Cocoa Banana Bars

I apologize.  I have been slacking.  My blog has been neglected.  So now you're going to hear all of my sorry excuses.

First was a busy birthday weekend, followed by a visit from the parents weekend, and in between all of that work, work, and more work, and no sleep.  I did have a Fourth of July post all lined up, but FAIL it was.  (I'll tell you about this later).  Oh and something else exciting happened!  I'll fill you in real quick:

Remember when I made those Lucky Charms Cupcakes back in March?  Well, I got the recipe from the creative blog Cupcake Project and have actually made several of her genius ideas in my own kitchen.  She is the proud creator of The Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake (which I used as the base in the Lucky Charms cakes), and I can honestly say it is my go-to vanilla recipe.  She is now on a mission for the Ultimate CHOCOLATE Cupcake and requires a team of 50 baking explorers to test and try her top secret attempts!  Long story short:  I have been chosen!  (Hence the flashy new badge you might have noticed on the top right side of my blog). 

So in celebration of chocolate, I bring you Cocoa Banana Bars! 

Let me begin by saying I never eat bananas.  The only way you're going to get me to eat that fruit is by making it a carbohydrate.  These bars are just that with a swirl of banana bready-chocolately-cakey-brownie-ish batter.  You follow all those adjectives I created??  So I guess it's a bread/cake/brownie.  Whatever.  It's a carbohydrate and it's delicious. 

Cocoa Banana Bars

Makes one 9x13-inch pan

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (2-3 bananas)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat an oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the egg and the vanilla and beat until well combined. Stir in the mashed banana, set aside.

Stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a separate large bowl, and make a well in the center. Pour the banana mixture into the well and stir just until combined.

Remove half of the batter from the bowl. Mix the cocoa powder into the batter remaining in the bowl and stir well. Spread the cocoa batter in the bottom of the prepared pan. Spoon the remaining batter on top and use a knife to swirl the batter into a marbled design.

Bake at 350 until the edges are golden, about 25 minutes.

Adapted from AllRecipes.