Monkey squares

1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
½ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 10x15 jelly roll pan. Beat first
four ingredients until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla one minute. Add
dry ingredients and blend one minute. Stir in nuts and spread in pan. Bake
20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Cool and frost with Browned Butter
Frosting (recipe below).

*Banana bread option:* instead of spreading into jelly roll pan, this
recipe will make about two regular loaves of banana bread, or about four
small loaves. Regular loaves bake about 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Small
loaves will bake about 25 minutes on 350.

*Browned Butter Frosting*
½ cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
about 3 tablespoons milk or half and half

Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat past the melting point until it
boiling, and a delicate brown. Remove from the heat and immediately add the
remaining ingredients. This should be thicker than a glaze and thinner than
frosting. Using a spatula smooth over the top of the Monkey Squares
immediately. The frosting will be easier to spread once it's on the warm
bread.