14 Ways to Use Up Ripe Bananas

Banana Pudding Cake — The Spruce Eats / Kristina Vanni

Those beautiful, just a tiny bit green bananas you bought just a few days ago all of a sudden are overripe and too soft to eat. That's a positive development if you love the foods you can only make with bananas that are soft, like banana bread, banana smoothies, banana pancakes, and banana pudding. And who doesn't adore banana cream pie? Here are some tasty ways to take advantage of your overripe bananas.

Two Ways to Quickly Freeze and Save Ripe Bananas

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Banana Bread

The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray

Overripe bananas are great for adding moisture and flavor to bread recipes. Banana bread is a tasty treat for breakfast or snacks, and a relatively healthful dessert, thanks to those potassium-packed bananas. Add some tasty extras such as chopped nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips. You can even freeze extra loaves to eat later. Just wrap them well, and they should freeze beautifully.
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Banana Cake

The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

Bananas can take the place of some of the oil in cake recipes, making them lower in fat, without sacrificing any flavor. Adding those ripe bananas actually makes a cake taste better. You can also add bananas to buttercream frosting for a full-on sweet banana dessert experience. Such a nice change from the standard chocolate or vanilla experience, and sure to be a hit at any party or gathering.
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Banana Pudding Cake

The Spruce Eats / Kristina Vanni

This dessert recipe for a banana pudding cake is the best of both worlds as it combines a moist, flavorful cake with a sweet pudding. Ripe bananas are folded into the cake batter, and once baked, the cake is covered with vanilla pudding, a layer of sliced banana, whipped cream, and crushed vanilla wafer cookies. Banana lovers will go absolutely "bananas" over this cake!
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Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

The Spruce Eats / Kristina Vanni

Take a typical banana chocolate chip muffin recipe up a notch with the addition of cocoa powder in the batter. Cocoa is mixed with melted butter and water and incorporated into the wet ingredients and mashed ripe banana. Once the batter is combined, chocolate chips are added. Dust the baked muffins with confectioners' sugar for a pretty finishing touch. Perfect for grab-n-go breakfasts, snacks, or to put in your kids' lunchboxes.

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Banana Oatmeal Cookies

The Spruce Eats / Kristina Vanni

Great for breakfast and after-school snacks, these banana oatmeal cookies are an optimal way to use up those ripe bananas while pleasing the whole family. After the batter is mixed, the dough is dropped by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and baked for 8 to 10 minutes. These bite-sized treats are delicious with a glass of cold milk.
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Banana Ice Cream

The Spruce Eats / Kristina Vanni

This unbelievably creamy banana ice cream is made with just one ingredient—frozen ripe bananas. Simply place the slices of frozen bananas in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. It's a vegan, gluten-free, non-dairy dessert with no added sugar and none of the flakiness or iciness of other frozen fruit ice creams.
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Banana Smoothies and Milkshakes

The Spruce Eats / Nita West

Bananas give smoothies and milkshakes a creamy texture and add just enough sweetness that you can often skip adding sugar to the recipe. Five simple ingredients of honey, vanilla extract, ripe bananas, yogurt, and ice, make a delicious smoothie while using ice cream instead of yogurt creates a yummy milkshake. Freeze the bananas before you toss them in the blender for the best results in these super-quick recipes.
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Banana Pudding

The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray

Whip up a quick banana pudding to enjoy with tonight's dinner. This dessert with Southern roots is simple but elegant, with a garnish of sliced bananas and a sweetened meringue topping which you can change up and use a little (or a lot of) whipped cream. Every spoonful will provide a smorgasbord delight of pudding, vanilla wafers, and meringue or whipped cream, whichever you choose as a topping.

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Banana Cream Pie

Lew Robertson / Getty Images

Banana cream pie is at the top of the list of just about everyone's favorite kinds of pie. Use a storebought pie crust or make your own, layer with slices of bananas and filling, then garnish with whipped cream and toasted coconut, if you so desire. Banana cream pie is especially good in the summertime but, really, who cares what season it is, this pie is perfect any time of year.
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Banana Pancakes

The Spruce Eats / Kristina Vanni

Pancakes with a slice (or two) of banana waiting inside of them, ready for you to bite into. A warm honey-lemon syrup accompanies these delectable treats that your family is sure to love. Enjoy these banana pancakes with crunchy bacon or sausage for a great weekend breakfast.
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Blueberry Banana Cake

The Spruce Eats / Rachel Riesgraf

Bananas and blueberries are always good together and this banana blueberry cake recipe shows just how delicious this combination really is. While this cake is made in a Bundt pan, feel free to use a loaf pan. It's perfect for any time of day from breakfast, a mid-day snack, or dessert.
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Bananas Foster

The Spruce Eats / Kristina Vanni

If you catch those bananas while they're still firm but yet ripe, then make up Bananas Foster for dessert. There's nothing quite like bananas that have been sautéed in a sauce of banana liqueur, rum, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter, then flambéed. Don't forget to top with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or chocolate, if you prefer.

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Vegan Banana Muffins

The Spruce Eats / Eric Kleinberg

Deliciously moist vegan banana muffins come together simply in one bowl and are great as a snack or for breakfast. Fold in some nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, or dried cranberries as additions. Slather on some nut butter or vegan butter while they're still warm. They also make an excellent dessert with a scoop of ice cream (vegan, of course!) on them.
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Banana Cupcakes

The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray

These banana cupcakes are drizzled with vanilla icing for the perfect finishing touch. Just one more way to use up those ripe bananas! These tasty handheld cakes are a great addition to parties, family dinners, or snacks. You can also freeze them for later use, but don't put the icing on before freezing.