Caramelized Roasted Banana Swirled Brownies

Happy Wednesday! I'm pooped and it's only lunch time around here. I spent part of my morning cleaning my front door/porch area that for the last 5 weeks or so was home to a mother bird and her babies. We wondered why this bird kept flying away as soon as we'd open our front door and soon realized that she made her nest right in our front door wreath. I thought it was adorable, my husband thought otherwise, but after some negotiating he agreed to have mother bird stay for a while.

The boys and I had so much fun peeking at the eggs to see if they had hatched. When they did, the babies were adorable. It didn't take long for them to grow. Just 2 days ago, we heard them chirping for the first time and yesterday I watched the brave young birds stand at the edge of the wreath ready for their first flight. I just loved watching them. I'm a geek, but I took a picture of 2 of them that were about to leave the nest. See bottom picture.

Ok, onto my yummy brownies...... get your glass of milk ready.

I wrote this brownie recipe last week, whipped them up and my entire family raved about them. You've got to try them chilled in the refrigerator. Yum! This is another jazzed up brownie mix, easy and quick and my current favorite recipe. The caramelized bananas and cream cheese really make this recipe incredible. Trust me, you won't be sorry for giving these a try. I couldn't do bananas without peanut butter, so I added it in the frosting. Enjoy everyone!

Caramelized Roasted Banana Swirled Brownies with Peanut Butter Sweet Cream Frosting

3 large ripe bananas
2 Tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
8 oz softened cream cheese
1/4 Cup sugar
1 box brownie mix (9x13 size, I used Pillsbury)

8 oz softened cream cheese
2 Heaping Tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 ½ Cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice bananas into ½ inch slices and place into a medium baking dish. Top evenly with butter pieces and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly and caramelized (golden). Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Mix with cream cheese and sugar until combined.

2. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Line a 7x11 inch baking dish (makes for a thicker brownie with this size of dish), with tin foil that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Pour brownie batter into prepared dish. Drop banana cream mixture by the spoonfuls evenly over brownie batter. Gently run a knife through the banana and brownie mix, in a swirling motion, without scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent tearing in the foil. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from middle of brownies. Let cool completely, then pull out of pan with foil edges.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. Slowly add in powdered sugar until well combined and desired consistency. You can add a bit more if desired. Spread over cooled brownies and cut into squares. Enjoy!

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Here are the brave young birds at the edge of my wreath getting ready for their first flight. Aren't they cute?