The non-mushy ones can be dried as banana chips.

Cut them in slices about a half inch thick, lay them on dehydrator trays, and let 'em dry. They'll last 2-days longer than forever, that way.

Wow, that's just too many to deal with.

I mashed up a bunch and froze them in 2 cup amounts for banana bread, and froze some sliced for smoothies, but I can't think of anything else except the banana jam.

Annie

Check with your local food bank maybe??

Here are some recipes I got right here from when my mom was overloaded with bananas last year. I've tried the conserve and it was good, the others I forwarded to her. Not sure which she tried, but I do remember not caring for the banana jam recipe she already had. Also, I've included portions of various threads that I thought were important at the time. Not sure who was speaking though.....

Good luck
Tanya

Banana Bread Butter

3 cups prepared fruit (buy about 10 fully ripe medium bananas)
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. EVER-FRESH Fruit Protector (optional)
1 box SURE.JELL Fruit Pectin
1/2 tsp. butter or margarine (optional)
4 cups granulated sugar, measured into separate bowl
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 cups PLANTERS Walnut Pieces, lightly toasted
1-1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

MASH bananas thoroughly. Measure exactly 3 cups prepared fruit into 6- or 8-quart saucepot. Add lemon juice and fruit protector; stir until well blended.

STIR in pectin. Add butter to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture to full rolling boil, stirring constantly.

ADD sugars; stir until well blended. Add walnuts and spices; mix well. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

LADLE immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 minutes.

Conserve Notes: I wasn't sure if this would be totally icky or not, but I had to try it. And it's good! It's gonna be great on ice cream. This is from the same woman who started me on the onion concentrate...I think she called it Conserve simply because of the nuts. I'll label it 'Sauce' for gifts.
I used 1/2 tsp. ascorbic acid powder rather than the Fruit Fresh...not sure it's necessary since the bananas are mooshed with chocolate and cooked right away.

Jeanne's Decadent Banana Split Conserve
Recipe By :Katie
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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4 cups thoroughly mashed bananas
5 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup bottled lemon juice
1 teaspoon Fruit Fresh (absorbic acid)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 package liquid pectin -- (3 ounce)
3 tablespoons pure cocoa powder
2 tablespoons light rum or rum extract
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
In a medium stockpot, combine the mashed bananas, lemon juice and Fruit Fresh. Gradually add in the sugar, cocoa powder and butter. Over medium heat, heat the mixture stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly so it will not scorch. Stir in the liquid pectin and return to a full rolling boil for 1 more minute, stirring constantly. Skim off any foam. Remove the stockpot from the heat, stir in the walnuts and the rum. Ladle into sterilized jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe rims. Cap and seal. Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes for half-pints or 15 minutes for pints. Yields 9 to 10 half-pints.

Dried Bananas
Choose firm, dry bananas, Cut into thin slices and dip into lemon juice (or lemon juice with a little icing sugar stirred in). Spread onto aluminium foil and leave in the sun for 4-12 days, bring them in at night. Store in airtight containers.
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I just dried some bananas yesterday. I like to dip them in pineapple juice rather than lemon. Don't add sugar for this way though- it would be too sweet. Then you can dry the canned pineapple too. I dry them til they are not quite all the way done- I like them a little chewy.
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Banana
Bananas also freeze very well. Peel, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. Taste great as is, or you can dip in melted chocolate, roll in nuts,or coconut before freezing.

You can also thaw out bananas and use for banana bread later

Banana Butter
3 cups (about 10 medium) mashed bananas
1/4 cup lemon juice
6 1/2 cups sugar
185ml liquid pectin
2 drops yellow food colouring (optional)

Put bananas into a large saucepan. Add lemon juice and sugar; mix well. Bring to a hard rolling boil; boil hard one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add colouring, quickly stir in pectin. Ladle into clean, hot jars. Seal. Nice on ice cream.

Banana Mayonnaise
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 small clove garlic
2 bananas
1/2 cup salad oil

Place first four ingredients into electric blender and blend for 1 minute. Chop banana and add to blender. Blend for further 1 minute. Add the oil very slowly in a thin stream while the mixture is being blended. Continue blending until all oil has been added (this will take approximately 3-4 minutes). If the oil is added too quickly, mixture will curdle. Refrigerate until required. This mixture keeps well and will not go brown.

