Banana Chocolate Chip Bars

Banana bread's snackable cousin: soft, sweet, and loaded with chocolate chips in every bite.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour (250 g)
2 tsp baking powder (8 g)
1/2 tsp salt (3 g)
2/3 cup shortening (128 g)
- Softened butter — 1:1 Richer flavor; slightly denser bars; similar calorie
2/3 cup white sugar (133 g)
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed (147 g)
1 tsp vanilla extract (4 g)
1 large egg (50 g)
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 medium) (225 g)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (170 g)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10 1/2 × 15 1/2 inch jelly roll pan.
In a medium bowl, blend together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, cream the shortening, white sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in the vanilla and egg until combined.
Mix in the mashed banana, then blend in the flour mixture until just combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 20–25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into bars.

Use very ripe bananas with brown spots — they're sweeter, easier to mash, and give the bars deeper banana flavor.
These bars freeze well. Wrap individually and freeze for up to 3 months; thaw at room temperature.

Nutrition estimated from ingredients · Per bar (based on 24 bars)

Conservative ~15% moisture loss during baking. 24 bars at ~40 g each.