5 Ways to Use Ready to Eat (Now!) Bananas

Ever find yourself with more bananas than you can eat before they start to brown? Ever wanted to take advantage of a good sale on bananas, but weren't sure how you'd use them all? Here are 5+ ideas for those ready-to-eat (now!) bananas.

1. Banana Bread

The recipe I used combined all-purpose and whole wheat flour.  I didn't think it was sweet enough (for me) at first, but the more I munched the more I liked what I was munching.  It was a good platform for blueberry-lemon-honey fruit spread, too.  Here's the super easy recipe:

• 8 tbsp (1 stick) butter, at room temp.
  
• 3/4 cup sugar
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1 cup whole wheat flour*
  
• 3 large ripe bananas, mashed
  
• 1 tsp vanilla (how I make it)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease 9x5x3" bread pan.  Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (I used a KitchenAid Classic stand mixer).  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and whole wheat flour to cream mixture, mixing a bit after each addition.  Mix well.  Fold in bananas and vanilla.  Pour mixture into pan, bake 50 to 60 min. or until cake tester comes out clean - cool in pan 10 minutes, on rack.  Makes one loaf.

*I mill my wheat flour using a WonderMill.  In this recipe I used what I had on hand, which was flour from organic hard white wheat berries.

 

2.  Banana Jam

I had never heard of banana jam before reading this post at Confessions of an Overworked Mom.  It sounded delicious, and it's something that may be preserved with water bath canning.  I gave it a go and was not disappointed.  It's swe-eet, though.  I might lower the sugar amount next time, cuz there will be a next time.  Here's the recipe (adapted from Ellen's, linked above):

• 2 cups mashed bananas (about 4-5)
  
• 2 cups sugar
  
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Put all ingredients in a pan (I used a 12-inch nonstick skillet) and simmer on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until bananas are broken down to your liking. I like some texture, but still want it to spread easily.  Know what I mean?

Now let the jam roll at a full boil 5-6 minutes.  Everything will reduce and thicken.  Ladle jam into jar or jars.  I got a bit over 12 oz.

3.  Chocolate, Peanut Butter, & Banana Smoothie

I've been making this off and on for more than a year.  It's got enough good for you stuff to be a nice breakfast or snack.  Yet it's got enough chocolate flavor that I had it for dessert just last night!

Click here for the Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Banana Smoothie recipe!

4.  Blueberry Banana Cake Donuts

These came about when I planned to make some blueberry donuts and at the last minute decided to throw in an overripe banana.  Good stuff happened there – moist, tender, blueberry freshness, with a hint of banana.

Click here for the Blueberry Banana Cake Donuts recipe!

5.  Strawberry Banana Soup

Ok.  I know "soup" is a poor choice for this often made traditional dessert.  You could think of it as a sauce.  If you want to make an angel food cake a little more special, add this strawberry banana mixture.  It wouldn't hurt to top your ice cream with it, either.

All you do is slice up a bunch of strawberries and bananas.  Toss them in a bowl with some sugar and fruit juice.  Just enough of each to bring out the natural juice of the strawberries.  It really is yummy all by itself.

There you have it! 5 ways to use some ready-to-eat (now!) bananas…But I did type 5 plus in the opening paragraph, didn't I? Well, don't forget banana pudding.  The best way is to go all out and make the custard from scratch, of course, but I was short on time the first night we procured the bananas.  So semi-homemade it was.

Get some banana (or vanilla) pudding mix and whip it up.  Get a bowl and layer the following:  vanilla wafers, pudding, and sliced bananas.  Then repeat until the bowl is full or your ingredients are gone.  You have a pretty nice trifle style dessert.

And last, but by no means least, I really enjoy sliced bananas in my breakfast cereal.  Sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many times I forget to take this simple step to enrich my morning when I'm in a hurry.

Now the next time you see those marked down several pounds bag of bananas in the produce department, have no fear.  You have at least 5 (or 7) ways to use them!

Shared at Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Simple & Sweet Fridays, Freedom Fridays, The Homemaking Party, Tuesdays Rubies, Happiness is Homemade, and Tuesdays with a Twist.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a very small commission if you click a link and buy something. This helps support my mountain homestead dream as well as my blogging activities, and the price you pay will be no different than if you arrived at the same destination through any other link. My opinions are my own, to be sure. If I link to a product and say I like it -- I truly like it! Thanks for reading, following, and supporting Stephlin's Mountain.

From my mountaintop to yours!

Strawberry Banana Yogurt Cake ~ Baked in a Toaster Oven

Life without an oven stinks. Especially when you love to bake. And since our beloved Destiny lacks the appliance, I haven't been able to bake in over two months! Well, I could stand for that no more. So we bought one.

