the pan. Using a barbecue stick or a thin knife, swirl the batter to create a marble-effect.

6. Bake for about 25 minutes or until toothpick test comes out clean.

It tasted much like a banana bread, though denser. I thought of dousing it with some Kahlua after baking and letting it cool in the refrigerator... it turned out some what like a crude version of banoffee. :)