If you have a hard time using up all the bananas you buy, freezing them gives you more time to enjoy them.
Freeze bananas in sandwich bags for baking. To freeze bananas for smoothies, mash and divide into ice trays.
Well, that was the quick answer; but please continue reading, to get the full details of how to get more out of your bananas through freezing.
The Best Way to Freeze Bananas for Baking
To freeze bananas for baking, remove the peel and place the fruit in a Ziploc sandwich bag. If you store one banana per bag, it makes it easy to measure them for baking later.
Tips for Baking with Frozen Bananas
- Thaw in the refrigerator, right in the bag; placing a dish under it, in case it leaks.
- You can measure how much banana is in the bag by pushing it down, bag and all, into a measuring cup.
- When thawed, frozen bananas work just fine in any baking recipe.
The Best Way to Freeze Bananas for Smoothies
If you intend to use your bananas in smoothie drinks, you will find it more practical to freeze them in ice cube trays. Any kind works, but silicone trays, like these, are the easiest; because they release the cubes the most quickly, without damaging or cracking the tray. They last longer, and wash up easily in the dishwasher.
Mash up the bananas, and spoon them into the trays. If you don’t plan to use them up within the week, put the tray into a sealed plastic bag. You can also simply release the cubes into the bag; but they can get sticky.
Surprising Crave Foods Made with Frozen Bananas
Frozen bananas can be processed through your ice cream machine (this is the one I use), with nothing added, to create an amazing sorbet. Like other “ice creams,” you can do add-ins. Toward the end of the cycle, drop in a couple Tablespoons of peanut butter or chocolate fudge topping. Solids, like nuts and chocolate chips, can be stirred in after you remove the finished dessert to a container.
Frozen Chocolate-Banana-Nut Pops
Mini chocolate-banana treats will delight the whole family. Start by slicing bananas into 1” chunks. Arrange them, flat side down, on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Plunge a toothpick into the center of each, being careful to not quite go all the way through. Place the sheet into the freezer.
While the bananas are freezing, make a chocolate shell. Gently melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in the microwave. Don’t melt them all the way, or they will seize (clump and separate). Watch them, and stop the microwave when they begin to melt, but are still formed, and have a shiny appearance; maybe 30 seconds. Remove, add 1/4t of coconut oil, and stir until fully melted.
Once the bananas are frozen solid, place 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts or peanuts into a small dish. If needed, briefly zap the chocolate shell, to make it liquid.
Dip each banana pop into the chocolate, finishing with a quick dip in the nuts, to coat the flat side.
Enjoy! Any leftovers can be stored in the freezer.
Banana Trivia: PRE-biotics, antioxidents, dopamine, & more!
The yellow fruit is a source of prebiotics. Those are carbs you don’t digest, but they’re a food source for the more-popular probiotics. Those are the good bacteria found in your gut.”
– Web MD
Everybody loves to talk about how rich in potassium bananas are, but one medium banana has 14 grams of sugar. That’s quite a bit of sugar. But, unripe tropical fruit has not yet increased its fructose content. Instead, it’s made up of resistant starches – So, if you find green bananas, go for it. Just do so in moderation.”
– Dr. Gundry
The antioxidants found in yellow bananas, including dopamine, reduce the risk of heart disease as well as degenerative diseases.”
– The Doctors at MD1 Nutrition
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