Best Banana Bread Recipe: Using Frozen Bananas (2024)

FAQs

Is it OK to use frozen bananas for banana bread? ›

Absolutely! You can save all ripe bananas and collect them in your freezer until you're ready to bake with them. They work well in all kinds of banana baking recipes like banana chocolate caramel bundt cake, banana muffins, and, of course, this (frozen) banana bread.

I have found that about ¾ – 1 cup of ½ inch slices of banana equal close to 1 large banana. After freezing the slices, do a quick measure to see how many cups 1 banana equals for easier measurement for recipes.

Before any baking can be done, the bananas need to be defrosted. This can be achieved in multiple ways, such as: Leaving them in a bowl to thaw on the kitchen counter.

Freeze bananas for up to 3 months. Defrost: Remove the frozen bananas from the freezer and thaw at room temperature for 2 hours, or in the refrigerator overnight. Or you can defrost in your microwave at 50% power. The time varies depending on your microwave, but for 4–5 bananas, this probably takes around 3 minutes.

"Whole, peeled frozen bananas keep for three months," says Weinstein. If they're frozen together, you can simply snap them apart. "Sliced bananas won't last as long, [about] two months tops," says Weinstein.

Note: When frozen fruit thaws, it tends to release quite a bit of excess liquid. (Thawed bananas look slimy, brown, and unappealing, but don't let this scare you.) You can use the liquid they release in baking recipes that call for mashed bananas because fresh bananas contain the same moisture.

Upon thawing a banana will turn soft, but this has no effect on nutrients or taste. Perfect for smoothies, shakes or baking, you will always have healthy food at your fingertips.

When you remove the banana from the freezer, the amylase diffused in the freezing process starts to convert the starch diffused in the freezing process into sugar, thus making the defrosted frozen banana sweeter on the tongue (via Fine Dining Lovers).

Add 2 whole cups (460g) of mashed banana, which is about 4 large bananas.

You can freeze whole, peeled bananas in large plastic bags like smaller banana chunks. You can also freeze bananas whole in their peels, but this will only work if you want mashed bananas. After thawing and peeling a banana frozen in its peel, it will come out of the peel in an essentially mashed texture.

Can you freeze bananas in a Ziploc bag? ›

Zip-top freezer bags: I recommend Ziploc brand freezer bags for freezing bananas.

Measure out the desired amount of mashed banana according to your favorite banana bread recipe and either put the measured amount in sandwich bags or small, plastic containers. Freeze. When you are ready to bake banana bread, remove bag or container from freezer, thaw, and use.

Put a layer of cling-wrap or baking paper in between each slice and wrap up two or three slices at a time with cling wrap. Then all you have to do is decide you want cake for breakfast, take them out of the freezer and pop them straight into the toaster.

While it's okay if the banana peel is dark brown or even black, if the inside is too, then the fruit is beyond ripe and now on its way to rotten. Another sign that bananas have gone bad is if they start leaking any fluids. When in doubt, just toss the bananas out.

You can freeze unpeeled bananas, if you want—you'll just need to thaw them and peel them when they're ready. But keep in mind that bananas frozen that way get mushy when they're thawed, so you'll need to use them only for recipes that require mashed bananas.

Let the bananas ripen (and overripen) at room temperature. Depending on the weather, this could take a few days, or up to a week. The best bananas for banana bread aren't yellow; they're black. Or they're at least streaked with black/brown, with just the barest hint of green at the stem.