MONKEY SQUARES

Friend Cassie posted a link for these Monkey Squares on Facebook saying they were delicious. When we went to our younger son's house for our Christmas on the 23rd, I thought I would try the recipe since I had some bananas I needed to use before we left to go to CO to spend Christmas with our older son and his family on Christmas Day.

I omitted the nuts because grandson Tyler has a nut allergy. I 'm glad I did because I ended up taking some of them to CO where my granddaughters there also have nut allergies.

Cassie was correct when she said they were delicious. It is definitely a recipe worth trying more than once.

MONKEY SQUARES

1-1/2    cups sugar
1           cup sour cream
1/2       cup butter, softened
2          eggs
1-3/4   cups mashed bananas (It took 5 of mine...they weren't real big)
2          teaspoons vanilla
2          cups flour
1           teaspoon baking soda
3/4      teaspoon salt
1/2       cup chopped walnuts (optional)

BROWNED BUTTER FROSTING

1/2       cup butter
4          cups powdered sugar (I did sift my sugar before measuring)
1-1/2    teaspoon vanilla
3          tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour a jelly roll pan (15 x 10 - inches)

Beat together the sugar, sour cream butter, and eggs til creamy.

Blend in bananas and vanilla for 1 minute.

Add dry ingredients (I combined these together first in a bowl) and blend for 1 minute.

Stir in nuts and spread in pan.

Bake 20 - 25 minutes until golden brown. (20 minutes was plenty for mine)

Cool slightly til warm but not hot and frost with frosting. (I let mine cool about 10 minutes and then started preparing the frosting.)

Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat 

until it is boiling and a delicate brown. 

Remove from heat and immediately add the powdered sugar and vanilla and milk. (I had this ready to add before I started melting the butter because I didn't stop stirring it until I added the rest of the ingredients. I didn't want the butter to burn.)

The end result is supposed to be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting. Personally mine was more like frosting. I didn't add more milk, but if yours is too thick, I would suggest doing that.)

Using a spatula smooth the frosting over the top. The frosting will be easier to spread once it's on the warm bread. (I didn't find this to be the case, so maybe I should have started preparing the frosting as soon as I took the pan out of the oven. It was good anyway so what do I know.)

Source The Welcome Mat