How to Make Bananas Ripen Faster

5 from 2 votes

How to Make Bananas Ripen Faster

When you are craving that perfect slice of banana bread, but those bananas on the counter are just not ripe enough, what is one to do? No fear here's how to quickly ripen bananas so they will be overripe and sweet for all your baking recipes.

Author: Nikki Lee

Servings:

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Total Time 20

Ingredients

▢ Unpeeled Banana s

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Instructions

How to Ripen Bananas in the Oven

Preheat oven to 300℉.
Place the bananas on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake in oven for 15 to 20 minutes. You can flip the banana about halfway through the process for a nice even ripening, but it's not totally necessary.
When done the banana will turn black all over. Don't worry it's not burned, just nice and sweet.
Let the bananas cool and then scoop out banana pulp from peel with a spoon and mash.

How to Soften Bananas in the Microwave

Poke holes in each banana with a fork or wooden pick and place them in a microwave-safe dish.
Microwave on high for 1 minute at a time until the bananas are completely soft to the touch. This will take about 2-3 minutes.
TIP: You can also peel the bananas and use 30-second intervals to soften the bananas (usually about 1 minute). You will hear them that little sizzle, and you know it's done. The time it takes also depends on the number of bananas you are doing at one time.
To cool them down quickly, place them in the freezer for 10 minutes or so until they’re ready for baking.
NOTE: This method softens the banana but really does not increase the sweetness or flavor. This method actually works better for slightly ripened fruit rather than green bananas. So, if you have green bananas, you might need to bump up the sugar slightly in the recipe to get the taste. I usually add a little sugar to the bananas to the desired taste and then proceed with the recipe as instructed.

Notes

Oven Ripened Banana TIP:

You can speed up this process by turning up the heat to 350℉ or 400℉ and have brown bananas in 5-10 minutes, but using the lower temperature will convert more of the starch into sugar for sweet, caramelized bananas.

Nutrition

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