A toaster oven, that is. ;-)

I had a bit of cash left on an Amazon gift card so, while it's not exactly high dollar, we were able to get a good one: a Black & Decker Countertop Convection Toaster Oven was delivered just a few days ago.

I was able to sample some recently received strawberries at work the day before yesterday. They were Delicious! I was actually surprised at how tasty they were, and made sure to buy some on the way out. I already had a couple of bananas at home, and had pinned the base recipe for this cake not long ago. It was a perfect storm, it seems.

You only need one bowl to mix this cake. A plus for those with limited space! The base recipe does not call for bananas, but I couldn't resist the combination. I simply folded in slices at the end of mixing the cake batter. And I think I made my dollops of strawberry jam a bit too big. Next time, I'll be more inclined to swirl it in to the top.

Here's proof I baked it in a toaster oven! :-)

And the yummy result. It's somewhat similar to the best strawberry bread ever I posted about here. Greek yogurt makes it super moist. Recipe follows.

Strawberry Banana Yogurt Cake

Adapted from Betty Crocker recipe here.

Ingredients

• 2 containers (5.3 oz each) Greek blended strawberry yogurt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup extra virgin organic coconut oil (can also use vegetable or canola)
• 2 tsp vanilla (make your own!)
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup strawberry jam
• 1 1/4 cups quartered fresh strawberries (grow your own!)
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• powdered sugar, for garnish (optional)
• 2 bananas, sliced (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven (toaster or regular) to 350°F. Grease and flour a 13x9-inch (I used a 10X12-inch) pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together yogurt, 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, oil of choice, and vanilla until well combined. Mix in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Add flour and baking powder; beat with wooden spoon until smooth. Fold in sliced bananas, if using.
3. Pour batter into pan, spreading evenly. Dollop strawberry jam on top of cake batter. Sprinkle with strawberries and remaining 2 tsp granulated sugar.
4. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Mine took 45 minutes in the toaster oven.) Cool 20 - 30 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if so desired.

Yield: 12 servings

P.S. I hope you'll forgive me rocking the paper plates and foil pan. Not very crunchy or homestead-y, I know. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Ya know? I'll make up for it when we get moved, I promise. :-)


Shared at Making a Home - Homemaking Linky, Tasty Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday, Tickle My Tastebuds, Tuesdays with a Twist, and Homemade Mondays.

---

Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link, which means I may receive a very small commission if you click the link and buy something. This helps support my mountain homestead dream as well as my blogging activities, and the price you pay will be no different than if you arrived at the same destination through any other link. My opinions are my own, to be sure. If I link to a product and say I like it -- I truly like it! :-) Thanks for reading, following, and supporting Stephlin's Mountain.

We had a good deal on some nice strawberries recently at work, so I partook and purchased a couple of pounds. Little did I know how that simple transaction would change my life. Exaggeration? I think not, but you be the judge.

I was poking around the 'net for a strawberry bread recipe, and what I found did not disappoint. After giving it a go, what resulted was quite possibly one of the best things I've ever eaten. Definitely the best strawberry bread I've ever eaten.

Yep, all that strawberry goodness in one loaf!

The recipe is from Saveur. More specifically, Saveur kitchen assistant Farideh Sadeghin. It has a yield of two loaves, but, me being me, I cut it in half for one loaf. I know that doesn't always work in baking, but this one turned out just fine.

There is cinnamon in the mix, and you can taste it nicely in the batter before baking. (I think that batter alone would make a nice coffee cake, but that's for another day.) But I got barely a hint of it after baking, so don't let that scare you. The recipe also calls for strawberry jam to be swirled into the top. Between me and you, I wouldn't do that unless maybe you had freshly made jam at your fingertips. Store bought jam (IMHO) puts a damper on the fresh strawberry flavor of the rest of the bread.

Another delectable of this loaf is the slight crisp and crunch of the crust. That sugar adds a lovely texture as well as yummy-ness.

Funny thing is, just two people managed to make that single loaf of strawberry bread disappear in about 24 hours. B (obviously) agreed with me that it was so good -- Oh. My. Goodness good. So much so, that he made a second loaf with the second pound of strawberries.

Recipe after one more enticing photo...

O.M.G. Strawberry Bread

Adapted from Saveur kitchen assistant Farideh Sadeghin's recipe here.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 + 1/8 (or, 5/8) cup canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups strawberries, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup strawberry jam (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°, and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Whisk sugar, oil, and eggs in a separate bowl. Combine wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir in strawberries.
4. Pour batter into pan. If using jam, just dollop across the top and swirl into batter.
5. Bake until golden brown, about an hour (mine took 1 hr, 6 min). Let cool a bit before turning it out of the pan -- about 30 minutes.

Yield: 1 loaf

Shared at Simple Saturdays Blog Hop, Simply Natural Saturdays, Old-Fashioned Friday, From the Farm Blog Hop, Freedom Fridays, and Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop.