How To Freeze Bananas & Buttermilk

Once a fresh banana is too ripe to eat don’t throw it out. Did you know that you can freeze bananas to use at a later date? I stumbled upon this idea years ago, it never occurred to me that you could freeze bananas.

Frozen bananas come in handy for so many recipes. Now anytime I have bananas that are really ripe I just toss them in the freezer. There are so many uses for frozen bananas you can thaw them out for banana bread, muffins or pancakes.

You can also use them frozen for smoothies. I love them in smoothies because you don't have to use as much ice since the banana chunks are frozen. I have made a list below of the different ways to freeze and store bananas.

• Peel and place the whole bananas in a large freezer bag. Seal and date bag.
• Leave the peeling on and freeze the whole bananas in a large freezer bag, Seal and date bag. (pictured below)
• Peel the ripe bananas, mash them and place in a sealed freezer container.
• Peel ripe bananas and cut into chunks. Lay each banana piece on a baking sheet and flash freeze for at least a hour. Remove from freezer and place bananas pieces in a large Ziploc bag and date. (pictured above)

These are bananas that have been frozen with the peeling still on. They may look brown on the outside, but when the peeling is removed, look how great the banana looks. 

To use frozen unpeeled bananas, remove from the freezer and let thaw until a bit soft. Cut off one end of the banana peel and squeeze out the banana like you would squeeze a tube of toothpaste. You can also cut a slit down the center like I did above and remove the banana. Add to your favorite muffin or banana bread recipe. I use frozen bananas to make my banana bread all the time and it turns out perfect, if you need a good banana bread recipe click here.

This is my favorite was to freeze bananas. Slice up the bananas and flash freeze them. They're perfectly chunked for smoothies. My two favorite smoothie recipes are the Bananarita Smoothie and a Blueberry Banana Smoothie. Bananas will keep up to 3 months in the freezer.

How to Freeze Buttermilk

Next time you find yourself with leftover buttermilk after whipping up your favorite coffee cake or a batch of biscuits, here's a tip: freeze it! Who can use up all that buttermilk that you get in the container from the grocery store.

Not me! I have always been freezing the entire container of buttermilk and then thawing it out as i need it. Well that method wasn't working out to well for me. I saw a buttermilk storage trick on line somewhere and I have been storing and freezing my buttermilk this way ever since.

Brilliant is what I think. Keep in mind that buttermilk can be frozen for two to three months with no problems. There is likely to have some separation when the buttermilk is thawed, but a quick shake will improve that. And since they're already measured in 1 cup bags, I can just pull out the amount I need and leave the rest in the freezer.

My grocery store always has buttermilk on clearance, so I purchase multiple containers and store them. Now I always have buttermilk on hand for Buttermilk Biscuits, Buttermilk Chicken Strips or Fried Green Tomatoes.

These are the items you will need: buttermilk, measuring cup (1 cup), Ziplock sandwich bags, and one large Ziplock freezer bag.

Using a large glass or cup add a sandwich bag inside and drape the opening over the sides. This will make it easy to pour in the buttermilk and you will also have a clean seal.

I store mine into individual 1 cup measures. It is just easier for me to remember one cup.

Seal the sandwich bag and then add all of the smaller bags to the one large freezer bag. Seal, date the bag and store in the freezer. I can get about 6-7 cups stored in one large freezer bag.

To thaw out the buttermilk just remove a bag from the freezer and let it thaw out completely. 

Make sure to give it a shake to mix up the buttermilk. If I'm in a hurry I thaw mine in a bowl of warm water. There ya go no more throwing away over ripe bananas or leftover buttermilk. I hope you will give these methods a try.