Baked bananas - a one-dish wonder satisfies craving for banana bread with less effort
Mary Bilyeu | Contributor
As much as I love banana bread, there are many other ways to put overripe bananas to excellent use: Banana Oatmeal Pie, Peanut Butter and Banana Tart, Banana Nutella Cake, Vanilla Cupcakes with Caramelized Bananas... there are lots of luscious options.
But each of these requires mixing, measuring, and some mess. One recent evening, I wanted something sweet, but I didn't want dirty mixing bowls and baking pans to deal with. Even better than one-bowl brownies, these are one-dish wonders — place all the ingredients into a ramekin, bake, and enjoy!
Sweet, with a hint of spice ... simple, but luxurious ... this dessert is just perfection ...
Brown Sugar Baked Bananas
2 medium bananas, broken into thirds
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon butter, softened
pinch of ground ginger
ice cream, for serving
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 2 6-ounce ramekins.
Place bananas into ramekins. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Drizzle with orange juice. Dot with butter. Sprinkle with ginger.
Bake for 12 minutes, until bananas are softened and sauce is bubbling; carefully flip the bananas over and cook for 5 more minutes.
Let rest for 5 minutes (so you don't sear your lips off with the blisteringly hot sugar), then serve warm with ice cream.
Serves 2.
Mary Bilyeu writes for AnnArbor.com on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, telling about her adventures in the kitchen - making dinner, celebrating holidays, entering cooking contests, meeting new friends ... whatever strikes her fancy. She is also on a mission to find great deals for her Frugal Floozie Friday posts, seeking fabulous food at restaurants on the limited budget of only $5 per person. Feel free to email her with questions, comments, or suggestions: yentamary@gmail.com.
Go visit Mary's blog — Food Floozie — where she enthuses and effuses over all things food-related; and look for her monthly articles in the Washtenaw Jewish News. "Like" her on Facebook, or send a tweet on Twitter, too.
The phrase "You Should Only Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured in this post) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15 and is a wish for all her readers - when you come to visit here, may you always be happy.
Comments
annarborcitizen
Tue, Sep 18, 2012 : 4:43 p.m.
That looks and sounds yummy!! I hope no one complains that the bananas aren't colorful enough, though. ;-)
Mary Bilyeu
Tue, Sep 18, 2012 : 5:06 p.m.
It's another recipe that isn't exactly photogenic, but MORE than makes up for that with its taste! It's ideal for celebrating a sweet new year, too ... :)