Bake Banana Bars - Recipe for Banana Bread-like Dessert

Banana Bars -- a recipe my mother used when I was a child, and among my fondest memories include her sharing them with me. Essentially, they are a sort of banana bread with chocolate chips. Unlike a bread, though, they are softer, with a chocolate chip cookie color. They have a texture something like pound bread, and look like blonde brownies.

Who do I credit with this recipe? Not my mom. I think she swiped it from a woman down the street who made them for her family. When I was in kindergarten at Chippewa Elementary, we had a cookbook made of all the favorite family recipes of the kids in my class. A few recipes stood out as new Trendl family favorites. This remains the best of the best, as far as I'm concerned.

If you have everything you need, you can be eating these within an hour of reading this guide. While you are munching on these (best with a glass of milk), imagine you are sitting on the letter Q in Miss V.'s kindergarten class in Palos Heights, Ill. in 1971.

Cream:
2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup lt. brown sugar
2/3 cup regular sugar

Beat in:
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

Blend in:
1 cup mashed ripe banana

Then sift together and add:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Mix in:
1/2 package chocolate chips (you use around 6 oz.)
Grease and lightly flour a jelly roll pan (10 x 15 approximately).
Bake at 350 for 20-35 minutes until it becomes golden and begins to shrink.
Cool 15 minutes, then cut and enjoy.
Keep covered after cutting.

General baking products to keep you cookin'
If everything works right, some of what is below will be a link directly to Amazon.com. Otherwise, just copy/paste into the search box on the left.

• Baking: From My Home to Yours
• Baking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America
• The Professional Pastry Chef: Fundamentals of Baking and Pastry, 4th Edition
• The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook: Old-Fashioned Recipes From New York's Sweetest Bakery
• Simply Calphalon Nonstick 6-Piece Bakeware Set
• Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
• Baking and Pastry: Mastering the Art and Craft
• Professional Baking
• The Secrets of Baking: Simple Techniques for Sophisticated Desserts
• King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking: Delicious Recipes Using Nutritious Whole Grains
• Small-Batch Baking
• Gluten-Free Baking Classics
• Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters: More than 100 Years of Recipes Discovered
• Artisan Baking
• Bob's Red Mill Baking Book: More Than 400 Recipes Featuring Whole and Healthy Grains
• The Martha Stewart Cooking Collection - Martha's Baking Favorites
• Baking Boot Camp: Five Days of Basic Training at The Culinary Institute of America
• Baking Soda: Over 500 Fabulous, Fun, and Frugal Uses You've Probably Never Thought Of (Lansky, Vicki)
• The No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Baking Book
• Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour and Traditions from Around the World
• Matfer Exopat 11-5/8-by-16-3/8-Inch Nonstick Baking Sheet
• How Baking Works: Exploring the Fundamentals of Baking Science
• Baking Powder, Gluten Free, Sodium Free, 8 oz.
• Pamela's Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix, 4-Pound Bags (Pack of 3)
• Betty Crocker Baking for Today: Always in Style, Always Gold Medal
• Understanding Baking
• Professional Baking, Student Workbook