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Go Bananas
A bunch of deliciously healthy ways to use up overripe fruit
Pam Miller
March 06, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes
You’re going to go bananas over this issue (sorry, couldn’t resist)!
Why an older banana is a good thing!
A few easy and sweet recipes for this fruit
Today’s cool fact: The woman who invented Social Security
Even Noam Chomsky likes bananas
Brown banana? No problem!
It seems to happen overnight. Those beautiful bright yellow bananas from yesterday now have brown spots and are getting soft. Perfect! Now they're ready to use for these healthy recipe ideas. Remember: the riper, the sweeter! (That includes bananas that have turned black.)
And don’t toss the peels. They can perform small miracles. Find out more
Banana Fritters
These fritters are a delicious alternative to pancakes. They are loaded with protein, nutrients, and most of all, taste. Dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with maple syrup for an indulgent but super-healthy breakfast for two hungry people.
Ingredients:
1 banana
2 eggs
A pinch of baking powder
Optional: vanilla extract, cinnamon
How to make:
Peel the banana and mash until smooth. Stir in the egg and baking powder until fully incorporated.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt a little butter or neutral cooking oil until hot. Drop about ¼ cup of the batter for each fritter.
Gently lift up the side of one fritter. Once it’s browned, gently turn it over with a thin spatula. It's absolutely fine to flip it a second time complete cooking.
If you want to add nuts or chocolate chips, add when you first flip the fritter.
Not crunchy, not chewy…just good and good for you. Add hemp hearts or chia seeds for extra protein and important omega-3 fatty acids (those also found in nuts, avocados, and fish).
Ingredients:
Makes six cookies
1 overripe banana
1 egg white
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1 heaping tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (extra dark or Dutch)
Optional mix-ins:
Hemp hearts or chia
Shredded coconut
Chocolate chips
Raisins
Nuts
How to make:
Preheat oven to 350°. If using a convection oven, set to 325°.
In a bowl, mash the banana with the vanilla and egg white until smooth. Mix in oats, cocoa powder, and any optional ingredients. Stir until blended.
On a non-stick cookie sheet lightly greased with olive oil, drop batter into six even mounds. Lightly tap cookie sheet on counter to flatten the cookies.
Bake for 12-14 minutes; cool for 5 minutes.
Nice Cream
Whip up some healthy ice cream with a single ingredient… frozen overripe bananas! And you can flavor your nice cream with many different mix-ins, so let your cravings and creativity go wild.
How to make:
Peel your overripe bananas, cut into chunks, and freeze for at least 2 hours.
Place the fruit in a food processor or high-speed blender and blend until smooth. A regular blender isn't powerful enough to quickly puree the bananas. If the mixture is too thick, thin with any dairy or plant-based milk.
For soft-serve: serve immediately.
For scooping: freeze for 1 to 2 hours. If too solid, leave it at room temperature until scoopable.
Variations:
While the banana flavor in nice cream is a bit more subtle, mixing in other flavors or fruit is a chance to create new flavors and disguise the banana flavor even more. Try adding some instant espresso powder and mini chocolate chips for a satisfying mocha chip nice cream. Or, concoct your fantasy ice cream flavor with this recipe!
Forks Over Knives, the preeminent book and movie that spurred the popularity of plant-based diets, offers some unique flavor suggestions:
2 to 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (we prefer Extra Dark), cacao powder, or carob powder
1 to 2 tablespoons nut butter
¼ cup frozen acai purée
¼ to ½ cup passionfruit purée
½ to 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon or cardamom
1 pinch ground nutmeg
¼ to ½ tsp almond, lemon, or coconut extract
1–2 tablespoons citrus (lemon, lime, or orange) juice
1–2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil, rosemary, mint, or lemon verbena
1–2 teaspoons rose or orange flower water
Find other flavor ideas:
Well that banana isn’t going bad
3-Ingredient Brownies
This brownie recipe from A Big Man’s World offers a tasty treat that’s low in calories and high in nutrients. Try it with a scoop of nice cream or add walnuts for crunch.
Ingredients:
3 large bananas
1/2 cup almond butter can be substituted for peanut butter or another nut/seed butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
How to make:
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Line an 8”x8” pan with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mash or blend the bananas until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Pour the mixture into the lined pan and bake for 17-20 minutes. The top should be set before removing from the oven.
Allow brownies to cool in the pan completely before slicing.
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Today’s cool fact: the woman who created Social Security
Perkins still at work in 1950, photo courtesy AP
Despite all the talk about Social Security, few people talk about the key person who established it, Frances Perkins.
Motivated by witnessing the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in NYC, and on the recommendation of Theodore Roosevelt, she moved from being an outside activist to finding success in various NY State political positions. She soon earned a positive reputation among multiple political factions.
That is, until Franklin Roosevelt asked her to join his cabinet as Secretary of Labor, a position she held from 1933-1945. She was the first woman to hold any cabinet position (and faced threats of impeachment, which we're sure are totally unrelated to that fact 🙄) and is still the longest-serving person to ever hold the title.
Interesting side-note, she held public office in New York before she was legally allowed to vote.
Of her many accomplishments, one of the best known is establishing Social Security.
She also spearheaded a few other priorities like creating the Immigration and Naturalization Service, implementing the country's first-ever unemployment insurance, establishing the federal minimum wage, drafting child labor laws, and taking in about 30,000 Jewish refugees ahead of WWII. How's that for a side gig?
Interested in learning more about this great American hero?
“Isn't it interesting that eating a banana is somehow comical.”
- Noam Chomsky, American professor, intellectual, political activist, and linguist
Don’t throw away that banana!