3 Delicious Ways To Use Overripe Bananas

Buying bananas can seem like a great idea until three days later when they are all brown and icky! These healthy AND tasty recipes will turn your disaster into a phenomenon.

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Chocolate Banana Creamsicles

Ingredients

• 3 large over-ripened bananas
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt
• Dixie cups (fewer than 10 for this recipe)
• popsicle sticks

Instructions

1. Use a blender to mix everything together until smooth.
2. Pour mixture into popsicle mold (Dixie cups) put in sticks and let freeze for at least 4 hours.

Banana Bread and Almond-Butter Cocoa Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients

Banana Bread Cookies

• 2 large very ripe bananas
• ½ cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups old-fashioned oats
• ¼ cup brown rice flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Almond-Butter Cocoa Filling

• ½ cup unsalted almond butter
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mash the bananas and combine them with maple syrup, applesauce, and vanilla. (The mixture shouldn’t be too smooth; small chunks of banana are great.) In a large bowl, combine the oats with the brown rice flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add the banana mixture to the oat mixture and mix until just combined.
3. Using a tablespoon, drop the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies an inch apart. (Do your best to make them all the same size and shape, because they will be sandwiched together.) Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, or until they are golden brown and set but still soft and spongy. Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool on the baking sheets.
4. Make the filling: When the cookies are nearly done cooling, in a small bowl, mix the almond butter with the cocoa powder and maple syrup until combined.
5. Scoop a heaping teaspoon of filling and spread it on the bottom of a cookie. Take another cookie and sandwich them together. Repeat the process with the remaining cookies to make 9 sandwiches total. Serve.

 READ: These Foods Have More Potassium Than A Banana

Banana Walnut Oat Bars

Ingredients

• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 1/2 cups of mashed overripe bananas
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Combine mashed banana ground flaxseeds, water and salt in a big bowl, and stir well. Add the oats and mix everything. Fold it into a greased (with coconut oil) shallow baking tray, spread, and press well with your fingers.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Let it cool for 10 minutes.
4. Cut it into squares, and re-arrange it on a cookie sheet upside down. Put it back into the oven and bake it for another 15 minutes. Turn the pieces over and bake for another 5 minutes for both sides to be nice and brown.
5. Let it cool completely and store it in an air-tight container for up to a week.

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