What to do With Extra Bananas

Extra bananas sound like a joke when you consider we shop in bulk to feed our large family. 5 pounds of bananas will disappear when we get in the door easy. We love bananas so much we even grew our own in Florida. Still, we occasionally get lucky and find a killer deal at the local fruit market and buy more than we can use so we can save money later. When that happens I have to get a bit creative about what to do with the extra bananas.

Freezing Bananas

If you find yourself with a deal and a large chunk of bananas on your hands you have a few options to use them up. My favorite option is to freeze extra bananas. These frozen banana chunks can be eaten as a frozen snack, tossed into a smoothie, or thawed for banana bread.

Freezing Banana slices is easy. Simple Cut, line up on a tray and freeze. Once frozen solid remove from tray and place in airtight freezer bags. This is so simple and my favorite way to freeze them. They make the perfect cooling option for a hot batch of your favorite oatmeal for a young child or toddler. They are great for snacks on a hot summer day when you need to feed your family without heating your house.

For a fun, frozen treat cut bananas in half, freeze then dip in chocolate and return to the freezer. You can make this a great frozen Popsicle by adding a Popsicle stick to each half banana.

For a great toddler or even dog treat slice in half then halve each half into long strips and freeze. These are perfect for teething toddler hands or handing to your dog on a hot summer day.

When freezing bananas always be sure to remove the peel or the bananas will come out brown and mushy. Use frozen bananas still frozen in anything they must have a nice pale yellow color for.

Heat wave is moving in? Im so glad we stashed a stock of frozen banana chunks to a healthy cooling snack. . . . . . . #healthyeating #realfood #summer #frozentreats #food #fruit #fitandhealthy #yum

A post shared by Jenn Gerlach (@jennsimpleathome) on Jun 13, 2018 at 1:25pm PDT

Drying Bananas

Drying bananas is a great way to preserve extra bananas. While using a dryer for such sweet fruit can get dicey so use a tray liner to help keep the mess at bay. Slice into rounds or small thin strips, and place evenly on your dehydrator trays. This process takes 8 to 12 hours. Trays should be rotated often.

What to make with extra bananas?

How about this Banana Sun butter Ice Cream Sandwich perfect for those with dairy restrictions.

I love these decadent dark chocolate banana bites. Hide them so you don’t have to share with the kids.

This coconut banana cream pudding here is a great option.

You can never go wrong with a simple banana bread loaf.

This blogger has the right idea with these large banana puff pastry shock all over the place

What to do when you have extra bananas?

Bananas are one of those amazing fruits most people love and kids can down them fast. If you need just a few extra days you can place them on a banana hook in the refrigerator. They will turn dark on the outside but the inside will stay fresh longer.

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