WFMW – Using Up Old Bananas

July 18, 2007 at 12:01 am (Works For Me Wednesday)

I thought that everybody knew this trick but in talking with some ladies lately I discovered that it just ain’t so, so here it is.

If you’re like me we often end up with one or two bananas in the bunch that go bad before we eat them. Really once they starting turning brown on the outside my kids refuse to eat them no matter what they actually are like on the inside.

But overripe bananas are AWESOME for cooking. So take those old bananas and toss them in the freezer for a later baking episode. There are two ways two do this. First, you can throw them in a gallon Ziploc bag still in the peel. Then when you’re baking something you can usually pry out the number of bananas you need (you can always do a quick partial defrost in the freezer if you can’t separate them).  Then when they are thawed you split open the peel at the bottom and then just kind of  squish out the banana.

If that seems a little gross to you then you can peel them before you freeze and freeze them in quart size bags – usually 3-4 bananas to a bag. At least that seems to be what my two favorite recipes call for.

As a bonus I’ll even give you the two favorite recipes:

Chocolate-Bottom Banana Squares – super yummy, not super sweet and don’t even have a strong banana flavor

Super Easy Banana Bread Recipe
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. baking mix (i.e. Bisquick or generic)
2 egg whites, gently beaten
3-4 mashed bananas
1/4 c. chopped nuts (optional).

Combine sugar and baking mix. Add egg whites and bananas. Stir. Ad nuts. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake 1 hour at 325 degrees.

Back to Shannon’s for more ideas.