Can bananas be frozen? The quick answer is yes, you very certainly can! Here’s a simple tip on How to freeze bananas for smoothies, breakfast, banana nut bread, muffins, and other recipes.
You may freeze ripe bananas for smoothies, ice cream, and porridge if you have some on hand. Simply follow these simple, step-by-step instructions to learn how to freeze bananas that will keep for a while in your freezer.
If you love Bananas, then you should try our “Apple Banana Smoothie“
Page Contents
How to Freeze Bananas for Smoothies
Step One
The peel of the banana must be removed before freezing. Some people just throw a ripe banana with the skin on in the freezer, but I don’t advise doing this.
It will be quite challenging to peel a frozen banana with the skin on.
Step Two
Cutting bananas into slices or halves is the second stage of freezing them. You should either slice or simply cut your frozen bananas in half depending on what you intend to do with them.
Since you might not want to utilize a full frozen banana, it is recommended to chop up fresh whole bananas. Your bananas will be more difficult to cut up once they have frozen.
For instance, if you have a high-speed blender, you may just freeze your bananas whole or in huge halves. Large frozen banana chunks won’t combine well in a high-speed blender.
Step Three
Following cutting or slicing, you may arrange your bananas in a single layer on a cookie sheet or baking sheet that has been prepared with parchment paper.
By doing this, you can keep the banana from developing freezer burn and freezing into a big clump.
Step Four
Before putting the frozen banana pieces or halves into a zip-top bag or another freezer-safe container for long-term preservation, freeze the baking sheet for at least 2 hours (up to 3 months). I like to use an airtight container or a resealable freezer bag.
For the best storage effectiveness, try to remove as much air from the plastic bag as you can to help the items freeze flat. To get rid of as much air as you can, you can also use a vacuum sealer.
Guidelines & Substitutions
- If your freezer has adequate space, you may freeze up to several bunches of bananas at once
- When a banana is soft to the touch, has brown spots on it, smells strongly or faintly like bananas, or has gone brown around the edges, it is ripe
- You should be aware that some banana varieties may not show visible symptoms of ripening.
- Bananas may be stored frozen for up to three months
- Simply remove how many bananas you’ll need for each smoothie from your frozen banana chunks (no need to defrost them first)
How Long Would It Take a Banana to Freeze?
All told, freezing them takes roughly two hours and twenty minutes.
- 20 minutes initial freeze time
- 2-hour additional freeze time
What to Make with Frozen Bananas?
Any recipe that asks for frozen bananas in a smoothie or that calls for banana puree! You have a variety of choices! Listed below are some of our favorite frozen banana recipes.
Date Smoothie Recipe
Almond milk, dates, and frozen bananas are the only ingredients called for in this recipe for a date smoothie. Everything will be thrown into a blender and blended until smooth, leaving only a few date specks behind.
Ingredients
- Chilled almond milk (another nut milk or hemp milk work fine)
- Medjool dates pitted
- Frozen bananas
- Natural peanut butter (optional)
- Cacao nibs (optional)
Directions to Make
- Blend all ingredients in a blender until they are completely smooth
- Small traces of the date will still be discernible
Cocoa Banana Smoothie – How to Freeze Bananas for Smoothies
Ingredients
- Frozen Bananas
- Almond milk
- Cocoa powder (or cacao powder). Cocoa is rich in iron, calcium, and magnesium. Once cacao is ingested, the body releases serotonin, a hormone that helps reduce stress and modulate your mood
- Pure vanilla extract
- Dates. This natural fruit is a good source of antioxidants, B vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc
Directions to Make
- Blend dates, almond milk, cocoa powder, pure vanilla essence, frozen banana, and bananas.
- Until creamy and smooth, combine. If you want a thinner smoothie, add additional almond milk. If you want a slushier smoothie, add a few ice cubes to the blender
- Pour into a glass, then sip
Chocolate Banana Bread
Ingredients (Wet Ingredients)
- eggs (we haven’t tried this recipe, eggless, but you can always try to sub 2 flax eggs)
- mashed banana ( the riper the bananas you use, the sweeter your chocolate banana bread will be)
- almond milk (I love the nutty flavor of almond milk but feel free to use any kind of milk)
- vanilla (we used 2 whole teaspoons in this recipe and I absolutely adore the flavor it adds.
- coconut oil – coconut oil is a great sub for vegetable oil, but you can always swap if you don’t have any coconut oil on hand)
Dry Ingredients
- white whole wheat (this is our absolute favorite flour to make any kind of bread loaf with. We haven’t tested this recipe with anything else, but I’m sure you could substitute either all-purpose flour or an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.
- brown sugar (A little bit of brown sugar goes a long way! Classic banana bread calls for brown sugar and that’s why we kept it in this recipe. If you’re looking for a substitution, I’d use coconut sugar or another granular sugar)
- cocoa powder (since this is CHOCOLATE banana bread, cocoa powder is essential! Make sure you look for a cocoa powder that is unsweetened for the best results)
- chocolate chips (Don’t skimp on the chocolate chips is a rule when making banana bread Just trust me)
Directions to Make
- In a medium bowl, assemble the dry ingredients and set aside
- In a big bowl, mash three medium-sized bananas until there are almost no lumps left. The other wet ingredients, excluding the coconut oil, are added next. Combine by whisking
- Gradually incorporate the dry components into the liquid ingredients
- Finally, add the melted coconut oil and combine one more
- Pour the batter into a bread loaf of a regular size and bake for 45–50 minutes at 350°F
FAQs – How to Freeze Bananas for Smoothies
Use frozen bananas if possible. However, you may thaw the frozen banana in advance in the refrigerator if you’re cooking muffins, banana bread, or any dish that asks for ripe bananas.
If frozen properly, bananas shouldn’t expire in less than two to three months. Frozen bananas can spoil, though, if your banana was rotten or if your freezer isn’t operating correctly or isn’t at the right temperature. A terribly frozen banana will be black in color, smell horrible, and be extremely mushy.
If even one frozen banana has gone bad, throw the entire bag of frozen bananas away since there’s a potential that mold has gotten to all of the frozen bananas in that specific bag.
Yes, however peeling the fruit before freezing is the best approach. Otherwise, once the banana has been frozen, peeling it might be challenging.
Conclusion – How to Freeze Bananas for Smoothies
It’s so easy to freeze bananas for smoothies! You don’t know what you’re missing out on if you don’t add frozen bananas to your smoothies!
They give smoothies a thick, creamy milkshake-like texture and are a great source of potassium, which is good for the heart.
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