Freezing bananas (and using them later)

Bananas go from perfect to too far in about two days, which is never the two days you planned to bake. Freezing them at the right moment means banana bread is always an option.

How I do it

1. Peel first. Frozen banana skins are slippery, cold and nearly impossible to get off.
2. Halves for baking, slices for blending. Slices freeze flat on a tray and go straight into the blender for nice cream.
3. Label the bag with the weight. “350 g” is more useful than “3 bananas” when the recipe calls for grams.
4. Use within three months. They’re safe for longer but start to taste of freezer.

Thawing

Thaw in a bowl at room temperature for an hour or in the fridge overnight. They’ll look grey and sit in a puddle of liquid — that’s normal. Keep the liquid; it’s mostly banana sugar and it belongs in the batter.

Thawed bananas are wetter than fresh ones. For banana bread that’s fine; for pancakes add a tablespoon of extra oats.