Banana and Rhubarb Jam
3.5kg rhubarb, sliced
1.5kg ripe bananas, peeled and sliced
4kg sugar
1 cup water, approximately

Cook the rhubarb in the water until soft, add sugar and bring to the boil. When jam sets when tested, add bananas.

Banana and Rosemary Cake
125g butter
1 egg
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 cup sugar
4 large mashed bananas
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary leaves

Cream butter and sugar together, add egg and beat well. Add bananas, flour, bicarbonate of soda and rosemary, blend well. Pour into a well-greased loaf tin and bake at 180C for 35-40 minutes.

Banana Fritters
bananas
2 eggs
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon sugar (more or less to taste)
grated rind of 1 lemon
milk

Cut bananas lengthwise thinly - 4-5 slices to each banana. Mix eggs, flour and sugar together, add milk to make a thick batter. Dip banana slices into the batter and fry in hot oil. Drain and serve with custard or ice cream if desired. Other fruit such as apple or pineapple may be used instead of banana.

Honey-Baked Bananas
4 large bananas
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon mace
1 teaspoon lemon juice
30g roasted, crushed hazelnuts

Peel the bananas and arrange them in a single layer in an ovenproof dish. Spoon on the honey and 4 tablespoons cold water. Sprinkle with the mace and lemon juice. Bake at 180C for 20 minutes or until tender. Sprinkle the hazelnuts over the bananas and serve with cream if liked.

Variation:
Bake in orange juice and brown sugar. Pour 4 tablespoons orange juice over the bananas and sprinkle with 30g brown sugar. Add a little mixed spice, cinnamon or allspice if liked, and a little rum or rum essence. If preferred, use walnuts, almonds or unsalted peanuts instead of hazelnuts.

Banana Almond Semifreddo
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds
500g finely mashed bananas
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
1 cup thickened cream
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch salt

Combine bananas, brown sugar, rum and juice. Beat cream until frothy, gradually beat in sugar and salt until soft peaks form. Gently fold cream into banana mixture. Reserve 2 tablespoons almonds for garnish, fold remaining nuts into mixture. Spoon into 8 individual serving dishes, cover with plastic wrap and freeze 1 1/2 hours or up to 3 days. To serve, remove from freezer at least 30 minutes before required. It should be softened to a smooth and creamy consistency. Sprinkle with reserved almonds.

Banana Cheesecake
Crust:
1 1/3 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/3 cup melted butter

Mix thoroughly. Spread onto bottom of nine-inch spring-form pan. Cook for 10 minutes at 180C.

Filling:
1 cup mashed banana
500g cream cheese
2 cups sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix thoroughly, add to cooked crust. Bake in at 180C for one hour. After the hour shut off the oven and leave in for another hour. To keep cake moist bake with a pan of water. Top with whipped cream.

Banana Ice Cream
400g tin sweetened condensed milk
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 chopped bananas
milk, as needed

Blend all ingredients together until well mixed. Pour in milk to make 4 litres. Process in an ice cream maker, or freeze until partially frozen, beat well, then freeze again until firm.

Hey everybody, thanks for the recipes and advice. The bananas aren't good enough for a food bank. 2 charities did call after my freecycle posting, one oddly enough wanted only green bananas, although I specifically said they were aged ripe to over ripe bananas. The very best ones are so ripe that most people wouldn't like to eat them straight up. A large percentage go right into the compost. When I got grapes in this quantity last year I did give over 200 pounds to food banks, but most of the produce I get free isn't of suitable quality for that. Like I got 3 pineapples yesterday, each with various sized bad sections. My task is to 1) keep it out of the landfill, and 2) get as much of it eaten as possible.

Of the recipes offered, the decadent banana chocolate split things sounds the best! Mmm. And banana cheesecake, I have been wondering how to make cheesecake lately. I did a box thing and it was pretty wimpy. Will try those for sure. I invented my own banana jam last year, it has about 1 part sugar to 3 parts bananas, it was great. Ripe bananas are so sweet anyway. Will also try a banana sauce for ice cream (recipe was called butter but I think that is confusing.)

