Last week when I was cruising the aisles of Whole Foods I found a treasure in a pile of bananas. Hidden beneath the plain Jane normal bananas was a whole hand of baby bananas! I haven’t found a good picture, but each baby banana is about as long as an adult finger. There are 15 to 20 bananas in each bunch, and when they are ripe the skin is very spotted.
I grabbed the last hand of baby bananas even though they were a bit pricey because I haven’t had these little things since I was in Mexico for a mission trip at age fifteen. The missionary there roasted them with brown sugar and served them for breakfast. They were so good I have been wanting to try them again for twelve entire years.
So I bought them. And I roasted them. And David and I ate them up in a hurry. They were the perfect size for his chubby little fists and we had quite a bit of fun feeding them to each other.
If you are cooking with older kids, this is a great recipe for them to make on their own. The bananas can be cut with a table knife, so except for putting them in the oven, this should be a completely safe recipe for your budding chefs.
Instructions
- 1 bunch baby bananas
- 1/8 c. sugar
- juice from half of a lime
- 1 tbsp butter, cut into small chunks
- 1 tsp. Pumpkin Pie spice
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Peel the bananas. Cut them in half lengthwise and lay the halves in a glass baking dish.
- Sprinkle the bananas with the sugar, lime juice, butter and Pumpkin Pie spice.
- Bake the bananas for 20 to 25 minutes, or until fork tender.
Serve hot over pancakes, French toast, or ice cream. Yum!
I wonder if Jude would go for this. He loves Bananas- if I could get him to taste them I bet he would LOVE this. This is a lovely recipe that I will definitely try! Yummy!
I bet that is SOOO good Mary Frances!! I LOVE those baby bananas! THey are just the perfect size!! I never want a whole banana and those baby bananas never go to waste at our house!!
Natalie, I hope Jude likes the bananas =) The original recipe called for a 1/2 c. sugar, but I cut that way back since there was no way I was feeding David that much sugar. It was still a fun, mostly healthful, treat though.
Carrie, they were SOOOO good. We ate the whole pan in one sitting. I looked for them at Whole Foods this weekend, but no luck. Hopefully we’ll get to have them again soon.
Your posts continue to be so great! Good job.
And they make me so hungry.
These sound wonderful. I enjoy getting your posts. Thank you.
Oh this is perfect! I have been looking for some way to get my 5-year-old re-interested in bananas, which are one of a few fruits she will actually eat. I never even thought about baby bananas (she will be enamored with them!) or about roasting them. Thanks for the inspiration!
I can just picture her in an aprong, busily sprinkling sugar and squeezing lime. How fun! Let me know how it goes.
What a fabulous idea! I’m sure they’d be great over ice cream for a decadent dessert.