Hey everybody, thanks for the recipes and advice. The bananas aren't good enough for a food bank. 2 charities did call after my freecycle posting, one oddly enough wanted only green bananas, although I specifically said they were aged ripe to over ripe bananas. The very best ones are so ripe that most people wouldn't like to eat them straight up. A large percentage go right into the compost. When I got grapes in this quantity last year I did give over 200 pounds to food banks, but most of the produce I get free isn't of suitable quality for that. Like I got 3 pineapples yesterday, each with various sized bad sections. My task is to 1) keep it out of the landfill, and 2) get as much of it eaten as possible. Of the recipes offered, the decadent banana chocolate split things sounds the best! Mmm. And banana cheesecake, I have been wondering how to make cheesecake lately. I did a box thing and it was pretty wimpy. Will try those for sure. I invented my own banana jam last year, it has about 1 part sugar to 3 parts bananas, it was great. Ripe bananas are so sweet anyway. Will also try a banana sauce for ice cream (recipe was called butter but I think that is confusing.) I forgot about banana fritters, too, we like those. I used to make banana fritters on my boat when they all got ripe at the same time. When you buy green bananas it is a gamble how they will turn out, but in the islands green bananas cost significantly less than yellow ones, so I bought them. About dehydrating, maybe in the oven. They came with so many fruit flies and I have such a large population of bugs (bees, yellow jackets, etc.) that I definitely couldn't put them outside, they would be swarming in minutes. I have half a freezer full of bananas already and there are still about 7 cases in the truck. I feel brave just getting them out of the truck with all the wasps and things crawling around. But the boxes drip so I am not bringing them all in the house at the same time. Actually I have a great scheme for turning the final boxes of bananas directly into lasagna garden beds. Marcia

The recipe I have been using (I lost my mom's, my dad gave that book to someone else, but this one sounds right -- it's all in 3s), sounds like it might be something you would like to try. I was thinking the baking powder with the buttermilk might also be an improvement. My mom's had you cream the butter and sugar, add mashed bananas, sift the dry ingredients, then add alternately with the buttermilk. The new one I found said you could dump everything in the mixer bowl, blend and go. I have tried that and have also hybridized the process -- creamed the butter and sugar, then add the bananas and the other stuff. It all works -- just don't over mix it. 2 1/3 c all purpose flour 1 2/3 c sugar 1 1/4 c mashed bananas (about 2) 2/3 c softened butter or margarine 2/3 c finely chopped nuts (I use pecans (Texas and all), but walnuts work too) 2//3 c buttermilk 1 1/4 tsp baking soda 1 1/4 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp salt 3 eggs You can use either mixing method and bake at 350. I make muffins more often than loaves lately -- you can bake this as mini muffins, standard muffins, loaves, a 13x9 cake or even layers.

Tracy, here's the banana bread recipe I use. I don't care for bananas but my girls swear it is the best ever, LOL. I sometimes add mini chocolate chips to it. BANANA BREAD ½ cup shortening 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 cup mashed bananas 3 tbls. Sour cream 1 tbls lemon juice 2 cups flour 1 ½ tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt ½ tsp baking soda 1 cup chopped pecans Cream shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs, bananas, sour cream and lemon juice. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in nuts. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan, bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, remove and finish cooling on rack. Makes 1 loaf Although I dislike bananas even I'll eat this cake, it's a Rose Levy Birnbaum recipe posted by a member here and it's very good. Truthfully, though, I don't sift the flour and I don't add in batches, I dump everything into the mixer and let it go! Banana Cake (Rose Levy BerenbaumÂs Cordon Rose Cake) Jgarner-Cooking Forum (good as layer cake, elegant, delicate texture) mix together: sifted cake flour 2 cups (200 g) sugar 3/4 c + 2 Tbs (170g) baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp puree together: 2 large ripe bananas 1 c (227 g) sour cream 2 Tbs or up to 1/2 c (30 g to 121 g) 2 large eggs 2 (100 g) grated lemon zest 2 tsp (I left this out since I don't like the flavor of lemon with banana) vanilla 1-1/2 tsp soften: Butter 10 Tbs (5 oz) (142 g) Add butter and half of pureed mixture to dry ingredients in stand mixer and mix at medium with paddle for 1-1/2 minutes. Scrape bowl and add rest of banana mixture in two batches, mixing 20 seconds after each addition. Pour into 9"x2" round pan (I just lined the bottom with parchment, no spray or butter) and bake at 350 F for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in pan and then turn out onto rack to cool completely. Hint: Use smallest amount of sour cream and 3 bananas for more pronounced banana flavor Cream Cheese Icing Cream cheese, softened 8 oz. Butter, softened 5 TBS (2.5 oz) Sour cream 1 Tbs Vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. Rum 1 Tbs Powdered sugar 1 1/4 C (5 oz) Process (yeah, the food processor) or beat cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar and pulse until smooth. Makes enough to frost the top of a 9x13 sheet cake. Annie

I also watched a segment on Cooks Illustrated and a light bulb went off in my head. Instead of microwaving bananas to separate bananas from excess liquid, I realized that the frozen bananas that I always have on hand would fit in perfectly as the liquid separates when frozen. By adding more banana (approx 5 to 6 vs the 3 in my recipe) I found I could cut back on sugar too. Works with banana bread or nut bread mixes too. I knew there was a reason to watch the cooking shows while killing time on my treadmill!