15+ Healthy Ripe Banana Recipes without Eggs, Butter, or Refined Sugar
By Carine Claudepierre
Published on 02/21/2021 - Last updated on 06/22/2023
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Do you have too many ripe bananas sitting on your kitchen counter? Or you crave some baked banana goodness, don’t look further!
These 15 ripe banana recipes will make good use of all your ripe bananas. Bonus, all are easy, healthy, ripe banana recipes made with no eggs, no butter, no refined sugar!
Before I start sharing the best easy healthy, ripe banana recipes, let’s answer few common questions about bananas.
What is a ripe banana?
A ripe banana is a banana that is not green in color. It has a yellow to brown color, and it is sweet enough to eat or bake in a banana bread recipe.
What does a ripe banana look like?
There are different stages of ripeness for bananas. A banana ripe for eating doesn’t have the same color and texture as a banana ripe for baking banana bread or banana cookies.
- Yellow, soft, tender flesh, not many black spots on the skin – this is the perfect ripe banana to eat raw.
- Light Brown color, soft, mushy texture, lots of dark spots on its skin – this is a banana ripe for baking.
When is a banana ripe?
A banana is ripe for baking when the skin starts to show lots of black dots and a dark brown color. If you press the banana skin, you can feel some very soft, mushy spots.
It can take up to 36 hours for a banana to ripen in your fruit basket in a warm home.
How ripe should bananas be for banana bread?
Do you wonder how ripe is too ripe for banana bread? Well, a banana is never too ripe to be baked unless you see tons of fruit flies flying around the bananas.
Even a fully brown, black banana skin can make delicious banana bread recipes.
What to do with too many ripe bananas?
Don’t panic! There are plenty of easy, healthy recipes to make with your ripe bananas. Below I listed the 5 easiest banana recipes you can make with overripe bananas:
- Banana bread – perfect to use a large number of ripe bananas.
- Banana cookies – the fastest way to use lots of ripe bananas in single-serve baked goods.
- Banana muffins and banana brownies – another great way to use lots of ripe bananas for decadent baking, perfect for meal prep and freezing.
- Banana pancakes – bananas and oatmeal are the healthiest ingredients to start the day with healthy slow carbs and plant-based proteins.
- Banana smoothies – ideal for single-ripe-banana recipes! Banana smoothie recipes are quick sweet, healthy snacks or perfect for a sweet breakfast.
- Banana pudding and nice cream – much healthier than the traditional banana cream pie or banana split. These banana desserts use chia seeds or dairy-free milk to turn your ripe bananas into healthy raw desserts with less than 5 ingredients.
Sometimes, you don’t have ripe bananas on hands, but you crave that banana bread or banana cookie recipe. So below, I shared my tips to ripen bananas in less than 15 minutes at home.
How to quickly ripen bananas for a recipe?
There are many ways to ripen bananas faster, depending on how fast you want your bananas to darken. The below options are available:
Between 1-2 days
- Place bananas in a warm room or direct sunlight.
- Wrap bananas in newspaper or sandwich paper bags.
Within 15 minutes
- Bake the bananas for 15 minutes at 300F (160C). Place the green, unpeeled bananas on a baking tray and bake for 7 minutes on each side. The warmth releases the sugar from bananas and makes their flesh tender, easy to mash for any banana recipe.
- Microwave the bananas – pop the bananas on a microwave-safe plate—microwave on high-intensity (800W) for 30 seconds on both sides. Repeat until the flesh is soft and easy to mash.
How to make healthy ripe banana recipes
To make healthy ripe banana recipes at home, you must focus on wholesome, nourishing plant-based ingredients to load your body with natural sugar, healthy slow carbs, and healthy fats.
The main ingredients used in healthy banana recipes are:
- Unrefined sweetener – maple syrup, coconut sugar, Medjool dates, unrefined cane sugar, or stevia drops.
- Healthy flour – oat flour, almond flour, white whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, or spelt flour.
- Healthy fats – cold-pressed coconut oil, nut or seed butter, avocado oil, olive oil, or no oil at all!
These healthy ripe banana recipes are naturally vegan, meaning they are made with:
- no butter
- no eggs
- no dairy
15+ easy healthy recipes to use your ripe bananas
Below I listed my favorite easy healthy recipes to use overripe bananas sitting in your kitchen.
It includes recipes that use many ripe bananas like banana bread, banana cake, or muffins and single ripe banana recipes!
Banana cookies
Banana cookie recipes are the fastest way to use your ripe bananas. They are ready in less than 20 minutes, and you can create a range of flavors or cookie textures by adding simple ingredients like peanut butter, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, or using different flours.
Below I listed my top 4 healthy banana cookie recipes, some gluten-free using almond flour or grain-free and flourless like the paleo chocolate banana cookie recipe!
Banana bread
Banana bread recipes are the best ripe banana recipes to use a large number of overripe bananas.
In fact, banana bread normally uses 4 ripe bananas, so they are the perfect candidate to use many black-spotted bananas.
Plus, banana bread makes a delicious breakfast if you use healthy flour like oat flour or chickpea flour for a gluten-free banana bread option.
Banana pudding and desserts
You can use ripe bananas in raw vegan desserts and no-bake breakfast like this banana chia seed pudding. Other simple options to use ripe bananas in no-bake desserts are:
- Banana nice cream – cut the banana slices, froze in a zip bag overnight or at least 4 hours. The next day, blend in a food processor with a splash of almond milk until it turns into a thick ice cream-like texture.
- Frozen bananas – peel, cut banana pieces, and insert a toothpick or popsicle stick on the top. Freeze the banana pieces for 30 minutes on a plate covered with lightly oiled parchment paper. Then, dip into melted chocolate and return to the plate, freeze again to set. Be creative and add some chopped peanuts, a drizzle of peanut butter.
Banana Muffins and brownies
Like banana bread recipes, banana muffins and banana brownies recipes use a large number of ripe bananas. They make a delicious healthy snack, breakfast, or dessert.
Banana pancakes
Start the day with healthy banana oat pancakes! They are easy to make in 5 minutes in your blender and also vegan and gluten-free
Banana smoothies
Finally, banana smoothies recipes are the easiest way to use one ripe banana into a delicious drink!
Have you made some of the ripe banana recipes above? Share a comment or review below about your favorite overripe banana recipe on the blog. I love to hear your feedback.
Your friend, Carine
