Go Back

Chef Claudia's Caramelized Banana & Walnut Squares

A rich, moist whole-wheat snack cake featuring a 20-minute slow-caramelized banana-butter base, packed with toasted walnuts, and finished with a crisp walnut-streusel topping.
Optimized for an 8x8-inch aluminum pan.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Cooling 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings: 9 squares
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

The Walnut Streusel Topping
  • 45 g Fine whole wheat flour
  • 50 g Brown sugar
  • 1 g Ground cinnamon approx. ½ tsp
  • Tiny pinch Salt
  • 30 g Unsalted butter Cold and cubed
  • 30 g Walnuts Chopped
The Caramelized Banana Batter
  • 3 medium Ripe bananas Mashed
  • 115 g Unsalted butter
  • 180 g Brown sugar
  • 2 Large eggs Room temperature
  • 80 g Whole milk
  • 5 g Vanilla extract Aprox. 1 tsp
  • 125 g All purpose flour
  • 125 g Fine whole wheat flour Finely ground, no husk bits
  • 6 g Baking powder Approx. 1 ½ tsp
  • 3 g Fine salt ½ tsp
  • 50 g Walnuts Chopped

Equipment

  • 1 Frying pan It can be any material you have at hand.
  • 2 Mixing bowls
  • 1 Silicone spatula
  • 1 Scale
  • 1 Square baking pan (8x8-inch)
  • Parchment paper

Method
 

The 20-Minute Banana Butter
  1. Melt all 115g of butter in a skillet or saucepan over low heat.
  2. Stir in the 3 mashed bananas.
  3. Cook the mixture slowly over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. The water will evaporate, and the mixture will reduce into a thick, glossy, amber-colored banana paste.
  4. Scrape this hot banana butter directly into your mixing bowl, stir in the 180g of brown sugar while it's still warm to dissolve the sugar crystals, and let the mixture rest on the counter for 30 minutes to cool down.
The Streusel Prep
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the 45g whole wheat flour, 50g brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
  2. Rub the 30g of cold, cubed butter into the mixture with your fingertips until it forms coarse, pea-sized crumbs.
    Note: If you don't like using your hands, you can also use a fork to mash the butter into the dry ingredients or just put everything into the food processor and use the pulse function.
  3. Fold in the 30g of chopped walnuts. Keep this mixture in the fridge to stay cold and firm.
Mix & Assemble
  1. Preheat your oven to 166°C (330°F). Line an 8x8-inch aluminum pan with parchment paper, leaving a slight overhang on the sides.
  2. In a separate bowl, thoroughly whisk together the 125g all-purpose flour, 125g whole wheat flour, 6g baking powder, and 3g salt.
  3. Once your banana-sugar mixture is completely cool to the touch, whisk in the 2 eggs, 80g of milk, and 5g of vanilla until uniform.
  4. Fold the dry ingredients and the 50g of chopped walnuts into the wet batter using a spatula just until the flour disappears. (The batter will be beautifully thick, like muffin batter).
  5. Spread the batter evenly into your lined pan. Retrieve your cold streusel from the fridge and scatter it generously across the top.
The Bake
  1. Place the pan on middle rack of your oven.
  2. Bake at 166°C (330°F) for 40 minutes until the top is golden-brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs.
  3. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool in the pan for 10 to 20 minutes to allow the structure to set.
  4. Using the parchment paper overhang as handles, gently lift the cake out of the pan and transfer it to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
  5. Once the cake is fully cooled, give your aluminum pan a quick wipe to remove any stray crumbs or moisture. Lift the cake back into the clean pan, snap the lid on, and use it as your storage container. Slice into squares right from the pan whenever you're ready to serve!