Treble Clef Chef: Linda Griffin's Cocoa Bottom Banana Pecan Bars

That title is a mouthful....but so are these bars (knuck knuck.....). Thank you! I'll be here all night! (rim shot). I guess I'm in a silly mood, but that's the way I feel when I'm around Linda. To know her is to love her. She is an amazing woman. Multi-talented is she. She sings....she acts....she dances....she is a mom...and a wife...AND she is a wonderful cook....not to mention a beloved friend. Linda was in the Tony-Award Winning Production of "The Drowsy Chaperone" on Broadway, not to mention countless other musical theatre productions.
Here's a link to some of her credits:
http://broadwayworld.com/people/Linda_Griffin/

I have decided to dedicate a page on this blog, to my friends in the entertainment industry who want to give me their recipes - and as I've said before, all the recipes I post on TrebleClefChef are recipes I have made and eaten so there are no "unknowns" here.

This recipe is SO delicious and easy to make - great for feeding a bunch of musicians, which is exactly what I did when I made it. I used to bring a baked treat for the guys in "Legends of Swing" when we did gigs at Disneyland. It was something I began doing as a way to get my "baking-jones" outta my system, and also make the boys happy. There is no musician on earth who will turn down free food....especially free food that falls into the "baked goods" category.

Linda gave me this recipe and the boys loved it and I'd love to share it with you.

Linda Griffins' Cocoa Bottom Banana Pecan Bars

1 C sugar
1 stick butter, room temperature
5 ripe bananas
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C chopped pecans (toasted or roasted)
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa
1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13x9 brownie pan with the wrapper from the softened butter. Beat sugar and butter at medium speed until creamy. Add bananas (don't bother mashing, just break them up and throw them in), egg and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Combine flour, baking powder and soda, salt. Add to banana mixture and beat until blended. Stir in pecans by hand.

Divide batter in half. Stir in cocoa and chocolate chips into one half, then spread this layer on bottom of pan. Top with the plain batter and swirl into cocoa layer. Bake 30-35 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack, cut into bars.