Thursday Recipe - Banana Bread Brownies

From Averie Sunshine - go check out her blog. Tasty!

I had a lot of overripe bananas on my counter so I went on a recipe search to find a way to use them up. I came across this one for banana bread brownies on Averie Sunshine's blog. They sound weird and I wasn't sure about the recipe, but I tried it. I now have a favorite thing to do with smooshy banananas. They turned out so moist and fudgy and delicious. The banana flavor is very subtle.

Banana Bread Brownies with Vanilla Caramel Glaze

Of course, I couldn't make them the way they were written. I skipped the glaze (they're rich enough without it), made a double batch (I had FIFTEEN overripe bananas to deal with that day. I squeezed seven into this recipe.). And I didn't have any Greek yogurt, but I did have vanilla regular yogurt. And I mixed it up using my usual methods for mixing banana anything. And I tweaked the sugar and butter down a lot. But oh, were they tasty.

So I had more overripe bananas yesterday. I decided to make more brownies. But, I had no yogurt. At all. And it turns out I had no cocoa either. So I did what I always do: I substituted. And they still turned out moist and fudgy and delicious, just more of a milk chocolate fudgy-goodness.

Here's my version:

Milk Chocolate Banana Bread Brownies

6 - 7 very overripe bananas
1/2 c. softened butter
1/2 c. cream cheese (I used the light Neufchatl variety), softened
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 eggs
2 t. vanilla
1 large box (5.1 oz) INSTANT chocolate pudding mix
1 1/4 t. baking soda
1 1/2 c. flour

Peel bananas and dump into the mixing bowl. Add butter, cream cheese, and sugars. Beat until bananas are creamed. Add eggs, vanilla, pudding mix, and baking soda. Beat smooth. Stir in flour.

Spread in greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes, until center is set. Let cool at least an hour before trying to devour. It will be very soft and probably gooey if you try to eat it sooner. It will still be soft and gooey after it cools, just not as much.