5 Recipes For Using Those Old Bananas

If you’re anything like me then you’ve been standing in the grocery store staring at the bananas and thinking to yourself “I’ll definitely eat all of these before they go bad.” Several days pass and all of a sudden you look over to your fruit bowl and see that your once ripe bananas are starting to show brown spots. If this has happened to you then you’ll be grateful to know there are several incredibly easy recipes that need overripe bananas. Here are a few of my favorites:

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BANANA BREAD/MUFFINS

OF course this would be number one on the list. This is the perfect recipe for using up those brown bananas. In fact, the browner the bananas the more flavor will be added to your bread. You can add some walnuts to your bread for even more flavor. I personally prefer banana nut muffins but they are basically the same thing. Once they’re baked they are so easy to pop in the microwave for a few seconds, if you like your bread warmed, and enjoy it for breakfast or a snack.

SMOOTHIES

If you know me then you know I’m a huge smoothie girl. Adding brown bananas to your smoothie is perfect because once it’s blended together you won’t notice the mushy texture. My personal favorite is one overripe banana, a tablespoon of cocoa powder, and a handful of spinach. You could add the banana with strawberries, other types of fruit, or even with vanilla ice cream or yogurt for more of a milkshake.

PANCAKES

If you’ve never had banana pancakes you’re missing it. It’s super simple. Mix your batter the regular way you would. Then take your overripe banana and mash it with a fork. Once it’s pretty mixed you simply add it to your batter. Cook as usual. You can also add chocolate chips or walnut pieces to your pancakes to make them even fancier.

OATMEAL

Oatmeal is another great way to use up those bananas that are going brown. I usually slice mine and put them on top of my oatmeal but once they are brown I mash them with a fork and then stir the bananas into the oatmeal. This way I won’t be bothered with that mushy grainy texture they sometimes get but I’m still getting the delicious banana flavor. I love to drizzle honey on my banana oatmeal.

ICE CREAM

This probably isn’t the first thing you think of when you know you have old bananas lying around. However, making delicious (and vegan) ice cream is incredibly easy. All you need to do is peel, slice, and freeze your bananas. Once they are thoroughly frozen add them to a blender and mix. Don’t over blend unless you want it more of a smoothie. It should be thick enough to eat with a spoon. If this recipe is just too banana-y for you then you can also try adding your banana ice cream to some chocolate or vanilla. Then you’ll have just a hint of the flavor instead of completely banana ice cream.

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Next time you find yourself with browning bananas, because let’s be realistic, life gets crazy and we never seem to have enough time to eat them before they go bad, be sure to check out one or more of these recipes.