Baking Bananas

[Vegankit]

Because of a flare, I've gone back to the Elimination Diet in which all fruit needs to be cooked. I'm tired of fruit compote and apple sauce. I had a bunch of bananas and fond memories of Bananas Foster that I used to make many years ago - I knew cooking bananas makes them sweeter and tastier.

I googled and found people are baking bananas to sweeten them up for banana bread. Perfect.

I baked mine at 350° F for 25 minutes. I turned it mid way and when I took it out the skin was completely black. The banana was soft with some liquid so I place it in a bowl, mashed it and called it "banana pudding". It had a wonderful, sweet flavor. If you bake it less, it will be more solid and slightly less sweet. You could add vanilla or cinnamon - no need for additional sweetener.

[calvin]

Have ya tried plantains? A green one is taking 10days to 2weeks to ripen, where "ripe" means totally black (not just dark spots like bananas) and even then you may find the ends are still hard - just them away or in the stock pot. AND and even then, the skin takes effort to peel off. But the result is custard-like or pudding-like and somewhat sweeter than banana. Waiting for ripeness is a test of patience. But don't bother hoping that almost-all-black is "ripe enough" because it's not. I have not tried freezing them yet; gotta try that. Paid $1.07 for a large green one here at Smart&Final the other day. It's on the window sill, straining to absorb what little real sunlight penetrates the double-pain LowE glass - good luck.

[Vegankit]

Calvin, thanks for the suggestion of plantains - I didn't even think of trying them.

BTW, I leave my bananas out on the counter until the skin is completely black, then I peel and freeze them for banana ice cream. I peel them before freezing and stick them in freezer bags and suck the air out. Should work the same for plantains.

[calvin]

Arrived in email from Naked Foods magazine today:

Loaded Baked Plantains

Haven't tried it but looks tasty.

[Vegankit]

Arrived in email from Naked Foods magazine today:

Loaded Baked Plantains

Haven't tried it but looks tasty.

Thanks for the link, that's a great idea.

[GeoffreyLevens]

All stages of ripeness are good to eat in various ways/prep methods. Do Google search. Baking or boiling green ones is good and I have done it. Also put mostly green in food processor and whipped it smooth to use as "batter" to make fruit tart shell. Yellow w/ some black I find quite pleasant to eat, just more starchy than when fully black. The more black the sweeter, the less the starchier. All good. Freezing works just fine. I have one left of 5 that I froze. They make a great sorbet in blender or food processor.

[Lyndzie]

The loaded baked plantains look great! I’ll have to try it out. Thanks for sharing!

[Vegankit]

All stages of ripeness are good to eat in various ways/prep methods. Do Google search. Baking or boiling green ones is good and I have done it. Also put mostly green in food processor and whipped it smooth to use as "batter" to make fruit tart shell. Yellow w/ some black I find quite pleasant to eat, just more starchy than when fully black. The more black the sweeter, the less the starchier. All good. Freezing works just fine. I have one left of 5 that I froze. They make a great sorbet in blender or food processor.

Geoffrey, I've never heard of using plantian batter to make a fruit tart. Next time you make one do you mind taking photos and notes to explain what you're doing? I'd love to make fruit tarts with a healthy shell.

I'll have to look for plantains, my local Trader Joes doesn't carry them.