Bananas are one of the world’s most popular fruits—the average American eats 27 pounds of them each year! But while we usually eat bananas straight from the peel, they can also be used in cooking. In this lesson, you’ll make two kinds of pancakes, each using bananas in a different way. In the first pancake, bananas work as a binder— that is, they hold other ingredients together— instead of eggs. In the second pancake recipe (which only uses two ingredients), you’ll use bananas as the starch in place of flour.
What other recipes can you use bananas in? Here are a few easy ideas to get you started:
Banana cereal pops: Insert a popsicle stick into half of a banana, roll in yogurt, then roll in cereal.
Banana chips: Preheat the oven to 200°. Peel and cut 2 bananas into ¼-inch rounds. Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray, then brush the banana slices with lemon juice (to prevent browning). Place on the baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, then flip and bake until crispy and golden brown, about 1½ hours longer.
One-ingredient banana ice cream: Peel 5 very ripe bananas and slice into rounds. Transfer to a freezer bag and freeze overnight. Add the bananas to a food processor and pulse until smooth, scraping down the side of the machine with a spatula as needed. Eat right away or freeze until ready to eat.