Bananas Foster Brownies Recipe

Bananas Foster and brownies are both well-known and beloved desserts in their own right, but combine them into one cohesive dish, and you'll unlock new levels of glorious, borderline dangerous deliciousness. I've done just that in my bananas Foster brownie recipe, a positively decadent, chocolatey, caramel-forward, and banana-infused treat that showcases both desserts in all their glory. 

There's a lot to love about this two-for-one special dessert, and I'm not just talking about its flavor. This is one truly fun treat to make, as it all comes together in one skillet, you flip the whole thing over at the end for a grand reveal, and it even includes some flambéing action when you add the rum — that's a whole lot of entertainment in the kitchen. To keep the recipe from becoming too labor-intensive, I opted for a boxed brownie mix, meaning that this recipe isn't nearly as difficult to pull off as it may seem on the surface.

Flavor-wise, this bananas Foster brownie almost reminds me of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream, with a hefty banana bite, rich and fudgy chocolate throughout, and some textural pops from the walnuts. This is exactly the type of dessert you can nibble on every time you wander into the kitchen, but also one that you could and should make to impress dinner guests, as it has just as much visual appeal as it does luxurious, chocolatey flavor.

For the bananas Foster portion of this recipe, you'll need a stick of unsalted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, bananas (halved), and dark rum. Then, for the brownies, grab a box of fudge brownie mix, vegetable oil, eggs, and chopped walnuts. Finally, this ingredient is optional, but I strongly recommend serving your bananas Foster brownie with hefty scoops of vanilla ice cream on top. 

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Melt the butter in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat.

Once melted, add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla to the skillet.

Whisk to combine and bring to a low bubble, whisking occasionally. Cook for 2 minutes.

Add the bananas to the skillet, cut-side down, and nestle them into the sauce.

Remove the skillet from the heat and add the rum. Once the steam has subsided, return the skillet to the heat, and cook until the sauce has thickened to a honey-like consistency, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Using a spoon, carefully remove approximately ½ cup of the sauce from the skillet and set it aside. (We'll use this as a tasty caramel drizzle later).

Make the brownie batter by placing the dry mix, oil, eggs, and water in a large bowl.

Whisk to combine the batter.

Add the chopped walnuts to the bowl and stir to combine.

Spritz the sides of the skillet with nonstick cooking spray.

Pour the batter over the saucy bananas and spread it out evenly, covering the bananas completely.

Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until cooked through and no longer bubbling around the edges of the skillet. Remove it from the oven and set it aside to rest for 10 minutes. (Don't let the brownie cool too much or the caramel will harden and make releasing the brownie from the skillet difficult).

Using a thin metal spatula, loosen the edges of the brownie, and place a platter on top of the skillet. Carefully flip the skillet to release the brownie.

Cut the brownie into wedges and divide between plates.

Top the brownie with scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Drizzle the ice cream with the reserved sauce. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts before serving.

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True to any good bananas Foster recipe, you build what is essentially a caramel sauce, but one with a little added depth thanks to the brown sugar, cinnamon, and dark rum. The sauce also absorbs lots of banana flavor once those slices are nestled in, making for a truly delicious drizzle over the brownie and ice cream. I intentionally went a little overboard with the caramel sauce in this recipe, yielding an amount that's designed so that you'll have plenty for spooning over the top. If you do leave all the sauce in the pan using the amounts as written, when you add the brownie batter over all that sauce, it will not allow the brownie to bake properly, making it somewhat soggy.

If you don't want to have to worry about reserving sauce or aren't interested in using some as a garnish, then you can modify the recipe to make less sauce. To do so, you'll need ¼ cup butter, ⅓ cup brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon vanilla, and 2 tablespoons dark rum. The process won't take quite as long to do so since you're working with smaller quantities, so keep an eye on things to avoid ending up with a scorched sauce. 

Upside-down desserts may seem intuitive enough when it comes to the flipping, but there are some best practices to keep in mind to make sure your dessert makes it out of the skillet in one piece. For this recipe in particular, a major tip is to flip the skillet while the brownie is still relatively warm. You'll want to let the dish cool a little bit once it's fresh out of the oven so it's easier to handle, but I recommend capping the cooling time at 10 minutes max. This way, when you flip the brownie, the caramel sauce will still be runny and pliable, and the brownie will easily release from the skillet. If the brownie and sauce cool too much, the caramel will set, and the whole thing will be stuck in the skillet.

Another tip is to simply make sure you flip the brownie not only onto a vessel that's as big as the skillet, but one that ideally allows for another inch or two of clearance. Finally, don't skip the cooking spray step before adding the brownie batter to the skillet. The brownie will absolutely stick to the side of the skillet otherwise, and it likely will stick a bit even with the spray. To mitigate any light sticking, you can use a thin knife or metal spatula to carve around the perimeter of the skillet to loosen the brownie for a successful and stress-free flip.

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