16 Creative Ways To Use Frozen Bananas

Freezing bananas is an ideal way to get more life out of a bunch. These beloved fruits are widely available in supermarkets, so you won't have trouble locating them. But what can you do with them after you freeze them? We'll share plenty of creative ways to use extra-sweet frozen bananas, whether they stay frozen for an icy dessert or you heat them up to make banana jam.

Frozen bananas taste so sweet because freezing and thawing the banana converts its starches into sugar. You can use this newfound frigid sweetness to your advantage. You might freeze overly ripe bananas that you're not ready to eat, or place slices of a nearly ripe banana in the freezer to ensure its freshness — there are good uses for them either way.

We recommend peeling the fruit before freezing it, but if you don't have time for that, just learn how to peel a frozen banana. Depending on your taste preferences, you can use brown, yellow, or green bananas for most of these hacks. (However, we will note if we recommend one level of ripeness over another.) There's a whole world of culinary uses for this versatile frozen fruit.

Read more: 13 Simple Tricks To Pick The Best Fresh Fruit Every Time

Add Them To Frozen Yogurt Granola Bars

Use yogurt, granola, and frozen bananas to create an exquisite dessert. Spread the yogurt on a parchment-lined dish, load on a bunch of granola, and then place the sliced bananas. You could include other ingredients, but those are the main components. Gently press everything against the yogurt so that it won't fall off once frozen. Use sweetened, flavored, or plain yogurt, based on what you want for your frigid treat. Vanilla yogurt makes a delicious base, but you might want to create a cool design by swirling in colorful strawberry or blueberry yogurt.

These even make a quick and convenient breakfast. Since these are yogurt granola bars and not simply yogurt bark, add the granola liberally. Get creative with toppings, yogurt flavors, and even the granola itself. Try a gluten-free coconut and pecan granola or gingerbread granola. Pop your masterpiece in the freezer to set, and then cut or break the bars into pieces when ready to serve.

Use Sliced Frozen Bananas In Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ice cream sandwiches are simple to assemble at home, using any number of ice creams and sandwich bases. Pick the base of choice — cookies are a classic, but a buttery croissant would be delicious — then scoop your ice cream and layer on the sliced banana. Roll or sprinkle on some coconut flakes, or melt chocolate chips with coconut oil to create a hard chocolate shell sauce.

Opt for sliced bananas that are barely ripe or ripe, so they retain some firmness without being brown. However, because of this, they can become pretty dense once frozen. You don't want to chip a tooth on your dessert. These frozen confections don't have to be basic, either. Try to elevate ice cream sandwiches with a luxurious drizzle of pistachio butter or chopped amarena cherries to pair with the frozen sliced banana. There's no shortage of ways to create these cold desserts using frozen bananas to give them flavor and texture.

Make Banana Sweet Cream For Coffee

Goodbye, basic coffee; hello, iced coffee with banana sweet cream. This is a fruity, delicious way to elevate your caffeinated beverage. Since the cream is cold, use it only for iced coffee drinks, as pouring it into hot coffee will result in a lukewarm experience. The banana sweet cream recipe calls for a ripe banana, ice cubes, and then your choice of coffee creamer, milk, sweetened condensed milk, or whipped cream. In this case, omit the ice cubes entirely by using a ripe frozen banana.

Blend the ingredients together, and you're ready to pour them into your iced coffee or latte to give it sweetness. You could incorporate maple syrup, honey, cinnamon, or ginger for additional flavor. The frozen banana makes the concoction cold, while the dairy inclusion makes it creamy and helps to thin out the consistency. For an iced latte, put less milk into the coffee, because the banana sweet cream will provide a sufficiently milky component. Pour the banana cream on top of the drink, or thoroughly mix it in.

Transform Frozen Bananas Into Vegan Ice Cream

There's nothing better than a chilly bowl of ice cream on a hot summer afternoon after spending a few hours at the beach. Turn frozen bananas into an incredible dessert with the fruit alone. Simply place frozen bananas in a blender or food processor, and pulse them for three to five minutes. You'll need a good blender to get a smooth consistency, and you might need to give the bananas a good stir to ensure everything is incorporated.

While this is a common way to use frozen bananas, you might also choose to give it some extra flavor. Try blending the fruit with maple syrup, vanilla extract, salt, peanut butter, or additional fruits. Or make a scrumptious batch of chocolate-banana vegan ice cream with cocoa powder and cacao nibs to give it a chocolaty boost. There are many potential mixes and ways to make this your own, but the frozen banana remains the most integral part. This is the perfect treat when you want to cool off but don't want to head to the store, or wait all night to freeze homemade ice cream.

Make Banana Jam

Making jam is one of the easiest ways to use frozen fruit. We've rescued plenty of fruits that were nearing freezer-burn territory by transforming them into jam. While banana jam isn't the most popular variety of preserves, it's worth trying.

