Three bananas, to be exact. Oh, did you need more than that? Tough.
You know you have them: excess bananas, malingering on your kitchen counters and gradually outliving their usefulness. Unless you’re one of those locavore people who only eat food produced within 1.3 miles of your Berkeley home*, which you built by hand from local stone carried block by block from your homemade quarry (it was a fun family weekend project!). You can go back to steaming your fresh-picked asparagus in the sparkling spring water little Timmy just gathered from the stream running behind your renovated eco-friendly but historically-accurate bungalow. Great job smelting those pots and pans!
I kid because I love! I’m pro organic, local foods that have not spent three weeks sitting in a refrigerated tractor trailer, and look forward to the start of the CSA season. But you know what else? I also love a frigging banana.
*If you’re a Costa Rica-based locavore, enjoy those bananas guilt-free!
Inter-blender photography 1. From the artist’s own collection.
Anyway, if you buy bananas then you have old bananas. And you probably look at them, are filled with a sense of your own industry, and think “I’m going to make some banana bread this weekend!” And then the weekend comes, and you fall asleep on the couch while trying to make it through the Sunday Times. (Don’t try to deny it.)
I beseech thee: Do not throw those beleaguered bananas away! Peel them, put them in ziploc bags and stash them in the freezer. For then, you will be able to make these ultimate peanut butter-banana smoothies at the drop of a lopsided organic hemp hat woven by your locavore friend Paul.
Inter-blender photography 2: The Reckoning. From the artist’s own collection.
For a filling breakfast for two, hie to your blender with frozen bananas, milk, yogurt (I like strained Greek yogurt for its body and texture), peanut butter (yes, I use the all-natural kind) and honey. Blend until smooth, adding a little extra milk if the mixture is too think to move and a little more honey if you like things a little sweeter, or if your significant other doesn’t like his smoothie so “yogurty.”
Still just the three. Did you think there would be more?
You will be rewarded with a thick and delicious breakfast more reminiscent of a milkshake than a smoothie. The combination of the frozen banana and yogurt give it a wonderful texture that belies the absence of ice cream. You can sub in other frozen fruits for the banana and peanut butter and you’ll still have a yummy smoothie, but it won’t have quite the same creaminess.
It’s faster than banana bread, it tastes damn good, and it keeps you full until lunchtime. The only way it could be any better were if you had a banana tree in your backyard. And if you do, this recipe probably doesn’t help much, because god only knows how many unused, rotting bananas you have sitting around. Maybe you should buy a chest freezer.
What’s your favorite smoothie? Can it possibly be as good as this one?*
*Answer: No. But tell me about it anyway.
Peanut Butter-Bananas Breakfast Smoothies for 2
2 frozen bananas
1 c. Greek yogurt (low- or non-fat is fine)
4 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
1 c. milk (any fat level)
2 tbsp. honey
Throw all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more milk, if necessary, to thin things out a bit. Divide between 2 16 oz. glasses. Consume immediately.
Thursday Night Smackdown 
Hehehe! How do you come up with this stuff! That smoothie is a great idea! I always have a multitude of old bananas around here. Everybody buys them, but nobody ever EATS them!
I’ll bet if you throw all those ingredients in an ice cream maker, you’d have a killer frozen yogurt.
Looks great! My son and I LOVE bananas so much that they never hang around long enough to use in a recipe. To get round this I bought extra last week and froze them especially, I shall give this a try, along with all those other banana cakes, bread, muffins I never get to make.
This is just what I love to make! I was eating protein shakes that were basically just this recipe with a scoop of protein powder. I called it ice cream to trick myself. 🙂
We think alike. Im craving a good smoothie and picked up some banannas.Im thinking of trying Agave Nectar rather than honey to compare.
As an anti-hippie pro-organic vegetable buyer, I feel you. But I can also maintain a tissue-thin veneer of superiority because they grow bananas in Queensland, which is technically still in my country, so if I squint and tilt my head I could call bananas ‘local.’
Your smoothies look so damned good, and would be a fine end for the many bananas I have bagged in my freezer. Godamnit, I want more kitchen appliances.
susan: you know, i bet you would. i see some buds on the trees outside, that must mean it’s the appropriate time to haul out the ice cream maker, right? right?
erica: wow, you definitely get a prize for using up your bananas so promptly!
gretchen: that’s why these are my favorites – they’re so yummy, you don’t have to trick yourself.
courtney: ooh, let me know how it is. i’ve been wanting to start using agave nectar. also stevia, how you ever worked with that?
rach: you go with that, i won’t judge you.
ha! “i won’t judge you” – that was a good one!
fact: green bananas make me gag. i hardly ever end up with bananas past their prime because i like ’em brown and mushy and sweet. if ever i wait too long to enjoy a banana or three (i.e. a spoon becomes required or there’s mold growing on the peel), these smoothies are definitely worth a try.
Any post that takes a jab at the Berkeley nutjobs is a good one.
Nice blendercam.
I love bananas when they are really ripe and spotted like this. The flavors of the bananas really come out in this condition. Green bananas are like cucumbers.
Love the smoothie for 2! Perfect for us!
When I saw those bananas I immediately thought ‘Banana Cake’ but a smoothie is good too. I love that you paired the Bananas with Peanut Butter – Great Combo!
There’s just some non-local foods that you can’t live without!
I was thinking banana cake when I saw them too… then I was thinking damn there’s a lot of people making banana cake lately! So I doubly enjoyed your smoothie!
so this morning we had:
1 spotted banana
fresh squeezed blood orange juice
a big pear
a bunch of strawberries
greek yogurt
touch of wildflower honey
hit the button and voila
was a wonderful way to start another grueling day before my monitor
Just bought bananas on Friday. Now I have to hide them….
re: agave
it’s great stuff. it’s a staple here
you won’t notice a huge taste diff in a smoothie but the glycemic index is lower which is a huge bonus if you’re a bit sugar sensitive
Unrelated…congratulatiuons on winning the Royal Foodie Joust. Can’t wait to see what you have chosen for your 3 ingredients. Let the games begin:D
Groom’s Smoothie…
banana
honey
vanilla soy milk
strawberries
mango
totally rocks our world every morning.
definitely going to try the pb and banana smoothie!!!
I love your posts! Thanks for giving me more ideas to use up the always brown and spotty, ready to throw out bananas that sit on my countertop!
Nothing against your lovely smoothie, but my first thought when I saw overripe bananas was BANANA CHIP MUFFINS.
Then I wonder why I carry around these extra pounds.
grace: wow, i’ve never eaten a banana with a spoon. i’m not sure i would like that.
syd: i do what i can.
WoRC: glad you like it!
carol & robin: if you have the banana cake motivation, don’t let me stop you. check out my nutella day entry for an awesome chocolate-nutella ganache that is killer on banana cake.
claudia: you had to be a fancy-pants, with your “touch of wildflower honey.” so precious.
BE: throw ’em in a paper bag. they’ll be hidden from few, and they’ll get spotty faster. mmm.
bellini: thank you thank you! i stressed over my ingredient picks, i hope people like ’em.
mary: i love the bananas-strawberry combo, but Bri is not a berry fan so we usually go with the PB+B. i bet banana-mango would go over well though.
shari: thanks, and you’re welcome!
rachel: i think things like “banana chip muffins!” too. but then i’m lazy, and i make banana smoothies.
Peanut butter and banana? Yum!
I’m sick and have the worst sore throat and this looks sooooo good (yes, I’m whining). Will you come make one for me. Pretty please?
and here i’ve just been eating frozen banana mash. though it’s good, this smoothie looks a lot better. sucks that all the ice cream shops in denmark are closed for the winter.