There are a lot of reasons to love bananas. A single banana has more than 26 grams of carbs, making it a high energy fruit that is perfect to fuel your workout. Plus, there are only 105 calories in a medium-sized banana, as well as fiber, potassium, vitamin C and vitamin B6.

Do you have a few bananas sitting on the counter that are overripe? Don’t toss them! Check out these ways to use overripe bananas for making great dishes:

1. Soft Serve

Overripe bananas have a more mushy texture that makes them perfect for mashing into ice cream. Simply mash the bananas, add non-dairy milk, nuts and other ingredients you prefer for your base in a baggie, then freeze. Also, check out these recipes for Raw Mango Banana Soft Serve Ice Cream, Layered Mango and Banana Ice-Cream and Creamy Vegan Banana, PB, and Chocolate Ice Cream.

2. Banana Bread

This is perhaps the most classic and well-known use for overripe bananas. And who doesn’t love a good banana bread? Try a cruelty-free version using non-dairy milk. Check out The World’s Healthiest Single-Serving Banana Bread and Vegan Banana and Blueberry Brunch Bread.

3. Muffins

Overripe bananas are great for muffins in the same way that they’re ideal for banana bread. Their soft, mushy texture helps give a smooth, delectable consistency for muffins. Try these Banana Watermelon Seed Muffins, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and Banana Peanut Butter Breakfast Muffins.

4. Smoothies

Though an overripe banana may not taste very good to eat by itself, you can certainly freeze them and use them for smoothies. Carefully peel the overripe banana and transfer them to a baggie and put in the freezer. Then, when you want a smoothie, you can just dump the frozen pieces in the blender, which will give you a thick, frosty consistency. Check out these tips for How to Make the Thickest, Frostiest Smoothie Possible and these recipes for Super Creamy! Banana, Coconut, and Chocolate Chip Smoothie and Super-Energizer Chocolate and Peanut Banana Smoothie.

5. Raw Ice Cream Cake

Lastly, transform those brown bananas into gorgeous, raw ice cream cakes that are perfect to show off at a summer party.  In this Raw Strawberry Banana Ice Cream Cake with Mint, you combine bananas with frozen berries to make a filling, so the mushiness of overripe bananas will work fine for this. In this Mindblowing Banana Chocolate Caramel Vegan Ice Cream Cake, you can use overripe bananas for the banana ice cream layer, but stick to regularly-ripe bananas for the garnish at the top. Also, try this Blueberry Strawberry Banana Ice Cream Cake.

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