You don't have to thaw the fruit out, since it'll be heated on the stove. However, if you're using frozen whole bananas, it doesn't hurt to cut them in half. Weigh out your fruit and chosen sweetener (like honey, agave, or sugar); some like more sweetness for their jam, while others prefer the fruit taste to prevail. This is purely up to you, but you can follow a recipe for homemade jams to determine the best ratio. If you lean more toward the sugary camp, factor in the sweetness of the frozen banana.

Use banana of any ripeness stage for this, though note that a brown banana will produce a darker-colored jam. If aesthetics are an issue, opt for bananas with yellow or green skins with a white interior. Banana jam can be flavored with lemon, cinnamon, cardamom, or other spices. You could also add other fruits like strawberries for a multi-fruit spread.

Use Them To Make Frozen Banana Bites

Frozen banana bites are ideal cold desserts, and they're small enough to pop each into your mouth in one go. You can make these any which way, though they're typically served in slices like a sandwich with almond butter, jam, or tahini. Dunk them in chocolate, roll them in crushed nuts, or leave them as is. There are many creative ways to use frozen bananas to make these little joys.

Slice your frozen bananas and then assemble them. If you don't have a sticky way to keep them together, such as with peanut butter, use a toothpick. These are great to keep in the freezer to snack on, since they don't take up a lot of space. Because they are small and prone to thawing quickly, only take them out when you're ready to eat them. This layered dessert allows you to combine bananas with what you already have at home, whether you top it with chopped walnuts or finish it with store-bought jam.

Use Frozen Banana For An Extra-Thick Smoothie

Making a smoothie might just be the most popular way to use frozen bananas. Unlike the fresh fruit, frozen bananas offer a creamy, sweet flavor and a thick consistency for a denser smoothie. This is the ideal opportunity to use overly brown bananas for an extra sweet touch. The smoothie will be very thick if you only use frozen fruit and little to no liquid. This is a particularly satisfying option when you want something especially chilly, like on a hot summer morning.

This is easy to whip up using ingredients you have on hand, and you can create many iterations without following a recipe. But if you want some inspiration, make a banana matcha smoothie for a stunning green drink that vegans can enjoy, since it's made with soy milk. A tropical smoothie bowl uses frozen mango and banana along with a few other ingredients for a cold base, then gets topped with loads of fresh, colorful fruit. This results in a cafe-worthy meal that can be made in 10 minutes at home.

Put Frozen Bananas On A Stick To Dip In Chocolate

This is likely the most nostalgic way to utilize a frozen banana. This frozen banana treat started on a California island decades ago, and has been a summertime staple ever since. But you don't have to trek over to the Golden State to enjoy this icy, sweet, and oh-so-satisfying dessert. Making a frozen banana on a stick is easy. You can dunk it in melted chocolate, roll it in chopped peanuts, or drizzle it in peanut butter.

Cut bananas in half, impale the halves with a stick, and freeze them on a tray. (You can do this with frozen bananas, but it will be much more difficult to insert the stick.) This makes a fun family activity allowing everyone to decorate their frozen fruit to suit their tastes and personality. Put out a few small bowls filled with toppings like chopped walnuts, rainbow sprinkles, or shredded coconut. Dip the banana in chocolate or white chocolate, then scatter on the toppings before the chocolate fully sets.

Blend Frozen Bananas Into Chia Pudding

You might want to make chia pudding when you're looking for a nutrient-dense food. Chia seeds contain protein, fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, and other vitamins and minerals to make them a healthy choice for whipping up a treat. Make chocolate peanut butter chia pudding, and then layer blended frozen banana into the dessert or spoon it on top.

Alternatively, follow a classic chia pudding recipe and let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour. This gives the seeds time to absorb the liquid and allows the pudding to thicken up. Blend the pudding with a frozen banana once you're ready to eat it; this gives it a smoother, thicker consistency that's perfect for a midday snack. Once blended, pour it into a glass bowl or jar to make it a beautiful experience for your eyes.

To make it more filling and colorful, layer the pudding with jam or granola, or add fruit, shredded coconut, or chopped nuts on top. You can easily customize the add-ins while keeping the base recipe the same.

Make Frozen Fruit Skewers

Icy fruit skewers are a top choice for a soothing poolside snack. Just keep them on ice in a bag in your cooler. Frozen sliced banana is a key ingredient, since the fresh version might get smooshed more easily. In addition to bananas, you can use any number of fruits, whether those are initially frozen or not. Make these with bananas, berries, kiwis, plums, peaches, watermelons, melon balls, or other colorful fruits. Slice them into smaller chunks to place on the skewers.

You want the fruit chunks to be fairly small so that you can pop a full piece in your mouth, since they're frozen and might be hard to bite into. Assemble the skewers and place them on a sheet pan in the freezer to solidify. You could add a drizzle of chocolate, too. Once solid, store them in a bag to snack on as you wish. This is a different spin on eating your daily fruit intake, and makes a fast, refreshing snack.

