Pan-fried in butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, caramelized bananas are an easy sweet treat. Use this irresistible topping at breakfast on pancakes, enjoy a bowl for a snack or serve with ice cream for dessert!
Some of our favorite ways to use this are to top buttermilk pancakes, Belgian waffles or even French bread French toast!
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Easy Caramelized Bananas
Caramelized bananas are such an easy treat that shouldn’t be reserved just for special occasions. Having a movie night? Top your homemade vanilla ice cream with caramelized bananas. Easy French toast for breakfast? Caramelized bananas on top! Making a cheesecake for dessert? You get the idea!
Bananas are naturally sweet as is, but when you cook them down in butter, sugar, or perhaps a cinnamon sugar blend, you get the crystallized sugary bits that coat the outside of each soft sweet banana.
They’re so insanely good you might just find that you’ve helped yourself to a bowl full without realizing it!
Recipe Ingredients
Minimal ingredients but maximum flavor will make these a favorite that you make again and again!
- Bananas: Two perfectly ripe bananas that are yellow work best for this recipe.
- Brown sugar: This type of sugar is best for caramelizing and pairs perfectly with the warm bananas.
- Butter: Adds a rich wonderful flavor.
- Cinnamon: The perfect amount of warmth!
How to Caramelize Bananas
With a quick coating of caramelized sugar your bananas become incredible tasting, and it’s so easy!
- Slice bananas: On a cutting board slice your bananas into 1/4 inch thickness.
- Coat in sugar: Roll banana slices into a bowl of sugar.
- Caramelize bananas: Melt butter in a saucepan on the stove top over medium-low heat. Add banana slices in a single layer and cook for 2 minutes until golden. Flip and cook for another couple of minutes until both sides are nicely caramelized.
- Serve: Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired and enjoy them on everything!
Tips for Best Caramelized Bananas
- Use ripe bananas if you have them. The riper your bananas are, to begin with, the softer and sweeter they’ll be.
- You can use a cinnamon-sugar mixture instead of just sugar or sprinkle a bit of cinnamon over top at the end. Some people also enjoy a bit of nutmeg too.
- Keep an eye on the bananas as they cook so that they don’t burn. Turn the heat down if needed.
- To clean the pan afterward, run it under hot water. You may need to boil the water to remove stubborn sugar crystals.
- For a vegan caramelized bananas recipe swap the butter for coconut oil. You won’t have the same buttery flavor, but it will still caramelize nicely.
Favorite Ways to Use Caramelized Bananas
Wondering how to serve your caramelized banana? Here are a few favorite ways to use them for breakfast, snack or dessert!
- A great filling and topping for crepes whether regular or flavored like Nutella crepes or pumpkin crepes. Bananas pair well with all of them.
- Add it on top of a scoop of ice cream. My personal favorite is homemade vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of caramel sauce on top. So good.
- Add a little something extra to your banana cream pie.
- Make the best banana bread from it!
- Swirl some into your morning yogurt bowl or oatmeal breakfast bowl.
- Chocolate chip pancakes, blueberry pancakes or really any pancake recipe would welcome sweet bananas on top. Maple syrup to top that off? Yes, please!
FAQs
Fried bananas can be store in the fridge for up to 2 days and reheated as needed. Try them cold, they are delicious!
Yes, ripe bananas are great, but too ripe won’t hold up to the heat. You need your bananas to be yellow with a tinge of green and no brown spots. If your bananas smell ‘off’, you will want to toss them as they have gone bad.
Yes! You can either caramelize your banana by following this recipe or just melt some butter in a pan over medium to high heat, place banana slices in the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes per side. So easy!
These bananas that are caramelized while not a ‘health food’ would be considered healthier than other heavier desserts when eaten as is! They are a great light snack or dessert! You could even reduce the sugar a bit and still they would taste great.
More Delicious Desserts:
- Bread Pudding
- Strawberry Sauce Recipe
- Mixed Candied Nuts
- Homemade Apple Pie Filling
- Easy Baked Peaches
More Recipes with Bananas
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Caramelized Bananas
Ingredients
- 2 bananas
- 2-3 Tablespoons brown sugar , more if needed
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Slice bananas into 1/4" thick circles.
- Place sugar in a shallow bowl or plate. Then roll bananas into the sugar.
- Heat butter in a skillet over medium low heat until melted. Add sugared bananas in a single layer. Cook for about 2 minutes or until the bottoms are starting to turn golden brown. Then flip and cook an additional 1 to 2 minutes on the other side. Watch carefully so they do not burn. Turn down the heat if needed.
- Slide the bananas into a bowl of ice cream, on top of pancakes or inside a crepe. Sprinkle the tops of the banana with cinnamon if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: 5 Ingredients Or Less, American, Desserts, Fruit Desserts, Gluten-Free, No-Bake, Nut-Free, Stovetop, Toppings, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
These were wonderful! We made them for our ice cream sundae and it made them SO good!
So dang yummy! We gobbled these up quick as a flash, they were so delicious!
Oh my goodness!! I made these for our ice cream, movie night and now I’m the hero!! Thank you so much. They were fantastic!
Yay, glad they were a hit!