23 Easy Banana Recipes for Sweet Baked Goods and Fruity Treats
From the ultimate banana breads to chocolate-and-banana pizza, these ideas include all the best ways to use up a bunch of 'naners right now.
Is there any greater pain than throwing away a too-ripe banana because it's just too brown to eat as a snack? The most ingenious home cooks know that saving even the mushiest bananas could parlay into a delicious breakfast or out-of-this-world sweet treat. Ripe and overripe bananas are best harnessed in classic baking recipes for sweet pies, puddings, and cakes, but they also make for the perfect better-for-you breakfast options, including banana breads, muffins, pancakes, and waffles. Nearly all of these recipes are vegetarian friendly, and a few can be a tasty addition to a vegan routine.
If you're looking to enjoy a flavorful dessert or a sweet breakfast, bananas are a nutritious base for wholesome baking and cooking at home. Upon first glance, dieters might be turned off by their higher calorie and carbohydrate counts compared to other fruits — but they're loaded with essential nutrients that might be lacking elsewhere in your diet. They're quite high in potassium and magnesium, which are two nutrients that can help massage your arteries and lower your blood pressure, and pack a fibrous punch to any baked good (a win-win!). Bananas can be folded into other healthy ingredients (like veggies such as carrots or alternative flours and dark chocolate) to make healthier recipes on a regular basis.
Bananas also are one of the easiest ingredients to work with for new bakers who are attempting making bread, muffins, cupcakes, pies, or frozen treats for the very first time. You can experiment in the kitchen with one of these easy banana recipes and revel in your success when you pull off a tantalizing sweet treat, even if all you did was simply prep, stir, and set.
Homestyle Banana Bread
The more ripe the bananas are, the better! We're obsessed with how brown sugar and vanilla extract turn this loaf into a sweet-and-savory bite you'll want again and again.
Get the Homestyle Banana Bread recipe »
RELATED: How to Make Perfect Banana Bread With Step-by-Step Instructions
3-Ingredient Banana Pancakes
Eggs, bananas, and self-rising flour make for delicious pancake batter. You'll earn extra points with the little ones for having fun with this fruit-infused breakfast.
Banana-Berry Parfait
This quick dessert looks sensational served in an old-fashioned sundae glass. You'll blitz everything in a food processor with fat-free vanilla yogurt as a base.
Syrupy Banana-Nut Overnight French Toast
Do all the breakfast prep of this classic brunch recipe the night before, save half the time in a busy weekend morning! Sliced almonds or chopped walnuts add a lovely crunch to an otherwise velvety bite.
Chocolate-Dipped Banana Pops
Bananas make a sumptuous low-fat base for these frozen pops. And you can get as creative as you'd like with the toppings! Crush your favorite candies, nuts, or salty snacks.
Banana Pudding
A fun classic dessert for any home cook to master over time, our banana pudding is kicked up a notch with a splash of bourbon. Vanilla wafer toppings can be served whole or crushed into pieces.
Banana Quick Bread
You might be under the delusion that baking a loaf of bread takes a whole lot of manpower — this recipe proves otherwise. You only need 15 minutes to make a rich batter for a sweet, moist banana bread that you can toss into the oven and simply walk away from.
Chocolate-Banana Smoothie
Frozen bananas are a summertime favorite, but have you ever thought to blitz them into a refreshing smoothie? Grab some milk, ice cubes, and a touch of chocolate syrup for this five-minute milkshake alternative.
Chrissy Teigen's Banana Bread
Twitter fell in love with Chrissy's banana bread when she now-infamously asked her social media followers for soft bananas. We love how this iteration is made in a bundt pan with a punch of sweet chocolate and robust coconut.
Banana Cream Pie
Silky vanilla custard and sliced ripe bananas form the layers of this heavenly cream pie. While a homemade crust isn't too tough to tackle, you can take a short cut with a store-bought crust.
Chai Spice Baked Oatmeal With Pecan Crumble
Nutritionist Jamie Vespa, MS, RD, incorporated a hit of creamy banana into this healthy oatmeal mix; it's chock full of heart-healthy fats and is still quite satisfying despite ditching high amounts of sugar.
Banana Pudding Poke Cake
Pies aren't the only dessert to incorporate bananas into. This poke cake is topped with a lattice layering of bananas.
Buckwheat Banana Bread Pancake
For a lighter take on pancakes, try swapping in buckwheat flour for a gluten-free breakfast that's also free of refined sugars. Yogurt and tahini help enhance the creamy profile of the banana in this pancake.
Banana Pudding Cheesecake
There's so many ways you can enjoy banana pudding — in a cup, baked into bars, or shaped into a creamy cheesecake. You'll need to refrigerate this uber-decadent mixture overnight to set, but overall prep time will take just about 20 minutes.
Banana-Peach Rice Pudding
If you're looking for a quick 10-minute dessert, grab bananas and some yogurt for the base of this pudding. You can add fresh or canned peaches in the mix for another layer of flavor, and top as you wish!
Banoffee Ice Cream Pie
This fun take on a classic banana cream pie involves subbing in fresh heavy cream to serve as a "ice cream" after it's been frozen. The graham cracker crust is also made in just a few moments time in a food processor.
Peanut Butter, Banana, and Strawberry Jars
Overnight oats is a classic no-cook breakfast for many enterprising home cooks. A banana and strawberry granola combo is a great base for milk or fresh juice in the morning.
Broiled Brown-Sugar Bananas
Have a bunch of unripe bananas that you don't know what to do with? The oven (alongside extra brown sugar and cinnamon) will work to caramelize sugars within the banana on high heat.
Banana Pudding Trifle
Making a layered trifle pudding like this isn't difficult at all; it's cascading layers of pudding, whipped cream, bananas, and wafers simply arranged atop each other. It's just as delicious if arranged in individual servings, too.
Banana Bread Flapjacks
Maple syrup and bananas are almost as a delicious combination as peanut butter or chocolate. We love how a classic banana bread recipe is adapted to make fluffy pancakes with all the same flavors.
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