10 Banana Recipes You’ll Go Bananas For

Let’s start with the obvious: banana bread. This is always my first thought when I see those soft bananas on the counter. And it’s never stopped being a genius way to use up bananas. Our version is tender, moist, buttery, and lightly sweet. And it is packed with banana flavor because we packed as many bananas into it as we could: five whole bananas.

And then, because we know some people like a little chocolate in their banana bread, we also developed a version with cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate.

Banana bread is great for everyday eating, but if you’re looking for something with a little more intrigue that you can serve for dessert, look no further than our Banana Pudding Pie. It starts with a crisp Nilla Wafer–based crust. The crust is covered with a luscious, creamy banana pudding that has sliced bananas stirred into it. And finally, the whole thing is topped with toasty meringue. Watch the video below to learn how to make it, step by step.

For a simple baked good that I consider suitable for both breakfast and dessert (and everything in between), try our Banana–Chocolate Chip Snack Cake. The beauty of snack cake is that it’s very easy to make. You can bake it off and serve it as is or dress it up with our Cream Cheese Frosting.

Big fan of pancakes? You can easily whip up our buttermilk pancake recipe and add some bananas and walnuts to it. We like to sprinkle the bananas on once the pancakes start cooking to ensure they’re evenly distributed.

More of a waffle person? You can use your bananas in a decadent waffle topping instead. We start by making a caramelly butterscotch sauce and then we add vanilla, bananas, and walnuts to it.

Unlike the other recipes here, our Banana Pudding actually calls for underripe bananas, so you’ll want to plan ahead for this one. This simple dessert is made by layering vanilla pudding with sliced bananas and vanilla wafers. When it’s all assembled in a trifle dish, it looks impressive and inviting.

To make this easy banana treat, we started by freezing ripe banana slices just to firm them up. Then we battered them and fried them. A little drizzle of store-bought chocolate syrup is the perfect pairing for these warm, crispy bites.

If you want a restaurant dessert at home, then Bananas Foster is the way to go. In restaurants, this classic New Orleans dessert is typically flambéed tableside, but we reworked it so there’s no flambéing needed. Just heat the rum mixture, warm the bananas, and transfer them to a serving plate and then whisk some butter into the rum mixture to make a luscious sauce to pour over the bananas. Be sure to have some vanilla ice cream on hand.

These cookies are a lovely spin on peanut butter cookies. We turn to a mixture of mashed banana and banana chips to ensure that they sing with banana flavor. And we add semisweet chocolate chips because peanut butter and bananas both pair well with chocolate.

Last but not least, there’s our Banana-Walnut–Chocolate Chunk No-Churn Ice Cream. We have a whole collection of no-churn ice cream recipes that use a blender instead of an ice cream maker. This one gets flavored with chocolate, walnuts, and, you guessed it, bananas.

Whether you have overripe, underripe, or just-ripe bananas, there’s a recipe here for you.