recipes

31 Banana Recipes We Love a Bunch

There are so many delicious banana recipes out there. Actually, they’re right here: presenting our best banana-flavored treats for you, from the classic bread to vegan pancakes.
An 8x8 dish of banana pudding with a whipped cream topping and crushed vanilla wafers on top alongside several serving...
Photo by Emma Fishman, food styling by Kat Boystova, prop styling by Allie Wist

What to do with overripe bananas? You know the answer: Bake some banana bread—the best banana bread. But there are so many more banana recipes to be made, from hummingbird cake to strawberry-banana smoothies to yummy milkshakes to chocolate chip cookies with some mashed banana snuck into the mix.

Before we move on, let’s have a little lesson. Bananas are the fruit of the banana tree, a plant originating in New Guinea and cultivated in tropical regions such as the West Indies, Africa, and South America. The fruit was introduced to France by the Portuguese and became common in parts of Europe from the 18th century onward. Who knew? (Historians. Historians knew.)

Now back to the delicious recipes. Below you’ll find our very best banana recipes—ones we’re sure the whole family will love (not that you’re required to share with anyone).

  • Image may contain Food Bread Meal and Pancake
    Photograph by Isa Zapata.  Food Styling by Kat Boytsova.  Prop Styling by Stephanie De Luca
    1/31

    Classic Bananas Foster

    Vanilla ice cream is the classic accompaniment for this king of banana recipes, but you could also spoon the saucy mixture over waffles, crepes, French toast, or even toasted slices of banana nut bread. Toasted pecans add a warm crunch.

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  • Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Judy Kim, Prop Styling by Stephanie De Luca
    2/31

    Double Banana Cake

    Get ready for banana overload. (Just kidding; there’s no such thing.) This banana dessert has overripe bananas mashed into the batter and slices of banana sandwiched between two cake layers.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau
    3/31

    Caramelized Banana and Almond Nice Cream

    For this riff on the popular dairy-free treat, you’ll cook the bananas first to caramelize them and concentrate their flavor. Once frozen, you’ll blend the fruit with coconut milk and almond butter for richness. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and toss on a heap of raspberries for an extra special sundae.

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  • Photo by Ted + Chelsea Cavanaugh, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski
    4/31

    Banana Cream Pie

    Cheesecake, who? This is the creamy, yellow-colored dessert we would choose any old time: a showstopping, peanut-studded banana cream pie with sky-high whipped cream.

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  • Photograph by Victoria Jane, Food Styling by Mallory Lance, Prop Styling by Alexandra Massillon
    5/31

    BA’s Best Banana Bread

    A dollop of mascarpone makes for superior tenderness in our version of everyone’s favorite breakfast loaf. Walnuts optional but encouraged. 

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  • Alex Lau
    6/31

    Banana Almond Smoothie

    Here’s a trick we like: Peel your overripe bananas and put them in the freezer, then use them to make super creamy smoothies (and banana bread) whenever you want.

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano 
    7/31

    Vegan Banana-Oat Pancakes

    Like banana oatmeal and banana pancakes in one, these have crisp edges and tender centers with big banana flavor. They’re vegan, dairy-free, and refined-sugar-free to boot, plus they come together in a food processor.

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, food styling by Kat Boystova, prop styling by Allie Wist
    8/31

    Classic Banana Pudding

    With homemade vanilla pudding, sweetened condensed milk (the secret ingredient no one talks about), and mascarpone, this truly is the best (and easiest) banana pudding recipe.

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, food styling by D'Myrtrek Brown
    9/31

    Chocolate-Biscoff Banoffee Pie

    Creamy butterscotch pudding, chocolate ganache, a speculoos cookie crust, and a crown of bananas join forces to create this lush winter dessert.

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  • Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling and Prop Styling by Emilie Fosnocht
    10/31

    Mochi Waffles With Maple–Brown Butter Bananas

    Adding mochiko, glutinous rice flour, to your batter will give your waffles a subtle sweetness, a chewy texture, and a supremely crispy exterior that actually lasts. It makes us want to find a mochi muffin recipe, mochi brownies, mochi coffee cake...