I forgot about banana fritters, too, we like those. I used to make banana fritters on my boat when they all got ripe at the same time. When you buy green bananas it is a gamble how they will turn out, but in the islands green bananas cost significantly less than yellow ones, so I bought them.

About dehydrating, maybe in the oven. They came with so many fruit flies and I have such a large population of bugs (bees, yellow jackets, etc.) that I definitely couldn't put them outside, they would be swarming in minutes. I have half a freezer full of bananas already and there are still about 7 cases in the truck. I feel brave just getting them out of the truck with all the wasps and things crawling around. But the boxes drip so I am not bringing them all in the house at the same time. Actually I have a great scheme for turning the final boxes of bananas directly into lasagna garden beds.

Marcia

Annie...how do the banana's freeze when you do that? DO they come out nicely? It seems like such a good idea.

Susan, do you mean when I mash them up? Yes, they come out fine, although they darken (which doesn't matter to me since I'm baking with them anyway). I did mash some with some fruit fresh and they kept a better color, but as I said, the darkening didn't matter for banana bread, banana cake or muffins.

Annie

hello! I thought everyone knew you could freeze ripe bananas whole in the peel. It works great! They must have an unbroken peel and not be 'beyond all hope'! I freeze very dark ones, just so they are still wholesome.

I know the OP wouldn't have room for that many in her freezer but you and I are usually dealing with 6 to 10 sitting on the counter getting brown spots, right?

I take out 4 or 5 frozen bananas and let them thaw on a plate to catch the drips, they peel and mash very easily, I mash them right in the measuring cup for my babana bread. Peels go straight into the compost heap - I don't want 'em attracting fruit flies into the house.
GH-

For me, a single banana can mean the end of my life, if it raises my potassium level to unsafe levels. Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate is one of the only things I can take to counteract the high potassium levels I get every day. Used to love frozen bananas dipped in chocolate.

I've always found that frozen whole bananas become mushy and gross while defrosting. Now I have a bag of mashed bananas that I defrosted overnight, and they're in a lump surrounded by brown liquid...it makes me gag just thinking about it. Should I try to mix them back together? Drain the liquid and then use them? I'm hesitant to lose liquid since the banana bread recipe calls for whole bananas (and whatever liquid is in them). On the other hand, this recipe also calls for some to be left lumpy and the rest beaten with the sugar, and I usually beat them all to avoid stringy cooked-banana pieces in the bread.

Suggestions? In the mean time I'm off to the store to get flour & look for overripe bananas.

Melissa

Geez, just reading your post makes me never want another banana again, I can't imagine how you would find them still appetizing after swimming in them like that!
:)
Carla

> Suggestions? In the mean time I'm off to the store to get flour & look for overripe bananas.

My mom (bless her 87 yo still ticking heart) used overripe bananas for a good 40 years (guessing) before she in desperation one time was forced to use ripe ones. She never went back to the overripe.

I've dehydrated them as sweet chips before and they were quite good. Perhaps a fruit leather could have been made?

jt

Freeze and then dip into some chocolate, the type that hardens like the stuff on a chocolate covered ice cream bar.

Well, I threw away the separated ones because the solids were too fibrous and weird. I bought ripe bananas and I'm waiting a few days to make the banana bread.

Carla, sorry for the gross image...try to still love bananas! I assure you that this bag of mush was nothing like good bananas, and while the thought of the mush still disgusts me, the thought of a firm sweet banana is still appealing. :-)

John, I was freezing them whenever I had one that was too far gone just to easily get it out of the way. From now on I'll make sure to have banana oatmeal for breakfast before it gets to that point, or I'll scale a banana muffin recipe to use up the amount of overripe ones I have.

My boyfriend always used to imagine a banana chess pie, like lemon chess but banana flavored. I practiced a few recipes and came up with something, but the biggest difference in the final one was the ripeness of the bananas. Running them through a juicer (to make the puree) didn't seem to improve the pie over just putting the bananas in the blender, so I settled on the blender which is easier to clean. My notes from the final version seem to be for a half recipe...sometime I'll bake another one, figure it out and post the recipe here.

Melissa