I always buy bananas with the good intention of eating them for
breakfast or snacks. But, that doesn't always happen. Once the bananas
get too over-ripe, their texture makes them almost inedible. There are
two things I have done with bananas at this point.
Alternative 1: Smoothies and Shakes
Since
the texture of the over-ripe banana is really the part that is
unappetizing, I usually blend them into smoothies with juice, milk, or
other fruit. You can make a delicious chocolate banana "shake" by
blending milk, an over-ripe banana, and cocoa powder.
Alternative 2: Baking
You
can also use mashed up over-ripe bananas in baking. The most obvious
time this works is when you are making banana bread. But, with any cake,
you can replace the butter with equal amounts of mashed up banana. I
did this tonight with a boxed chocolate cake mix. It turned out really
good. However, since bananas have a distinct flavor, you should make
sure that banana flavor goes well with the other flavors in your baking.
For example, banana and chocolate goes well together, so using bananas
in chocolate cake works.
Leave a comment to let me know what your favorite way to used over-ripe bananas is.
If you don't think you'll use the banana in time, you can also freeze them. Just throw them in the freezer in the peel, and then defrost when you're ready to use them. Aside from banana bread, we love banana pancakes, banana cake (which can be made from a white cake mix), and my dog loves banana "pup cakes" which aren't too tasty for people but are great, healthy treats for dogs.
ReplyDeleteI feed our dog, Bootsy, over-ripe bananas if she is being super-good.
DeleteCan you eat them fresh after you freeze them? Or do you just use them in recipes?
Banana pancakes...yummm!
Thanks for the ideas!