Bananas are a truly versatile fruit that can be enjoyed in various ways. You can have them as a mid-morning snack, blend them into a smoothie, or make banana pancakes or bread. However, today, we will be focusing on banana desserts. When making desserts, bananas can be a great natural sweetener, allowing you to use less sugar or other sweeteners. This way, you can benefit from the many nutrients that bananas provide, such as potassium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and antioxidants, as reported by Healthline.
These fruits also have the ability to improve digestive health, blood sugar levels, and heart health, so there are several benefits to eating them! We’ve gathered a list of 26 different ways you can use them. Whether you have some ripe bananas that you need to use up or you simply want to switch up your dessert options, these recipes can help you out. From delicious Healthy Banana Brownies to Fresh Banana Pudding, your tastebuds will be in heaven. And your body will thank you for the nutrients, too!
1. Chocolate Banana Ice Cream
Our delicious ice cream recipe tastes like a banana split! However, it is much healthier. The recipe contains bananas, Greek yogurt, stevia, cocoa powder, and, optionally, chocolate chips. The combination of rich cocoa powder and sweet bananas will surely satisfy your sweet tooth. The best part is that this recipe requires a short preparation time. You just have to make it in advance since it needs time to freeze and firm up!
2. Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Cookies
These wonderful cookies have an elegant presentation and a pleasant flavor. You won’t believe that they are made with just four simple ingredients! To make them, you only need natural peanut butter, almond butter, bananas, and cinnamon. Also, add a dash of sea salt to balance the sweetness. The recipe creator explains how these cookies are vegan, gluten-free, and low in sugar.
3. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Nice Cream
Here’s another recipe that mimics ice cream. This recipe combines frozen sliced bananas, all-natural peanut butter, plain almond milk, and chocolate chips. If you use dairy-free chocolate chips, the entire recipe will be vegan! The best part about this recipe is that you don’t have to wait to freeze it if you don’t want to. You can enjoy it immediately! That means you can have a delicious banana ice cream in just 10 minutes.
4. Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
Make these incredible dessert bars by Flavor The Moments. These bars have a nice chewy texture with a sweet and nutty taste. The rolled oats, peanut butter, bananas, and chocolate chips have an excellent flavor profile. You can drizzle additional peanut butter over the top of them when serving to upgrade their presentation. This recipe makes 15 banana bars! They are perfect for slicing and taking on the go.
5. Whole30 Cookies with Bananas and Chocolate
When you want a perfectly soft chocolate cookie, come back to this recipe. These gluten-free, dairy-free, and paleo-friendly cookies are made with bananas, almond butter, almond flour, and cocoa powder. They also have small amounts of cinnamon, chia seeds, and raisins for added texture and flavor! Once done, these fluffy cookies are light and perfect for dipping in almond milk.
6. Frozen Banana Snickers
These frozen treats look so fancy despite having such a short ingredient list! You’ll need bananas, peanuts, peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract to make them. For the chocolate drizzle on top, you will need chocolate chips and coconut oil to thin it out. Drizzle the chocolate in lines before freezing the decorated bananas for about an hour, then enjoy!
7. Banana S’mores
Next time you’re craving a gooey, chocolatey s’more, try our recipe instead! This healthier version of the classic dessert combines bananas, marshmallow fluff, 70% dark chocolate, and Graham cracker crumbs. If Lindt dark chocolate is unavailable, you can substitute it with Lily’s dark chocolate chips for the drizzle. This recipe is ideal for a late-night snack as it only serves one person.
8. Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bites
This family-friendly banana dessert comes in bite-sized pieces, and it’s perfect for people of all ages! You only need bananas, natural peanut butter, dark chocolate chips, and coconut oil to make them. The recipe creator, Eating Bird Food, states that two bites are less than 100 calories. These banana bites hold up well in the freezer, so you can make them well in advance.
