The BEST Banana Bars

Published on August 3, 2019

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The BEST Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting are on of the best sheet cakes you will ever eat! Use those ripe bananas for something other than banana bread!

This soft banana cake is baked in a half sheet pan and is sweet, moist and full of delicious banana flavor with a smooth homemade cream cheese frosting!

Perfect piece of soft banana cake with cream cheese frosting and half sheet pan of cake

What type of pan is needed for Banana Bars?

You will need a half sheet pan to make these banana bars. It measures about 18×13 inches on the outside of the pan, and is about 1 inch high.

A jelly roll pan is a tiny bit smaller and the cake may bake out of the pan, so if you are using a jelly roll pan you can leave out a bit of the cake batter if it looks like the pan is too full.

A half sheet pan is the perfect size for this recipe and the bananas bars bake up perfectly.

Banana bars cake in a half sheet pan that is freshly baked wihtout frosting.

How ripe do the bananas need to be for Banana Bars?

You will need to use ripe-really ripe bananas for this recipe!

Did you know that the more ripe/black and spotted your bananas are the more strong of a banana taste they have? Not to mention they mash up much easier for baking!

So let those bananas sit out for a few days and do not throw them away (or make banana bread)- make The BEST Banana Cake (Bars)!

Really ripe bananas that are almost all black that are used to make banana cake/bars.

You will just peel the bananas and mash them up.

Making the cake batter for the Banana Bars

These Banana Bars are so easy to make! You end up with a soft and fluffy banana cake!

I prefer to use my stand mixer but you can easily your just a bowl and hand mix these cake ingredients.

TIP: DO NOT over-mix your cake batter! It will end up a little more dense if you do! The cake batter itself will seem more dense and even a little stretchy (only way I can think to describe it) and will be smooth. You don’t want super smooth batter! You want to mix the batter well enough the ingredients get mixed in but then you need to stop mixing! Mix it just until the flour has disappeared!

If you are using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment and cream together the butter and sugar.

Butter and sugar in a stand mixer to cream together for a cake batter.

Butter and sugar creamed together in a mixing bowl.

Next, add the vanilla, eggs and sour cream. Mix it until its fully incorporated.

Vanilla, eggs, and sour cream added to creamed butter and sugar to make a cake batter

Side note:The sour cream seems weird, but I promise it doesn’t make the cake taste weird it just makes it super soft! (Try my Super Soft Sugar Cookies that are made with sour cream- you won’t be sorry!)

Then, add the baking soda and salt and mix it in to the batter.

Salt and baking soda added to cake batter befor adding flour

Next, add your flour and mix it just until the flour disappears. This will hopefully help so you don’t over-mix the cake batter. The cake batter should not be super smooth.

Flour added to cake batter in a mixing bowl.

Finally, add the mashed bananas and gently fold them into the cake batter, being careful to now mix it a lot.

Mashed ripe bananas added to cake batter to make banana bars

Pour the batter into a greased sheet pan. Spread it evenly in the pan (you can tap the pan gently on the center to spread it out evenly.

Cake batter being poured into a greased half sheet pan.

Banana cake batter in a half sheet pan ready to be baked.

Baking Banana Bars

Place the pan on the center rack in your oven.

The cake is done when the edges of the cake are golden brown and pulling away from the edges of the pan. A toothpick will come out mostly clean when poked in the center of the cake when it is done.

Take the cake out of the oven when it is done and let it cool completely while you make the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

All you need for the perfect cream cheese frosting is softened butter, softened cream cheese, vanilla extract and powdered sugar.

Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, a hand mixer or by hand. Add all of the ingredients together and mix well!

TIP: Make sure the cream cheese and butter is fully softened. I let mine sit out on my counter for a good hour or more. If they are not fully softened your frosting will be lumpy- still yummy but lumpy!

Cream Cheese Frosting on a whisk attachment.

Once the cake bars have cooled completely you can frost the banana cake.

I place scoops of the frosting all over the top of the cake and then gently spread the frosting out. Be careful when frosting the cake. Going back and forth cam make the top part of the cake lift off, so be gentle.

Scoops of cream cheese frosting on top of a banana cake ready to be spread out and frost the cake.

A butter knife being used to frost the banana cake bars.

You can make the frosting look as fancy as you like!

Frosted Banana cake Bars in a half sheet pan.

A full photo above the banana cake bars frosted with cream cheese frosting.

After the cake is frosted, you can cut it into as many pieces as you like!

A piece of banana cake bars being serviced on a spatula that shows the cake and frosting

Bite of soft banana cake with cream cheese frosting

Banana Bars soft banana cake with cream cheese frosting held in hand for a yummy snack

For another recipe to use those ripe bananas (that isn’t banana bread) try my Soft Banana Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting (they do not disappoint!).

For another delicious treat, try my Carrot Cake Bars in a sheet pan (this one is totally healthy too since it is made with real carrots…ha!). Also, try my Lemon Sheet Cake, Sheet Pan Apple Spice Cake, Sheet Pan Brownies with cream cheese frosting or Sheet Pan Apple Pie.

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