Green and yellow bananas bought from a supermarket may seemingly ripen far too fast, which means many of them may be thrown away when they feel squishy on the outside.

Rather than let any browned bananas go to waste, you can use them to make sweet banana bread. But, before you buy your next bunch of bananas, you will want to be aware of two food storage hacks.

The first one, shared by Daily Basis Hacks on YouTube, revealed how to keep bananas fresh and edible for seven days. “Divide the bananas from each other,” the script on the video read, with the man cutting the bananas from the attached stem.

The next step is to “use plastic wrap (cling film) and wrap it tightly” around the top of the cut banana, where the connected stem used to be.

“Store them in the fridge,” the video continued, referring to the bananas with stems wrapped in cling film. “This will keep bananas fresh for up to one week,” the experts claimed, but there is another way to store bananas for up to six months.

Splitting open the banana(s) you want to store for six months, the next step is to slice the banana diagonally.

From there, after slicing all the bananas you want to store for up to six months, you need to label a plastic food storage bag with “banana” and the date.

“Add [the bananas] in a plastic bag and keep them in the freezer for up to six months,” the expert explained. Do note that the skin of the bananas are not stored in the freezer, only the creamy banana.

Banana bread

For those who have browned bananas and would like to know how to turn them into banana bread, then here’s a recipe for you.

Banana bread recipe

Baker Sally McKenney shared her “favourite” recipe to make delicious banana bread that she has “cherished for years”.

Ingredients:

250g all-purpose flour (spooned and level)
One tsp of baking soda
Quarter tsp of salt
Half a tsp of ground cinnamon
Eight tbsp of unsalted butter
150g packed light or dark brown sugar
Two large eggs
80g plain yoghurt or sour cream
460g mashed bananas (about four)
One tsp of pure vanilla extract
(Optional) Chopped pecans or walnuts

Method

Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a metal loaf pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about two minutes.

With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then beat in the yogurt, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract until combined.

With the mixer running on low speed, slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no flour pockets remain. Do not over-mix. Fold in the nuts, if using.

Pour and spread the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the bread with aluminium foil halfway through to prevent the top from getting too brown.

The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs.

Remove the bread from the oven and allow the bread to cool in the pan set on a wire rack for one hour. Remove bread from the pan and cool bread directly on the wire rack until ready to slice and serve.

Cover and store banana bread at room temperature for two days or in the refrigerator for up to one week.