Healthy Banana Recipes

By the end of the week, any bananas left in the fruit bowl are past their prime--just right for these moist bran muffins. Add a handful of dark chocolate chips to entice children to enjoy a fiber-rich treat.

With a stash of berries in your freezer, you can jump-start your day with this nutritious, tasty smoothie in just minutes. It provides vitamin C, fiber, potassium and soy protein.

The slight acidity of buttermilk tenderizes and moistens baked goods while allowing you to cut way back on butter or oils. Here, it also lends a slight tanginess to the winning combination of bananas and blueberries. To make muffins instead, see Muffin Variation.

This healthy smoothie recipe is a protein and fiber-rich drink to go.

With plenty of protein from both tofu and soymilk, this banana-split-inspired breakfast smoothie will keep you satisfied until lunchtime.

This banana quick bread is full of chocolate chips and toasted heart-healthy walnuts so you get a taste of nuts and chocolate in each bite. This version reduces the fat substantially and uses nonfat buttermilk to make the results extremely moist and tender.

The slight acidity of buttermilk tenderizes and moistens baked goods while allowing you to cut way back on butter or oils. Here, it also lends a slight tanginess to the winning combination of bananas and blueberries.

Packed with flavorful and wholesome ingredients, these carrot-banana muffins make a good snack or breakfast.

Sweet bananas combined with oranges, cilantro and lime juice create a fresh relish to serve with mild, white-fleshed fish, or try it alongside roast chicken or pork.

Kids will love dipping bananas in melted chocolate and rolling them in coconut to make this tasty frozen treat.

This bright and easy breakfast packs two servings of fruit plus soy protein and fiber.

The bananas have to get in and out of the pan in 1 1/2 minutes, no longer, so they stay firm in the center. If you are cooking for 4, you can easily double the recipe; it is important not to crowd the skillet, so get everything ready to go and make it in 2 batches.

Banana bread is the perfect vehicle for using bananas once they are past their prime.

Get your daily dose of dark leafy greens any time of day with this delicious green smoothie. Ground flaxseed adds omega-3s. Pour any extra into a freezer-pop mold and have it later as a frozen green smoothie pop.

This rice pudding is dairy-free, but the bananas and rice milk make it so creamy and rich-tasting, no one will know the difference.

Here we layer delicate banana-buttermilk cake with a fluffy Bavarian-style cream that's made low-fat by combining nonfat milk with a reasonable amount of whipping cream. The rich taste makes it hard to believe that this cake has only 300 calories and 3 grams of saturated fat per slice.

Talk about a grab-and-go breakfast: this bagel topped with nut butter and banana slices is ready in just 5 minutes and easy to eat on the run.

This healthy banana smoothie is made with vanilla kefir and spiked with warming spices.

Mustard and thyme flavor chicken and veggies in this easy dinner.

Most of the good stuff in a Philly cheese steak, from thin-sliced steak to onions, peppers and mushrooms, is still here but we opt for slightly-less-gooey but more flavorful provolone cheese in place of Cheese Whiz. We adore spicy banana peppers as a topping, but omit them if you can do without the heat.