Nutty Banana Brownies

These are scrumptious. They are moist, chocolaty, nutty, and sweet. They are my favorite way to use up bananas. These brownies also have whole wheat flour, so you can feel good about them. Of course, you can use all-purpose flour too and still feel good about them, because they are just that good.

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

1/4 cup chunky peanut butter

2 eggs

1 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 whole wheat flour (all purpose flour works just fine too)

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup chocolate chips, tossed in a tsp of wheat flour (all-purpose flour is fine)

1/2 chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 9 square baking pan and set aside. In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter. Take off the heat and let cool slightly. Add the sugar, cocoa powder and peanut butter to melted butter. Stir until all is mixed together. In a separate bowl add vanilla to eggs and beat lightly. Add eggs and vanilla mixture, along with the milk to the cocoa mixture and stir. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the mixture and stir until combined. Place the mashed bananas into the mix, and gently stir again, mixture will be lumpy. Fold in the chocolate chips and pecans. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 – 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving. These brownies are great at room temperature (even better I think), and the bananas keep them moist for days (if they last that long). But if you must eat them warm, because they made your whole house smell incredible and you can’t wait… Please do yourself a favor and dab a little Nutella on the top, because chocolate and hazelnuts goes perfectly with nutty banana brownies.