9. Almond Flour Banana Cookies (Vegan and Paleo)
These soft cookies are made with bananas, almond flour, vanilla, coconut oil, and baking soda. Because of bananas’ texture, they can actually replace the eggs in many different baking recipes. That’s why this recipe doesn’t need many ingredients at all, and the cookies still have an excellent taste and texture. You can have these mixed, baked, and ready for serving in just 40 minutes.
10. Fried Cinnamon Bananas
With bananas, raw honey, and cinnamon, you can make these irresistible fried banana bites! And if you can’t stay away from the peanut butter and banana combo, you can also drizzle them with some natural peanut butter in one serving. You don’t need to deep fry the bananas for this recipe. Just pan-fry them with some cooking spray to prevent sticking. The natural sugars in the banana team up with the raw honey and caramelize.
11. Frozen Chocolate Banana Bark
Are you looking for a quick and easy dessert recipe? Check out Basics with Bails’ recipe that uses only a few ingredients. You’ll need bananas, peanut butter, dark chocolate, coconut oil, and flaky sea salt. The end result is a delicious frozen bark that will satisfy your sweet cravings. The recipe yields eight servings and takes about 45 minutes total to make!
12. Healthy Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
You can never go wrong with a banana cupcake. This specific recipe is especially delicious since it has a homemade cream cheese frosting to accompany the cupcakes. When you bite into these moist cupcakes, you’ll taste magnificent hints of cinnamon, bananas, maple syrup, vanilla, and almonds. These would be amazing cupcakes to make for somebody’s birthday! You can dress them up however you wish.
13. Skinny Banana Split
Here’s a healthier take on the classic banana split recipe. This version includes bananas, Greek yogurt, chocolate chips, fresh fruit, and coconut. For an extra touch, drizzle melted peanut butter over the banana and fruit before serving. The peanut butter will melt into a sauce and complement the sweetness of the fruit and coconut.
14. Fresh Banana Pudding
Sometimes, all you want is a light dessert. That’s when this refreshing banana pudding recipe can come in handy! Sweet honey, bananas, warm vanilla extract, and tasty coconut flakes combine with this dessert pudding. You can also decorate it with coconut whipped cream if you wish! Garnish it with fresh banana slices. This recipe makes it three servings.
15. Air Fryer Banana
You can enjoy this Air Fryer Banana in plenty of ways. When you cook the banana this way, it turns out caramelized and softened. Enjoy it with fresh whipped cream, ice cream, or other fruits such as chopped strawberries. You’ll need chopped pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon, and ripe bananas to make this recipe. You can also swap the pecans for a different type of nut, such as walnuts.
16. Banana Fudge (3 Ingredients)
This chewy fudge recipe by The Big Man’s World only requires three ingredients and 10 minutes to make. That’s right, it doesn’t get much easier than this! The fudge is made from bananas, peanut butter, and coconut oil. However, you can add other ingredients to make it fancier. The recipe suggests cinnamon, but you can add nutmeg and other spices.
17. Healthy Chocolate Chip Banana Ice Cream Cups
Using portion control is one way to stay on track with your goals. To do so, you can make these banana ice cream cups, which are miniature. They’re made from bananas, vanilla, and chocolate chips. Clean Food Crush suggests using Lily’s chocolate chips sweetened with stevia. However, if you have preferred chocolate, go for it! To make these cups, you must blend frozen bananas and fold them with chocolate chips. Then, allow them to harden in the freezer.
18. Vegan Banana Blondies
Make unique and tasty blondies when you incorporate fresh bananas into them. These blondies are the perfect balance of fluffy and chewy. Aside from the banana, they contain coconut oil, sugar, vanilla, milk, and gluten-free flour. You’ll also need some leavening agents to ensure the blondies rise when they bake! Enjoy this with a tall glass of almond milk or your preferred milk.
19. Banana Chocolate Chip Bars
Chelsweets created this recipe for Banana Chocolate Chip Bars, and she states that they’re slightly fudgy and will remind you of a combination of banana bread, blondies, and brownies. The recipe contains ripe bananas, eggs, butter, sugar, and more. They even have a small amount of ground flax seeds! Make this for your next gathering, and everyone will rave over them.
