We’ve all been there: Buy bunch of bananas, toss them on the counter, and totally forgot about them until they are brown, mushy and stinking up the kitchen. But before you throw these lost-causes in the trash, consider giving them new life by incorporating them into some killer recipes the whole family will love.
Uses for Overripe Bananas
There are so many uses for overripe bananas from muffins to even ice cream. You can even freeze them (remove the skins) so you can use them later down the road.
However, my favorite way to use brown bananas is a simple banana bread.
Banana Bread Recipe
To make banana bread, you will need:
- Two cups all-purpose flour
- One teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- Two eggs, beaten
- Three over-ripe bananas, mashed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
Peel your bananas and mash away! They should mash pretty easily. Make sure you mash all the chunks. You want your mashed bananas to have a smooth consistency.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
Bake the batter in a preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.
Do not let temptation get you! You want to make sure you let your banana bread cool before you slice into it. If you don’t, it will crumble apart. Banana bread is dense and moist and needs to time to cool and firm up a bit.
Once you master this basic banana bread recipe, you can have some fun with it! Make banana muffins (I like to add peanut butter to mine). Alternatively, throw in some mix-ins for a Chocolate Chip Banana Bread or a Banana Nut Bread.
Now that you have a simple banana bread recipe, you don’t have to throw away those overripe bananas!
