These simple, one-bowl Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Blondies dessert bars are so moist and delicious you will be making this keto blondie bar recipe frequently. With the perfect balance of rich and decadent gooey gluten-free peanut butter blondies topped with a sugar-free peanut butter chocolate frosting, what more could you possibly want in a keto dessert?!! Plus, at only 3 g of carbs per square, you can have a little banana and still be in ketosis!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Blondies are AMAZING!!!!

These blondies are like no other. One of the many reasons why I love them is because of their unparalleled texture. They’re sort of like fudge and sort of like a blondie. Smack dab in the middle of those two heavenly dessert categories.

The edges are chewy and the centers are soft. I love goodies with dense, sugary centers like my Easy Keto Cheesecake Cookie Dough Bars and my Keto Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies And, the fact that there is even more heavenly creamy sweet frosting on top of the blondies too... I think I have died and gone to heaven!

A blondie can never ever truly be too dense, moist, or sweet, can it?

I have reworked this recipe several times as it always seems like we have one lonely over-ripened banana by the end of the week. I have never been a huge banana fan but when it comes to Banana Bread or anything baked with banana, I beg you...move out of my way!

Although this recipe calls for a super easy chocolate peanut butter frosting, these chocolate chip blondie bars are so good without it that you can absolutely omit it...yes, I can't believe that I am telling you to leave it off but these bars are so good on their own, that you can either add it or omit the frosting.

KETO BANANA BARS DETAILS

Texture: This is basically a super moist and dense blondie recipe. Do NOT expect light and fluffy when it comes to these bars! You’ll notice I used melted coconut oil and peanut butter which helps to melt the brown sugar and allows this recipe to come together VERY quickly. All you need is 1 bowl and about 5 minutes ot time before tossing these bars into the oven. I recommend slicing these bars after they have FULLY cooled so that they are nice and dense and hold together well.
Flavour: If you love banana bread but don't want all the carbs, then this is the perfect recipe for you. I recommend that you use a banana that is fairly brown to ensure that you get the most "banana-y" flavour. Also, for a little added banana flavouring, I added about ⅛th of a teaspoon of banana extract. You don't have to add the extract but it definitely adds extra banana flavouring. You can leave these banana blondies plain and not add the chocolate chips or the frosting but I certainly didn’t regret adding chocolate to this recipe.
Ease: I have a basic coconut oil-sugar-egg bar recipe on our hands and the great news is that there’s no crazy assembly or complicated decoration required. All of the equipment (bowl and a beaters) and ingredients are pretty standard for a baking recipe. We always appreciate an easy dessert that delivers big.
Time: Set aside only about 5-10 minutes of time to prep the batter and about 10 minutes for the bars to bake. Then, it is just a matter of patiently waiting until the banana bars have cooled and have been frosted.

WHY MAKE BANANA BARS INSTEAD OF JUST MAKING BANANA BREAD?

There are so many reasons why banana bars are so much better than banana bread:

it is the perfect way to use up the lonely single banana that has gotten too rip (banana bread requires at least 3-4 over-ripe bananas)
it bakes in about 11 minutes (banana bread takes about 45-60 minutes)
it is significantly lower in carbs than banana bread
it is perfect to serve as a snack or to pack in your kids' lunch boxes

WHAT MAKES THESE KETO BLONDIES SO GREAT?

they are gluten-free and sugar-free
they only require a handful of ingredients
they take under 20 minutes to make from beginning to end
they are packed with collagen which is great for your hair, joints, and cartilage
they are the densest and delicious blondies EVER!

WHAT ARE COLLAGEN PEPTIDES

Collagen peptides are small pieces of protein from animal collagen. Collagen peptides are used for aging skin and osteoarthritis. They are also used for osteoporosis, brittle nails, muscle strength, and many other conditions.

As far as using them for baking, Collagen Peptides add an extra level of "denseness" to baked goods. This is the opposite of using Whey Protein powder which actually causes baked goods to rise.

What is Oat Fiber?

Oat fiber is an insoluble fiber made from grinding the oat hull, which is the shell that surrounds the oat groat (or kernel).

Whole oat groats come from harvesting oats, washing them, and removing their hulls. The groat is the source of most oat products we use. But unlike rolled oats, steel-cut oats, and all those other celebrity oat siblings, oat fiber is actually made purely from the husk.

Oat fiber doesn’t have a lot to offer in the way of nutrients, as it’s pretty much non-digestible. But that’s just fine because it isn’t consumed in order to load up on vitamins and minerals — leave that job to blueberries and kale.

Oat fiber shines in other ways.

It can be an outstanding substitute for wheat flour if you’re looking to keep your tasty baked creations gluten-free or low-carb. Try using it alone or in a homemade flour blend, working in tandem with coconut flour, almond flour, or flax meal. Plus, oat fiber is a superstar at absorbing liquids, so it can be outrageously helpful in keeping the texture of your baked goods moist and soft.

