Going Bananas!
Okay, we all know I have a problem squirreling food away in my freezer. Well, I my freezer is literally going bananas! My toddler is hit or miss in his love for bananas. One day he loves them, the next day, no dice. Add to that that bananas sometimes turn brown faster than any of us can eat them.
When they start to turn I simply put them in the freezer for a later date. And by later date, I mean when I feel like baking with them. They make a perfect match for recipes calling for ripe bananas. I use them most often for the banana bread muffins that my husband loves so much from last year’s February menu. However, I have 35 bananas (no, that wasn’t a typo) which would be WAY too many banana bread muffins, in my opinion (hubby would disagree).
This is where you come in. I need some motivation for how to utilize these ripe bananas. Do you have any ideas? Recipes? I would love to hear your ideas and what your family loves you to make with ripe bananas.
So if you wouldn’t mind linking below if you have a post about a recipe. And if you don’t have a post but you have a great idea or link to a recipe that you do use, simply leave it in the comment section below. Please help me clear my freezer!
Don’t forget to vote in the right side margin DAILY between February 19th and 26th for your favorite of the Once A Month Mom & DOLE Frozen Fruit March menus – A, B, or C!
We use frozen bananas in making smoothies for breakfast. They are a good substitute to putting ice in.
It’s not a recipe, but frozen bananas are great in smoothies, especially if you’re not adding frozen yogurt/ice cream – they add a creaminess/richness that’s very satisfying.
Also, I just added this Cooking Light recipe for Chocolate Banana Snack Cake to my list of things to make soon. If you try it first, I’d love to know how it comes out
They’ll make great babyfood when Tessa starts eating solids!! Bananas are one of my 9 month old’s favorites and I love them because they’re easy to just mash up and serve!!
Could you use them in fruit smoothies?
I posted my link above for the egg-free Chocolate Banana Loaf. My son has an egg allergy, so this has become our go-to cake recipe for his birthday. Tastes just like banana bread with chocolate in it and is very yummy!
I adore Banana Pancakes, I just add some bananas to my already made pancake mix and it is wonderful, as a child these were always served on special occasions, but with my family, I serve them usually on Sunday mornings.
Save them for when your daughter is old enough for baby food. Easily mash up when you thaw them!
Here is the best banana recipe EVER. The woman she is referring to is ME. It’s a much longer and more complicated story, but this recipe is loved by all. Enjoy!
http://www.tatesbakeshoponline.com/recipeMail/0902/default.htm
Oops. I went back and added the link above.
When I find bananas on sale, I too stock up. You can only eat so many before they turn brown so I peel them and cut them into 6 pieces. I then place them on a wax paper or foil lined cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for a couple of hours till hardened. I then take them off the cookie sheet and place them into a ziploc bag. Now I have bananas for recipes. I make smoothies for my family quite frequently and using frozen bananas makes the smoothies so thick and creamy they taste more like the expensive ones they like from Jamba juice. You can start with friut juice or milk, add bananas (usually 6 pieces per serving size) add various fresh fruit or more frozen fruit in flavors that appeal to your family, add protien powder or yogurt as you like. My kids and I love these. You can also thaw pieces and mash for other recipies calling for bananas. Just a warning..they will turn brown after about 2 months. This does not affcet flavor…..but they do look bad, we just keep them rotated. Enjoy!
Make smoothies or shakes! Peel them before you freeze them and then throw them frozen into a blender with whatever else you want. The frozen bananas are better than chopping ice and are YUMMY!
I have a great smoothie recipe using bananas. I make it all the time.
1 cup frozen bananas
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons peanut butter
Blend together!
Go to Allrecipes.com. If you search for recipes using ripe bananas, you get some delicious-sounding recipes…banana fritters, banana waffles and banana bars!
Here’s the closest recipe I could ever find to my grandmother’s homemade banana pudding. Every one in my family LOVES it. Even my husband’s friends request it every time we have a get together.
http://www.texascooking.com/features/apr99bestbanana.htm
Banana smoothies!
Make a banana split cake. You can leave them frozen for a cold treat.
smoothies and pancakes seem to be covered pretty well here. But thawed bananas make a great addition to plain yogurt. No need for sugar just add the mashed banana. And don’t forget peanut butter and banana muffins… great with a cup of tea for breakfast. I know I’ve read where people peel, insert a stick and dip in chocolate before freezing, I’ve never tried it but if you have good dark chocolate it might be worth a go for a cool and refreshing dessert come summer.
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one with this many bananas in their freezer! I keep making banana bread and banana bread muffins and passing them out to friends and family. I have several friends who have had babies recently and I always send a batch of muffins when I bring them a meal so that they will have a quick breakfast in the morning.
I just came accross this and thought it looked devine!!
http://dessertsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2010/02/potw-banana-macadamia-nut-pancakes-with.html
I’m not sure if someone else said this already, but, when I take them out of the freezer,I let them thaw on the counter, on paper towel. Then all I do is cut one end off and squeeze the fruit out of the peel. There is one end that is easier to squeeze out of, but I can’t remember which end, just try both ways and see what works for you!
I just submitted a recipe from Recipezaar called, “The Everything Cookie” I have started making these for breakfast because we LOVE them! Instead of making small cookies I use an ice cream scoop to make 6 big cookies per cookie sheet. Then I bake 2 trays at a time for 9 minutes, rotate the trays and bake 9 more minutes. So yummy!!!
My mom makes THE BEST banana pudding in the world! I haven’t ever used frozen bananas in it, but really ripe ones are the best to use. You can find the recipe at: http://dyerdining.blogspot.com/2010/03/sandys-sour-cream-banana-pudding.html
I mostly use ripe bananas to make baby food these days, just puree them in the food processor and freeze them in ice cube trays (just following your directions). But when our local grocery had a great sale combined with double coupons that allowed me to get oatmeal for pennies a piece I started putting cubes in my oatmeal to make it yummy. I’ll admit I use Baby G’s other fruit cubes too! Much cheaper and lower in calories than buying “flavored” oatmeal.
Blueberry Banana Bread is a good way to use ripe bananas.
Did you know that peeled frozen bananas taste just about like ice cream? My kiddos ask for them often. Once a banana looks iffy, I’ll cut it up, place it on a plate and freeze. When the kids get home the slices are gone in no time!
My kids also love (but it takes more work) Banana-sicles. Place 1/2 an over-ripe banana on a popsicle stick. Cover it with pb. Roll in grape nuts cereal. Freeze. Yum! I love them too.
Just saw a Banana Brown Sugar Ice Cream recipe on another blog that you might like and wanted to share: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2010/03/banana_ice_cream_recipe.html