Ingredients
5 ripe bananas
Preparation
Step 1Peel bananas and remove the black tip as well as any remaining stringy fibers. Using a paring knife, cut bananas into 1/2" or 3/4" rounds.Step 2Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then lay banana rounds in a single layer, making sure they are not touching each other. Freeze until solid, at least 2 hours.Step 3Transfer frozen banana into a resealable plastic bag, pushing as much air out of the bag as possible before sealing. Keep frozen until ready to use.
The best time to freeze a banana How ripe is too ripe? That’s really up to you. Some like it before the freckles set in, and others won’t consider a banana ripe unless it’s…totally brown. I like it best when speckles cover about 1/3 of the banana, when I can smell the banana from halfway across the room, and right before it starts to get soft to the touch. If you like ’em sweeter, wait a little longer: the browner they get, the higher the sugar-to-starch ratio. Just know that they will also be a little mushier and messier to handle once they’re that ripe. To peel or not to peel Peel ’em. Always! Leaving the peel on will mean that you have to wait for the whole banana to defrost before you can use it, which limits the application of your defrosted banana to baking (and makes an awful, slimy mess). Frozen bananas are amazing in smoothies and nice creams (or for eating straight out of the freezer for a quick, cold treat), so we want to make sure there’s no peel involved when they head into the freezer. Once peeled, you get to decide the size you want your banana to be broken down to. We like to cut them down to 1/2" to 3/4" rounds so that they’re easily blendable for your food processor and quicker to defrost if you want to use them for baking. Use parchment! Make sure that your baking sheet will fit inside your freezer first, then line it with either parchment paper or a nonstick silicone mat and arrange the banana rounds in a single layer. The parchment will ensure an easy release and smooth transfer into a resealable plastic bag once the bananas are frozen all the way through. The bananas will keep indefinitely in the freezer, but we recommend using them within 3 months for best flavor.
