Frosted Ricotta Banana Bars is one of those recipes created out of necessity. However, the changes to the original recipe were so good, we’ve decided this is one of our go-to dishes for feeding a crowd! Who doesn’t love banana and cream cheese icing???
Frosted Ricotta Banana Bars Recipe…
Originally, I found this recipe in my 2001 Taste of Home: Annual Recipes cookbook. I made it for years, only modifying it to fit into my larger half-sheet pan. More is better, right?
As I’ve aged (and become an FCS teacher), I’ve started working to make recipes that I love healthier. I believe everything should be eaten in moderation, and I certainly won’t eat Frosted Ricotta Banana Bars every day. But why not see how removing some of the sugar and fat impacts the recipes we love?
One of my swaps was to take out the sour cream and use ricotta cheese instead. For instance, a 2 T. serving of sour cream has 60 calories. No big deal until you compare that to a 1/4 cup serving of part-skim ricotta with only 80 calories. In this recipe, that little 40 calorie difference meant 320 calories in the entire pan of bars. Not huge, but every little bit helps. 🙂
Another fun fact is that we can often remove 1/4-1/2 of the sugar from a recipe without sacrificing the end result. Of course, this isn’t the case in all recipes, but I’m having a good time testing this out! I didn’t remove any of the powdered sugar from the icing recipe, but I did reduce the granulated sugar by 50% in the Frosted Ricotta Banana Bars.
Please give these frosted banana bars a try at your next big event. I send these to work with my husband on potluck days or I make them for family dinners. He always brings home an empty pan! Let me know how you like to serve them. 🙂
Frosted Ricotta Banana Bars: A Healthy Twist on a Classic
Notes
This recipe originally used sour cream for the ricotta cheese, cream cheese for the Neufchatel, and 50% more sugar in the cake.
Ingredients
- Bar Ingredients:
- 12 Tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 15 oz. container part-skim ricotta
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3-4 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
- Frosting Ingredients:
- 1pkg. (8 oz.) Neufchatel cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup of butter, softened
- 1 Tablespoons vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 ℉. Grease half-sheet cake pan. (approx. 16-inch by 12-inch)
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, ricotta, and vanilla.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in bananas.
- Spread into greased pan and bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick in the middle comes out clean. Cool.
- In a mixing bowl, beat together Neufchatel cheese, butter, and vanilla extract. Gradually add in powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Spread over cooled cake.
- Store in the refrigerator. Can be made the day before.
If you’d like to see what products I use for Frosted Ricotta Banana Bars, please see below. Please know, these contain affiliate links. This means I earn a small commission on any sales, at no extra cost to you. The income I earn helps to pay for maintaining my blog. Thank you so much for your support!
Interested in more healthy, homemade recipes? You might like to consider my Oatmeal Honey Wheat Bread, easy Homemade Peanut Butter, or my fast Clean-Eating Pasta Sauce. My goal is to bring busy moms the BEST recipes they can make to serve their family and friends!