Freezing Bananas

I make "Slim Fast" smoothies for one meal per day and while I love chocolate, I find the shake flat and not very filling: So I doctor it up using fruit and ice cubes. One of my favourite fruits to add is banana. However, they go bad so quickly and I end up using over ripe bananas or throwing them out and also with a fruit fly problem.

Today I decided to try freezing them. I bought 12 and after peeling them, cut each into chunks and froze each banana in a small air tight freezer bag. I was prepared to see them turn brown, but since they are going into smoothies, that really wouldn't have mattered. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that they retained their fresh looking colour.

So now all I have to do when I make my shake is to take out a frozen banana and add it to my blender and chop it up like ice.

Sounds great! I keep cut up bananas in the freezer all the time. I cut the fresh bananas in small chunks, then let them freeze apart where they are not touching on wax paper. Then when they are fully frozen, I take them out and put them together in a plastic baggie where they remain until I take a few out for the blender to make a smoothie. I use all fresh fruit in my smoothies that I freeze so I don't have to use ice, it makes for a more filling smoothie. Plus, bananas add thickness to the smoothie, so does yogurt.

When i did weight watchers, one of their tips was to wrap a peeled banana in cling film then freeze it. After a couple of hours it was lovely to eat and made a brilliant substitute if you craved anything sweet

I freeze bananas all the time. I usually don't even peel them, I just throw them in the freezer in a zip-loc freezer bag.

Freezing them is also good when a banana gets overripe and you want to use it for banana bread, but aren't ready to make the bread yet. I think they're good for about a month or so in the freezer.

They make nice little snacks! Slice a bananna and freeze the slices in a single layer, then dip them in chocolate, roll them in nuts if you like, or coconut, or anything that will stick to a bananna, lol, then freeze again. when they are solid you can put them in a ziplock bag. I have also dipped them in yogurt then rolled them in crushed grahm crackers, that was tasty (but quite messy to make, so was the chocolate, but its somehow more satisfying to lick chocolate off your fingers than yogurt!)

Originally Posted by lsanders

Freezing them is also good when a banana gets overripe and you want to use it for banana bread, but aren't ready to make the bread yet. I think they're good for about a month or so in the freezer.

Click to expand...

But I never thought of freezing them when they're fresh!! DOH!

I love smoothies!! And I usually make them with fresh fruit....or now, since fresh strawberries and blueberries are more expensive, I buy frozen, and like to put a fresh banana in for thickness and the potassium, and I also use yogurt.

I'm going to cut them up and put them in the freezer when they're fresh!! Brilliant!

I adore frozen bananas, and in fact, prefer them frozen. They're such a yummy treat! I just stick them in the freezer in the peel.

For those who freeze them with the peel on, but colour me stupid... how do you get the peel off of the banana to eat the banana, and still have them frozen?

I cant believe you guys are talking about smoothies at this time of year!! Just thinking of having a cold smoothie on one of these cold mornings makes me shiver!

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

For those who freeze them with the peel on, but colour me stupid... how do you get the peel off of the banana to eat the banana, and still have them frozen?

Click to expand...

You cut them into chunks and the peel comes right off no prob.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

For those who freeze them with the peel on, but colour me stupid... how do you get the peel off of the banana to eat the banana, and still have them frozen?

Click to expand...

For a smoothie, I just leave the banana out for a minute or so so that I can take off the peel. You need less ice if you use a frozen banana.

For baked good, just let the bananas defrost.

Frozen bananas are really great to have on hand for so many dishes!

All our ripe bananas get peeled and frozen for smoothies. We have smoothies all year 'round, if we waited for warm weather, we'd never have them.

Best Smoothie Ever
(tastes like a milkshake but it's good for you)

1 peeled frozen banana
1 spoonful of 100% peanut butter (no additives)
1 spoonful of 100% whey protein powder (no additives)
1 spoonful of 100% apple juice concentrate
1 spoonful of nonfat yogurt
1 cup nonfat milk or rice milk

Whirl in blender.
You can do a simpler version with just banana, milk, and peanut butter, but the other ingredients really give a lot of added taste!

My "smoothies" are actually meal replacement shakes made from the following:

1 1/2 cup skim milk
1 scoop chocolate Slim Fast powder
2 heaping tsp instant decaf coffee
3 T Splenda
1 banana or 1/2 cup other fruit (frozen mixed berries are nice)
1 heaping tsp orange flavour Metamucil (smooth texture)
1 tray ice cubes

If it's too thick to blend, just add some water. I usually add about 1/4 cup.

Sometimes instead of the Metamucil I'll add some Vanilla Extract.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

For those who freeze them with the peel on, but colour me stupid... how do you get the peel off of the banana to eat the banana, and still have them frozen?

Click to expand...

I let it thaw ever so slightly, cut it into slices and remove the peel as I go.

LOL it's so funny to see this thread! I was just rearranging the freezer this afternoon and wondering at all the frozen bananas I have in there - I'm up to eight I think. I keep meaning to bake some banana bread, but never get around to it...

My friend did this once for smoothies and they were goooooood!

Originally Posted by SwampWitch

All our ripe bananas get peeled and frozen for smoothies. We have smoothies all year 'round, if we waited for warm weather, we'd never have them.

Best Smoothie Ever
(tastes like a milkshake but it's good for you)

1 peeled frozen banana
1 spoonful of 100% peanut butter (no additives)
1 spoonful of 100% whey protein powder (no additives)
1 spoonful of 100% apple juice concentrate
1 spoonful of nonfat yogurt
1 cup nonfat milk or rice milk

Whirl in blender.
You can do a simpler version with just banana, milk, and peanut butter, but the other ingredients really give a lot of added taste!

Click to expand...

Thanks, can't wait to try this

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

But I was pleasantly surprised to find that they retained their fresh looking colour.

So now all I have to do when I make my shake is to take out a frozen banana and add it to my blender and chop it up like ice.

Click to expand...

Now the question is do they taste crisp and fresh?