Bananas are great to use in recipes because they offer unique flavor and sweetness. It is also an easy way to sneak in fruit with my picky 5 year old. Here are my top three ways to use overripe bananas:

1. JC’s Banana Muffins: These have been featured on the blog MANY times (click on the name for the recipe). Both my husband and my son love them for breakfast and snacks. They pair them with a hardboiled egg or some peanut butter.

2. Popsicles: I just throw 4 or so bananas in the blender with strawberry yogurt, blend together and then pour in popsicle molds. They are a great treat for hot summer days. Be careful with the yogurt though; find flavored yogurts with less than 20 grams of sugar per serving. Twelve of those grams will be natural sugars found in milk and the other 8 will be added, or the equivalent of 2 teaspoons of sugar. So you can see you don’t want much more than that. Some good brands to look for would be Stonyfield Farms, Rachel’s, Wallaby, Chobani and Oikos. You could even try using plain yogurt with both strawberries and bananas. If you would prefer to do dairy free, you could just thin the bananas with almond milk, rice milk or soy milk.

3. Banana Soft Serve: This is great for a nice refreshing treat at the end of the day (click on the title for the recipe). I like to top mine with some peanut butter and a sprinkle of raw rolled oats. Heavenly!

Typically bananas get a bad rap. They are higher in calories than most other fruits but…its’ a fruit!!! Worry more about fast food, ice cream and potato chips than what fruit is better than the other. Bananas are very high in potassium, vitamin C, Vitamin B6 and fiber. When slightly green, they would have resistant starches.

What are you favorite ways to use overripe bananas?

Emily Fonnesbeck RD,CD