20. Banana Bread Snickerdoodle Cookies
Enjoy our take on Snickerdoodle cookies with a special ingredient: mashed banana! These cookies have unsweetened apple sauce, baking spices, and vanilla for a warm, comforting flavor. You’ll love this recipe since it only takes 20 minutes to make, and you can make 20 whole servings. You can dress up this simple dessert with Cool Whip, ice cream, or fresh berries.
21. Healthy Soft Banana Bread Cookies
Ambitious Kitchen posted this recipe that will remind you of soft banana bread! These healthy cookies have a delicious cream cheese frosting that makes them luxurious. You can even top them with walnuts or another garnish to elevate their appearance. The cookie’s base has eggs, bananas, coconut oil, and almond flour. If you want a deeper flavor, you can toast the nuts you will use as a garnish.
22. Healthy Banana Brownies
These fudgy brownies require no flour! Instead, they have bananas, honey, cocoa powder, eggs, and chocolate chips. For best results, use 100% unsweetened cocoa powder. You’ll also want to make sure your bananas are plenty ripe, too. This delicious recipe yields 12 brownies! You can always cut them into triangles to make mini portions. However, as they are, each brownie has 116 calories.
23. Banana Crumble
You’ve likely had a peach crumble or a strawberry one, but how about a banana crumble? This yummy dessert has citrusy hints due to orange juice. It also has cinnamon, bananas, butter, and brown sugar. Then, there’s a delicious crumbly topping that becomes crunchy when baked. You can serve this dessert as is or garnish it with ice cream or whipped cream! In total, this crumble needs to bake for 20 minutes.
24. Paleo Banana Cream Pie
This lightened-up version of banana cream pie is both gluten-free and dairy-free. So, it’s ideal for serving at a gathering since people with different special diets can enjoy it. This recipe has three main components: homemade crust, pie filling, and topping. With all of these components, the most forward flavors include almonds, dates, vanilla, cinnamon, maple, and bananas. Top the pie with chopped pecans to complete it!
25. Gluten Free Banana Carrot Cake Bread
This banana dessert is a fusion of traditional carrot cake and banana bread. It has a moist crumb and a show-stopping appearance because you can top it with cream cheese frosting, roughly chopped macadamia nuts, and shredded carrots. The main batter includes Greek yogurt, carrots, bananas, oats, and vanilla. In total, you’ll get 12 servings from this dessert!
26. Banana Bread Brownies
These brownies are special as they have a marbled effect and are made to be a fusion of brownies and banana bread. You will need ingredients like chocolate chips, bananas, vanilla, and other common baking ingredients to prepare them. This recipe is suitable for serving at a brunch party. It makes 16 servings that can be sliced and arranged on a platter.
Banana s’mores
Ingredients
- 1 banana
- 1 heaping Tbsp marshmallow fluff
- 1/2 square lindt 70% dark chocolate, 5g piece *you could also use 1 point worth of Lily’s dark chocolate chips
- Sprinkle of crushed graham crumbs
Instructions
- Peel and cut your banana in half
- Melt your chocolate in a microwave safe dish, I melt for 30 seconds on high, turn the piece of chocolate over then melt another 30 seconds.
- Now melt your fluff in the microwave for 20 seconds, it will rise, when you take it out of the microwave do not stir it just spread it on the banana as quickly as you can. Then drizzle your melted chocolate over the banana (I just use a small spoon) another option would be to place the chocolate piece (or chocolate chips) in a small ziplock bag and melt in the microwave, cut off a tiny tip to help drizzle on the banana.
- Sprinkle with graham crumbs, I crush up one graham cracker square and use just a very small amount of it, the rest will save well for your next treat 🙂
- You now have yourself a delicious 2 point sweet treat, I count 1 point for the fluff and 1 point for the chocolate since I use such a small amount of graham crumbs I do not add a point for it. Only 2PP providing banana's are a 0PP food for you
