When Bananas Are Past Their Prime

I love bananas. But I'm very particular about how ripe they should be for eating. So when bananas get too ripe to peel and eat, I freeze them for other uses.

To use the banana for baking, just throw it in the freezer. Doesn't get any easier than that! Put the whole banana, peel and all, right into the freezer. When you are ready to make banana bread or banana muffins, simply take the bananas out of the freezer and pop them in the microwave to defrost.

Now comes the fun part. With a kitchen scissors, snip off one end of the banana. You are then able to slide the entire insides of the banana out and into your bowl. The banana is extremely mushy and perfect for use in a recipe. No more mashing bananas before making bread!

The second way to freeze bananas is for use in smoothies. I peel and slice the banana, place it on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper or plastic wrap, and place the baking sheet in the freezer. When the banana slices are frozen, I then remove them from the baking sheet and store in freezer bags until ready to use in a smoothie.

So don't toss those overripe bananas, you can still make yummy use of them! Do you have any other uses for overripe bananas? Let me know!

Read more great ideas at Works for Me Wednesday!