Have you ever heard of or tried Banoffee? My husband and I were first introduced to Banoffee during a visit to Ireland. You can find it just about anywhere while traveling through the beautiful Emerald Isle. What better place to try it than in Ireland; we had to try an authentic version of this dessert. It was so delicious, with a crust and then a soft toffee layer and topped with whipped cream. Some versions we tried, the toffee almost reminded me of a soft pudding like consistency. Typically you would see Banoffee in the form of a pie. Banoffee pie is an English dessert that is made with bananas, cream and toffee (also called dulce de leche). The name Banoffee gets its name from the banana and the toffee. It is usually on a pastry base or one made from crumbled biscuits and butter. You can also find some versions of Banoffee that include chocolate, coffee and sometimes both.
Since returning from our trip, I have been wanting to recreate this dessert at home. I wanted to make something different from the traditional pie. I really like to make bar cookies. I have turned many desserts into bar cookies such as cheesecake and caramel apples. When entertaining, bar cookies go much further when serving a large crowd. You can setup a platter of bar cookies and let your guests help themselves. I just knew I could come up with a version of this Banoffee pie and turn it into a bar cookie too.
That is just what I did. Instead of using biscuits for a crust, I used a shortbread cookie. The next layer was homemade toffee, then a layer of bananas and finally a layer of homemade whipped cream. To finish it off, I added a couple of garnishes using some chocolate and caramel.
The toffee came out perfect; it was surprisingly light tasting, soft & chewy. The shortbread cookie made for a great base and complimented all the flavors of each layer. With each bite, you got just the right amount of flavor from the banana. These bar cookies were very simple to make. Everyone enjoyed eating them. I gave a plate of the bars to a friend for her birthday. She loved them and said they were “heaven”!! Asking my daughter to describe the bars to me she said they were “delicious”, “the best thing ever” and because they had bananas she asked hesitantly “are they healthy because they have bananas in them?” Oh, the small battles with getting more fruit in our kids!
Banoffee Bars
Makes approx. 20 Bars
Ingredients
Cookie Crust:
2 Packages (10 oz. each), Shortbread Cookies
2 Sticks, Butter
1 Teaspoon, Kosher Salt
Toffee Layer:
1 Cup, Dark Brown Sugar
2 Sticks, Butter, unsalted
1 Teaspoon, Kosher Salt
1 Can (14 oz.), Sweetened Condensed Milk
Banana Layer:
3-4 Ripe Bananas, peeled & sliced
Whipped Cream Layer:
1 Pint, Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Teaspoon, Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon, Confectioner’s Sugar
Optional Toppings:
2 Tablespoons, Semi-Sweet Chocolate, shavings or finely chopped
Caramel Sauce, to drizzle
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Spray an 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray, line the dish with aluminum foil then spray the top of the foil with cooking spray and set aside.
To make the crust: In a food processor, add 1 package of the shortbread cookies and pulse to chop the cookies up (I did 1 package at a time because it was a lot for the processor). Melt 1 stick of butter with the kosher salt and add it to the cookie crumb, pulsing just until it is combined. Transfer mixture to the baking dish and press into the pan. Repeat with the 2nd package and 2nd stick of butter/salt. Bake in the oven for approx. 8 minutes, just until it starts to get a little golden. Remove from oven and set aside.
Making the Toffee Layer: On the stove, over medium heat, add 2 sticks of butter. Once the butter melts, add the salt and stir (if using a salted butter you don’t have to add the kosher salt; I like a salted caramel so I add it to my caramel/toffee). Then add the dark brown sugar. Stir until sugar and butter are combined. If it starts to bubble too hard turn the heat down to medium-low. Continue cooking until it is thicker and starts to caramelize. Add the sweet condensed milk and stir. Cook and stir for another 3 minutes then pour over top of the crust in your baking dish. Using a larger spoon, spread the toffee so that is is even on the crust. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, turn oven off and set the baking dish aside to cool.
Once cooled, add a layer of the banana slices on top of the toffee layer. The toffee should still be somewhat soft so you can gently press the bananas into it. While the bars are setting up, make the whipped cream. You can place the baking dish into the fridge while you are making the whipped cream.
Making Banoffee Bars
To Make Whipped Cream: In a standing mixer, add the heavy whipping cream, vanilla and powdered sugar. Using the whisk attachment, whisk on medium speed until it forms a peak; you may need to speed the mixer up to a higher speed.
Once the toffee is completely set/cooled, remove the bars out of the pan by lifting up the foil. You may need to run a knife around the outer edges to loosen it from the pan. If the toffee is too soft, keep in fridge longer before removing from the pan. I kept my chilling in fridge overnight by just covering the dish with some plastic wrap. I also kept my whipped cream in the fridge overnight in the mixing bowl that I made it in. I covered that with some plastic wrap also. You can place the bowl back onto the standing mixer and whisk the cream again before placing onto the bars. Remove bars from fridge, removed the foil and place the bars onto a large cutting board. Top the bars with a layer of whipped cream and use any garnishes you like such as the chocolate shavings and/or drizzle of some caramel sauce. Cut the into squares, place onto a platter and serve.
Serve immediately or place the bars in fridge until you are ready to serve.
Mangia! Enjoy!
Tips
You can also make a version of this as a Pie. Just place your ingredients into a pie dish and cut slices.
For the crust, you can also use a biscuit instead of the shortbread cookies. I have also seen versions of Banoffee where using graham crackers to make the crust. Use whatever you like best or whatever you can find in the supermarket. I have to say, I loved the shortbread cookie crust. It balanced out all the flavors in each layer of these bars.