Bananas are a staple and for good reason! They’re an easy grab-and-go snack. They’re single serve. They’re are packed with nutrients like potassium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and fiber. Even the Cleveland Clinic sings banana’s praises! They’re a snack unto themselves, blended into smoothies, or baked into Banana Nut Cookies or quick bread. They’re even a sweet snack for our doggo friends.
But the problem is – who can predict exactly how many bananas they’ll eat before the witching hour when that heavenly, sunshine yellow snack turns into a browning, mushy, gnat summoning …. food? Despite it’s aesthetic drawbacks, you know those super ripe bananas are perfect for bread or some other treat, but you don’t have time at that moment to pull out a whisk and make it happen. No problem!
Freezing The Bananas
Freezing over-ripe bananas means you can have easy access to bananas that sweeten and thicken those yummy fruit smoothies. You can bake a batch of your favorite banana bread or Peanut Butter Banana Bones for your pup at a moment’s notice instead of waiting for the bananas to ripen (because the bananas are never over-ripe when the banana bread craving strikes!).
I’ve tried several methods of freezing bananas – whole with the peel, peeled and mashed, or peeled and sliced. But by far the best way to preserve the bananas in the freezer is:
- Simply peel the bananas and break them once or twice.
- Place the banana pieces in a sealed container in the freezer.
- Make sure not to mash the bananas to fit on the container’s lid. Mashing will cause the bananas to freeze together and maybe even freeze to the lid.
- The bananas will freeze together regardless, but only lightly and will break apart easily to remove the desired amount of banana.
- If you prefer to be even more careful, you could freeze the bananas in a single layer inside of a freezer bag so that none of the bananas are touching, but I haven’t found that to be necessary.
- To use, simply pull out the needed amount of banana and use frozen (for a smoothie or a even just a sweet raw nibble) or microwave to soften enough to mash the bananas for baking.
- Microwave times vary based on the microwave and how much banana needs to be thawed. It’s a good rule of thumb to start with about 30 seconds and increase from there as needed.
And my favorite part about frozen bananas is that they don’t brown while they’re in the freezer. So, they come out of the freezer in yummy, pristine condition!
