Baked Bananas
Bananas split and baked with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until soft and caramelised.
It looks like a banana, until you cut it open. Baking turns the flesh soft and sweet and gives it a flavour like banana bread without the bread.
Most versions come out too soft, and the fix is to choose bananas that are ripe but still firm, with a few brown flecks and no black patches. Split them lengthways, in the skin or out of it, and lay them cut-side up in a dish. Dot the butter along the cut and sprinkle the sugar over it, not all around. The sugar melts into the flesh and forms the caramel.
Bake at 200°C / 390°F for 15 minutes. The bananas should be soft, golden at the edges, and sitting in a puddle of sticky syrup.
Spoon the syrup over, and serve with Greek yoghurt, vanilla ice cream or a spoonful of crème fraîche. A pinch of salt on top turns it into a more grown-up dessert.
Baked Bananas: Step by Step
Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.
-
Heat the oven to 200°C / 390°F. Lay the banana halves cut-side up in a baking dish.
-
Dot with the butter, sprinkle with the sugar, cinnamon and salt.
-
Bake for 15 minutes until soft and caramelised. Spoon the syrup over and serve warm.
Something wrong or unclear in this recipe? Report a problem with this recipe.
A Few Pointers
- Choose bananas that are ripe but firm.
- Keep the sugar on the cut face.
- If your oven runs hot, check at 12 minutes.
- Serve warm.
Pairs Well With
Greek yoghurt · Vanilla ice cream · Crème fraîche · Chopped nuts
Leftovers and Storage
Best eaten at once.
The Numbers per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
You Might Also Like
More American cooking and desserts ideas from Weekly Delight.
Bananas Foster
Bananas cooked in butter and brown sugar, flamed with rum and spooned over vanilla ice cream. A New Orleans dessert…
Chocolate Dipped Bananas
Frozen banana halves on sticks dipped in dark chocolate and rolled in crushed nuts, frozen for 2 hours.
Banana Cream Pie
Sliced bananas layered in a thick homemade vanilla custard in a buttery biscuit crust, topped with whipped cream and…
Banana Pudding
Layers of vanilla wafers, sliced banana and a real cooked custard, left overnight so the biscuits soften into cake…
Cottage Cheese Ice Cream
Low-fat cottage cheese blended with frozen banana and strawberries into a thick, creamy soft-serve, with no machine…
Frozen Banana Pops
Banana halves on sticks dipped in melted chocolate, rolled in chopped peanuts and frozen until firm.