Caramelized Bananas

Perfect for topping a peanut butter and jelly, or blending into milk, or laying on top of ice cream, caramelized bananas are so easy to make.

How do you caramelize bananas?

Bananas are already naturally sweet so they don’t really need added sugar but I like to caramelize bananas by sautéing them in a bit of salted butter, cinnamon and brown sugar.

How do you keep bananas from burning while caramelizing?

The key is to keep the pan on low heat. To keep the bananas from burning, wait to add them into the pan until the butter has melted and then keep the pan over low heat so that the sugar and sugar in the banana can caramelize.

Tips for making Caramelized bananas

• I recommend using a big flat pan, either stainless steel or non stick. Cast iron will be too rough on the bananas.
• Almost any sugar will work for caramelizing bananas, I’ve done this with honey, coconut sugar, and brown sugar.
• Be gentle with the bananas as they get very soft as they cook.
• If the bananas stick too much, add a bit more butter to the pan. Keep the bananas moving and loose to prevent them from burning.

Additional Recipes to try!

• Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread
• Banana Cake
• Vanilla No Churn Ice Cream

Caramelized Banana Ingredients

• Bananas: I recommend using ripe bananas but they don’t need to be brown and spotty like you would usually use for banana bread, just ripe will do!
• Salted Butter: I like to cook them in salted butter for flavor but unsalted butter will work too and I know people who cook them in coconut oil as well.
• Cinnamon: A bit of cinnamon just tastes delicious with bananas but you can also use or add other spices like nutmeg!
• Brown Sugar: I like to use dark brown sugar to caramelize my bananas but light brown sugar, regular sugar, honey or coconut sugar will work!

How to make Caramelized Bananas

• In a medium flat bottomed pan add in 1-2 teaspoons of salted butter. Place the pan over low heat to melt the butter.
• Cut two bananas in half lengthwise and widthwise.
• Once the butter has melted, place the banana quarters into the pan cut side down and then sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar.
• Keep the heat over low or medium low. Use a spatula or a spoon to kind of push the bananas around a bit to keep them from sticking.
• After a couple minutes, check one of the pieces of bananas to see if it is browning. Once the cut side is golden brown, gently flip the banana pieces over and keep cooking until all the sugar has dissolved and the second side has also become golden brown.
• Again, scoot them around a bit as they cook just to keep them from burning or sticking.
• Once browned and syrupy, immediately scoop the bananas out and then use a spatula to scrape out the buttery sugar syrup. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge.

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