MORE ABOUT OAT FIBER AS WELL AS FIBRE

I buy my oat fibre from Vitacost and the brand I use is NuNaturals. It runs $4.79/lb and a little goes a long way so it lasts quite a long time.
Since I don't use my Oat Fiber as quickly as my almond and coconut fiber, I store my oat fiber flour in the freezer to help it stay fresh
As you can see in this post, I am spelling "fiber" as well as "fibre". Fibre is the same word as fiber. The only difference between them is their spelling. Fiber is preferred in American spelling; fibre is the preferred spelling in British English. Since I have dual citizenship, I decided to pay tribute to both my nationalities!

BANANA BLONDIES INSPIRATION

These keto blondies are a combination of several of my favourite recipes.

By combining the base of my Keto Cranberry Cream Cheese Bars - Nut-Free along with the moist and delicious banana flavour like in my Healthy Moist Gluten-Free Instant Pot Banana Bread, these blondies were created!

SUGAR-FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP PEANUT BUTTER BLONDIES BATTER

If you are a beginner keto baker, I want you to feel confident when it’s your turn to try this gluten-free and sugar-free blondie recipe, so I am going to explain each ingredient. If you keep scrolling, you’ll find the full printable recipe.

Coconut Oil, Peanut Butter & Sweetener: Like many bar recipes, melted coconut oil & sweetener make up the base of this recipe. For this recipe, you are going to melt the peanut butter and coconut oil in the microwave or on the stovetop. Also, sometimes I add the banana to the bowl as well before placing it in the microwave. This softens the banana and makes it easier to incorporate.
Egg: I am only using 1 egg in this recipe. Although eggs add structure and tenderness to these blondies, if you add too much egg, these blondies will end up more "cake-like" than the dense blondie texture we are looking for. Make sure that your coconut oil mixture is not too hot or that your egg is too cold - too hot oil could cook the egg and too cold of an egg can cause the coconut oil to solidify.
Vanilla Extract and Banana Extract: Vanilla extract adds flavor and banana extract makes these bars even more "banana-y". If you have homemade vanilla extract on hand, this banana bread blondie recipe is a great place to use it! If you don't have any banana extract, you can omit it entirely but the banana flavour will not be as strong.
Almond Flour, Collagen Peptides, and Oat Fiber: I tested this recipe using only almond flour and coconut flour, but it proved to be a little too light– the blondies lost some of their dense structure. Adding Oat fiber which is made up of ONLY the fiber component of the oats and therefore contains zero net carbs help to make these blondies denser. If you don't have oat fiber (I buy this Oat Fiber from Vitacost), you can replace the oat fiber with almond flour. If you don't have any collagen peptides, replace the collagen with almond flour and add an additional ⅛ teaspoon of xanthan gum
Baking Soda: Baking powder adds lift to baked goods so we are only going to add ¼ teaspoon so as to not make these bars too light and airy.
Salt: Salt offsets the sweetness.
Ripe Banana: Use a banana that is fairly brown on the outside for the most flavourful banana taste. If you feel like your banana is more on the ripe side, feel free to add some banana flavouring - you will only need about ⅛ tsp. Also, the banana helps to add moisture to the bars which help to keep them nice and dense, just like a blondie should be!
Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips: For this recipe, I used dark sugar-free chocolate chips from ChocZero. However, any chocolate chips, such as Lily's will also work. If you prefer, you can always replace the chocolate chips with white chocolate or a chopped chocolate bar instead. I do not suggest using Bake Believe chocolate as I find that the chocolate melts too easily and the chips do not retain their shape.

ARE BANANAS KETO-FRIENDLY?

Bananas are high in carbs. In a single small banana (about 4 oz peeled) there are about 17 g of carbs of which 2 grams are fibre grams.

So the net carbs of a small banana come in at about 15 g of carbs.

If you cut these bars into 16 squares, that means that the banana adds under 1 g of carbs per square.

When I put this recipe into My Fitness Pal (without the frosting), the banana blondies (without the frosting) comes in at only 83 calories,6.4 g of fat, and 2.4 g of net carbs!

Add the sugar-free chocolate peanut butter frosting and you should still be able to keep a slice of this cake at under 3-4 grams of carbs!

I recently stopped adding nutrition values to my recipes as the products on the market today vary so much. If you want nutritional information, simply get a free My Fitness Pal account, and then you can accurately track your macros based on the specific ingredients you use.

YOU’LL LOVE THIS CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

Feel free to serve these banana bread blondies plain, but if there’s an opportunity for eating delicious frosting, I say we should take it! Made with just 3 basic ingredients and only 30 seconds in the microwave, this frosting turns out thick, glossy, and eventually sets into a fudge-like consistency.

Other options are Sugar-Free Cream Cheese Frosting, salted caramel, or serve each slice with fresh whipped cream.

CAN I MAKE THESE KETO BARS DAIRY-FREE?

The only dairy in this recipe comes from sugar-free chocolate chips. If you can find any chocolate chips that are dairy-free and sugar-free, then you can easily make this recipe dairy-free. Simply replace the heavy cream in the frosting with coconut oil and use dairy-free chocolate chips!