Banana Mash Magic Bars

In the infamous words of celebrity stylist and reality TV show Hollywood nut, Rachel Zoe... BANANAS!

Like her ridiculously fabulous and contagious catch phrase, I too say (and feel) BANANAS!

It’s all Bananas today, but not in Rachel’s glamorous couture “I die” fashion way. I’m talking full on crazy. Nutty. Fruitcake. Bonkers. Cuckoo. Redonk!

Side note, The Rachel Zoe Project on Bravo is a vice of mine. A guilty pleasure of mindless entertainment. I’ll admit it, I love living vicariously through that show. Gosh, I miss L.A.

Anyway, this will all come together, I promise.

So apparently my daughter’s little best friend says, “banana phone” randomly, constantly and just because.

“He says banana phone ALL-THE-TIME!” She just provided me with this quote, when I asked her to remind me about said preschool drama.

The mere mention of this silly, nonsensical fruit communicator drives my kid absolutely crazy. She comes home from preschool and one of the first things she will share with me about her day is how her little BFF, L, “…won’t stop saying banana phone. It makes me mad, and nervous and frustrated. I DO NOT like when he says banana phone. UGH!” And once again, that is a direct quote from her, I promise you. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I wanted to.

She and her little BFF are 4-years-old, by the way.

On the flip side, while she absolutely detests her friend’s love of saying banana phone, she herself has been unknowingly using a “banana phone” a lot lately, it’s her “new” thing. Let me paint you a picture. She uses her thumb and pinky as the receiver; listening to her pretend caller on the other end of the line through her thumb and talking into her pinky. Can you picture it? And apparently said caller is hard of hearing, because she feels the extreme need to semi-yell and conduct her pretend phone call in a highly entertaining, yet boisterous manner.

Here’s just a small snippet of her latest “banana phone” conversation, that I actually typed (for the purpose of this blog) as she was “pretend” conversing with one of MY mommy friends! (That’s another thing, she doesn’t call HER friends, she calls MINE!) And for the record, I have changed nothing, this is exactly how it went, but I really wish that you could have heard the actual "call" with her snarky, little girl tone, deep, exasperated sighs, and the melodrama that surrounds each random, yet probably well thought out delivered response. It's great!

This is one-sided of course, as I can’t hear what pretend mommy friend is saying on the other end:

How did you even know that?

(pause)

Oh, I’m sorry. Yes.

(pause)

Ugh! I’m not even saying it again! (rather frustrated)

Will you listen to me?

Yes, I am sitting on the chair. (exasperated)

Yes, girl. It is.

(pause)

No, thank you.

Awww. (pause) Awwww! (said so sweetly)

What?! (belly laugh)

(long pause)

No, not right now.

Yes. He is coming to my birthday party, stop asking me that. (pause) Please stop asking me that. (pause) Ugh! (once again, exasperated)

Why? Banana phone makes me very nervous. (the topic always comes up!)

You can stay here for 100 days. It’s OK.

(pause)

Stop saying banana phone! Ugh!

* * *
Like I said, I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.

So while she’s hating on her friend's every mention of banana phone, and talking on one of her own, I, in my own little culinary world, have been trying to desperately figure out what in the world to do with the 3 browning bananas that are sitting in my kitchen, attracting flies of the fruit variety. Oh, how I detest fruit flies. Loathe them unconditionally. I must rid myself of them and these sad looking bananas.

Of course there is always the favorite fall guy – banana bread – but I wanted to try something different. I was feeling ambitious and creative, and a wee-bit kitchen crazy, so I decided to improvise. (Read: throw a bunch of yummy, complementary ingredients in a bowl and add a little mashed banana to it.) The end result was unexpectedly and surprisingly delicious! Kooky, but yummy. BANANAS, actually!

See, I promised it would all come together.

It doesn’t have an official name, as it's a random, dessert hodge-podge, but I decided on calling it Banana Mash Magic Bars, because basically it’s similar to a Magic Cookie Bar, but with mashed bananas mixed in. I mean, why not, right?! It sounded good to me.

This whole day has been a bit bananas, but at least I can finally say farewell to those obnoxious and dreadful little fruit flies that have been plaguing my kitchen for days now. No more! And no more ugly, brown bananas trashing up my counter tops.

It’s the little things in life.

INGREDIENTS
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 ½ cups flaked coconut
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
2 cups crushed graham crackers crumbs
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used mini chips)
½-1 cup chopped nuts (I prefer pecans, as always!)
3 very ripe bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350°. Melt butter and pour into a foil-lined 13x9-inch baking pan.

Sprinkle with 1 ½ cups crushed graham cracker crumbs and the coconut. Use a fork to spread mashed bananas over butter, cracker crumbs and coconut mixture evenly, as seen in the below photo. A fork works great for evenly pressing it over mixture. Pour sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) evenly over bananas; sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts, and remaining ½ cup of graham cracker crumbs.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars and serve.