Freezing bananas are the perfect way to avoid wasting any overripe bananas sitting on your kitchen counter. Freezing preserves bananas that have reached their peak ripeness or overripe. Just because they’re covered inn black spots, overly soft doesn’t mean they’re inedible to toss them out. Instead, freeze them to use in make banana breads, nice creams, smoothies and muffins.
Why Frozen Bananas Work
- Once frozen and you’re ready to defrost the banana slices, something interesting happens. The amylase in the banana diffuse during the freezing process. When its defrosted it starts to convert the starch diffused during the freezing process into sugar, in turn it makes the defrosted frozen banana sweeter to the taste than eating fresh bananas. So the need for added sweetener in the recipes is not necessary.
- When you blend frozen banana slices in a blender or food processor, it gets creamy and gooey, like custard or soft serve ice cream without ice crystals. This happens because of the high pectin content in the banana that gels it into a rich creamy soft serve ice cream like texture. This little hack is not new in the food industry, I discovered it a couple of years ago and have not stopped using it. Wonder it took me this long to share on my blog, well its here now and you should give it a try.
Tips for Freezing Bananas
Slice bananas into uniform rounds. Slicing bananas before freezing makes them easier to blend when you’re ready to use. Store the frozen banana slices in a ziplock bag ( force as much air out as possible before zipping) alternatively freeze the slices in an airtight container for up to 3 months. I prefer the latter to minimize use of plastic.
What to Do With Frozen Bananas
Add them to smoothies. Bananas magically develop the texture of ice cream when they are frozen. They are cold, creamy, and naturally sweet, so they are perfect for adding an ice cream texture to your favorite smoothie recipe. Simply take as many slices as you need for your recipe and blend.
They turn into healthy ice cream. Use a food processor or blender to pulverize the frozen banana pieces ( you may need to add a little milk or yogurt) and process until it has a soft serve like consistency. If you’ve never tried banana ice cream, you’re in for a treat! creamy, healthy and delicious.
Bake with them. Thaw frozen bananas and use them in your favorite banana bread, muffins recipes as you would use ripened bananas. Thawed frozen bananas will look unappealing, but when you mash them, they do the job just as well as freshly mashed bananas do.
How to Thaw Frozen Bananas: You can thaw by leaving the amount needed out in a bowl at room temperature for about 2 hours. Or, you can let them thaw in the fridge overnight. Any liquid released is perfect to use in your recipe, they may not look pretty, but part of a natural banana and will not change the final product.
They reduce waste. If you have overripe bananas sitting on your counter, and you don’t plan on using them, storing the bananas in the freezer is the next best way to keep them edible until you plan on using them. The two images below are perfect examples of using frozen bananas.
Recipes to Try
Ingredients
3-6 bananas, overripened
Method
Peel, slice and place he sliced bananas in large freezer bag or freezer safe container. Press out as much air out as possible before zipping up. Lay it flat so the slices don’t bunch into one large pile. Place it in the freezer flat for at least 4 hours or overnight. Once frozen you may break them so they’re not in one bundles. Use as many as your recipe calls for and promptly put the remains back in the freezer. About 8-10 slices is one medium banana if you have to guess. Enjoy!!!
What a great idea.
Thanks Emma