Pour Blended Frozen Banana Into A Cocktail

There's no denying that a stirred or shaken cocktail is nice, but sipping a frozen drink feels like you're on vacation. It evokes an aura of hot days, palm trees, and dusting sand off your toes. But you don't have to pay premium resort prices to sip such a beverage. Rum, frozen banana, strawberries, and a few other ingredients can come together to create a layered frozen lava flow cocktail that's both eye-catching and mouthwatering. Use a green or yellow banana, purely because the color plays a big part in the overall presentation.

You could pick any number of banana-forward frozen cocktails to elevate your adult drink experience. Make a thicker dirty banana cocktail using frozen fruit rather than fresh, along with the alcohol trio of rum, banana liqueur, and Kahlúa. Or try a frozen daiquiri with banana or a smooth and creamy banana pina colada. Amp up the festivities by pouring your banana cocktail into your most colorful glasses.

Turn It Into Frozen Banana Bark

Banana bark is one of the more creative ways to use frozen bananas, since it transforms them into a different consistency. First, blend your frozen bananas in a good blender or food processor. You will want a silky, smooth consistency. Keep it simple with a banana base, or kick up the flavor by blending with cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. Or, give it a protein boost by adding Greek yogurt or your favorite protein powder — you can choose a plain variety, or use something flavored.

For example, strawberry protein powder can turn the bark into a tasty strawberry-banana bite. This frozen delight is straightforward to make, but the decorating process is the best part. Once the base is made, spread it onto a tray lined with parchment paper. Drizzle on peanut butter, melted chocolate, caramel, or sliced bananas. Put it in the freezer to firm up, and it's ready to eat. Remove the bark from the freezer right before you're ready to devour it.

Include Them In A Frozen Fruit Salad

Fruit salads are colorful and refreshing, but you could upgrade them with a little time in the freezer. Gather your fruits and be sure to chop them into smaller pieces before freezing — a whole frozen strawberry can be quite a mouthful. Prepare a mint and melon fruit salad and add sliced banana. Then, freeze the ingredients (minus the mint) on a tray lined with parchment paper. This allows everything to freeze without clumping together in an unwieldy wad of fruit.

You can use any number of options for a frozen fruit salad — peaches, pineapples, berries, you name it. To make assembling it easier, you could opt for pre-frozen bagged fruit mixes so that you don't have to chop anything. Once ready to serve, place the salad in a bowl and toss it with a dressing of lemon juice and maple syrup, so that everything gets coated. Serve in small bowls and garnish with the mint leaves.

Add Frozen Banana To Homemade Frappuccinos

Sometimes, you want a rejuvenating beverage with frozen bananas that's not a smoothie. We totally get it. Incorporate the fruit with coffee to get a sweet caffeine jolt for a game-changing way to start your day. Make blended creamy homemade frappuccinos with frozen bananas, eliminating the need for additional syrup since the banana is so sweet. Use a brown banana for the most sugary option, but any frozen banana will offer some sweetness to complement the coffee. (A green frozen banana won't be as sweet, but will offer its banana flavor.)

Dump the banana and espresso into a blender and mix it together. This version will be quite thick, but the espresso is more potent than standard coffee. If you want more liquid, you could pour in a bit of milk with the espresso. Or choose cold brew or iced coffee with more water. This is purely based on your preferred consistency and favorite type of coffee. Give it a mocha twist by drizzling in some chocolate sauce before blending, or add a hint of vanilla extract.

Put Them In A Parfait

Frozen sliced bananas allow you to build a better parfait by incorporating various ingredients with different textures. There's the dry crunch of granola, the melt-in-your-mouth yogurt, and the slight firmness of the frozen banana, all complemented by whatever else you choose to include. Alternatively, mash or blend the frozen banana into the yogurt or base.

Make these for the whole family with a larger yogurt carton, or use a single-serving cup to whip up a personal parfait. Go a different route if you're not in the mood for yogurt. Maybe you want a more decadent base of custard, mousse, or pudding. Whichever you choose, these parfaits are best eaten right away. This is to maintain the frozen nature of the bananas, and to prevent any additions like granola from getting soggy. These parfaits can be enjoyed for dessert or breakfast; there are no rules with these goodies.

Make Frozen Banana Ice Cubes To Put Into Drinks

You can use banana-based ice cubes for cocktails, milkshakes, frappuccinos, and much more in myriad ways. The most straightforward technique to make them is to blend the banana until it's a smooth liquid, then pour the mixture into ice cube molds and freeze. This is great when you want banana flavor in your beverage but without chunks. However, you could also incorporate additional flavor into the cubes with maple syrup or ground cloves.

You can blend the banana and then place an additional slice of banana into the ice cube as a garnish of sorts. This option makes a cool-looking cube for a frozen cocktail or banana sweet cream coffee. It keeps your drink cold while providing flavor, as it melts without diluting the taste. You aren't obligated to use a standard ice cube tray, either. There are trays with plenty of interesting shapes — like hearts or flowers — to jazz up your next drink. And if frozen beverages aren't on the horizon, you can always pop out a cube and eat it as a little frozen snack.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.