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Styling by Sue Li
    11/31

    Overnight Oats With Banana, Maple Syrup, and Tahini

    If you’re looking for a filling but healthy gluten-free breakfast, you’ve found it. The recipe makes four servings of tahini sauce, so keep a couple of ripe bananas handy and eat this all week.

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  • Photo by Laura Murray, food styling by Susie Theodorou
    12/31

    Kolar Pitha

    Your air fryer won’t do the trick here. These sweet, Bangladeshi-style banana fritters are tender on the inside and crispy on the outside—banana bread muffins could never—thanks to a good sizzle in a skillet of melted ghee.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Styling by Sue Li
    13/31

    Quinoa-Banana Muffins

    There’s a bonus to this banana recipe: It includes our approach to cooking quinoa. (Call us persnickety, but we generally disagree with the instructions on quinoa packages, which tend to call for too much water.)

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  • Ted Cavanaugh
    14/31

    Banana Split Ice Cream Cake

    Before you even start making this showstopper ice cream cake recipe, clear some space in your freezer. You’ll need a spot big enough to park a springform pan that’s filled to the brim.

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  • Photograph by Isa Zapata.  Food Styling by Cyd McDowell.  Prop Styling by Paige Hicks
    17/31

    Torched Banana Cake

    Inspired by pineapple upside-down cake, this leveled-up recipe has you bring in your kitchen torch to finish the job: The top will have a glossy crust that shatters with the back of a spoon.

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  • Linda Pugliese
    18/31

    Seeded Whole-Wheat Banana Bread

    So often, banana bread is as sweet as cake. For weekday mornings, we want a slice that feels wholesome, like this one with whole wheat flour and lots of seeds.

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  • Alex Lau
    19/31

    Acai Power House Bowl

    This healthy breakfast falls into two categories: It’s an easy recipe and, of course, it’s a banana recipe. There’s no cooking involved and frozen banana helps thicken the acaí mixture.

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  • 20/31

    Banana S’more Nut Bars

    Banana bars meet s’mores in this snack. And yes, we’re calling it a snack. You don’t need dessert as an excuse to have a sweet treat; just have it, okay?

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  • Photo by Chelsie Craig, styling by Claire Saffitz
    21/31

    Blackout Chocolate Banana Bread

    Think of this recipe as a cross between your very favorite banana bread and a crowd-pleasing blackout cake. (The batter could work for chocolate banana muffins too.)

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  • Alex Lau
    22/31

    Banana-Oat Snack Cake

    Loaded with oats and bananas, this is a great treat to have on hand after soccer or baseball practice. Or, you could consider it a breakfast cookie or brownie.

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  • Antonis Achilleos
    25/31

    Caramel-Banana Bread Puddings

    You read that right: It’s puddings, plural, because everyone gets an individual serving. Why? We can’t have you fighting over bread pudding at the dinner table.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Sophie Strangio
    26/31

    Tropical Trifle With Coconut and Rum

    This dairy-free trifle could work as a healthy-ish dessert or a festive brunch dish. Its textural contrasts are what keep us coming back for more: velvety chia seed pudding, ripe but firm fruits, and crushed Nilla wafers for crunch.

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  • 29/31

    Chocolate Chip and Banana Ice Cream Sandwiches

    What’s better than chocolate chip banana bread? Two chocolate chip cookies with banana ice cream and thin slices of fresh, ripe bananas sandwiched in between them.

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  • Peden + Munk
    30/31

    Banana, Coffee, Cashew, and Cocoa Smoothie

    Who needs a quick bread recipe when you can have a quick power-breakfast smoothie that doesn’t require you to turn on the oven? Just purée a frozen banana, dates, cold-brew coffee, cashews, old-fashioned oats, cocoa powder, and some spices in a blender.

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  • Jeremy Liebman
    31/31

    Banana Meringue Pudding

    This banana recipe is a good way to practice your meringue game. To check if it’s stiff, lift the beaters out of the bowl and upend them: The peaks should stick straight up.

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