How to Preserve Bananas for Later Use in Cooking

Preserve your overripe bananas for use in baked goods later.

The key ingredient to fresh and hot banana bread or muffins is a collection of over-the-hill bananas. If they're brown and sort of mushy, your bananas are perfect for using as an ingredient for sweet and tasty baked goods. The problem is that sometimes your bananas are ready when you aren't. If you have a bunch of bananas past their prime, but you're not prepared to turn them into a baked treat, preserve them by freezing and packaging them for later use.

Things You'll Need

• Cookie sheet
• Gallon-sized zip-top bags

Instructions

1. Peel the bananas and remove any stray strings that may remain on the fruit. Lay the bananas in a single layer on a cookie sheet or other flat baking pan.

2. Place the pan with the bananas into your freezer. Allow the bananas to freeze for 20 minutes, then check to see if they are frozen solid. If the fruit is hard, the bananas are ready to package. If they are still a bit soft, give them about 10 more minutes to firm up.

3. Package the frozen bananas in gallon-sized zip-top bags. Remove as much air as possible from the bag before zipping it closed. Mark the date you froze the bananas on the outside of the bag, and use them within two months.

Tips & Warnings

• Remove the bananas from the bags to thaw before using them in your banana bread recipes.

References

• Keeper of the Home: Go Bananas Preserving!
• Banana: How to Store and Select Bananas