Three ways with over-ripe bananas

For the time-poor and banana-rich

I’ve been noticing a lot more “Smoothie Bananas” on the shelves at Prahran lately (AKA over ripe bananas).

You know the ones? Spotty, squashy, more brown than yellow.

If that sentence made you squirm, you’re not alone. I’ve met more people with banana bruise aversions than active haters of cooked avocado… And that’s no mean feat (because hot avocado is a cruel and unusual punishment).

But, just like a good dry body brush on your shins after a long, cold winter (yet TBD over on this end, by the way), slough off their skin and over ripe bananas (especially ones that have been peeled and frozen) are still good as new – in fact, seeing as they’re more flavoursome and moussey in texture (the bananas, not my winter legs), even better for the following time-sensitive purposes.

Recipes for over ripe bananas

 

5 mins: Smoothie:

Well duh, you say, that’s why they’re called “smoothie bananas”. Yes, yes it is. Just like their avocado allies, bananas help to add texture and creaminess when whizzed up or mashed. Adding a banana – especially a frozen one – to any juice or smoothie will add instant lightness and fluffiness, whilst also giving you a good hit of AM potassium (which is a natural remedy for pre-coffee AM eye twitches!).

Ingredients:

2 frozen over ripe bananas
4 tbsp. natural yoghurt
1 tsp. honey
good pinch of cinnamon

Method:

1. Stick everything in a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth and combined.

15 mins: Fritter:

The term “fritter” is a fairly loose one – it’s basically just a combination of batter and fruit (or, in the case of brunch items, vegetables). In this instance, I’m referring to those retro, fully encased banana and/or pineapple ones that you can still find at your favourite Chinese restaurant. Or, in this case, on your kitchen bench.

Ingredients:

4 bananas
100g rice flour
200ml soda water
ice cubes
pinch of salt
rice bran oil for frying
five spice powder
Golden/Maple syrup to serve

Method:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan or deep-fryer to 180C
2. Place the rice flour in a bowl with the ice cubes and pour in soda water. Stir to combine so that there are no lumps.
3. Dip the whole bananas into the batter, and then quickly fry until the outside is golden (about 30-40 secs)
4. Serve with golden syrup.

 Banana Bread:

This is actually my husband Nick’s recipe (because he does most of the baking in our household), adapted from Donna Hay’s classic banana bread. The first time he made it, he had to leave suddenly, so turned off the oven but left the bread inside. The residual heat actually helped to crunch up the crust, whilst the inside stayed super moist and rich. So delicious – especially with a good lashing of Pepe Saya, Myrtleford or St David’s butter.

Ingredients:

3 peeled frozen bananas
150g brown sugar
130g good quality butter
2 eggs
80g real maple syrup
250g plain flour
1 tsp bicarb
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt flakes
1 pinch of fresh cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Whizz up bananas in a food processor until smooth and creamy (at this point, you may like to sub out all of the other ingredients and just settle for “paleo banana mousse”), reserve.
3. Cream butter and sugar together in the processor until smooth, golden brown and fully combined.
4. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated, then pour in the maple syrup and the banana mousse (unless you’ve eaten it all). Blitz to combine.
5. Fold wet mixture into the dry ingredients until smooth.
6. Pour into a lined or well-greased loaf tin and whack in the oven.
7. Bake for about 40 mins at 180C (or until the skewer comes out clean) and then leave in the oven for another 10 to help crisp up the crust.