One of Kenya’s favorite snack foods is Trader Joe’s “Nothing But Bananas, Flattened”. As the name clearly states, there’s nothing in them except for bananas. As much as I truly adore Trader Joe’s, I wanted to see if I could save a little money and make a similar version to this treat on my own. When I tell you my attempt took no effort or time, I mean it. All I did was slice the bananas, lay them on a cookie sheet and bake for just over an hour. It was so easy and I think they’re even better than the Trader Joe’s version.

But, don’t take my word for it. Let your family do a taste test and see for yourself. When Kenya saw these come out of the oven, he proceeded to eat the entire tray’s worth. Good thing I had more bananas on hand to make another batch!

P.S. This is a great teething snack for babies.

Banana Flats (Makes Approx. 12 Strips)

2 Bananas

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Slice the bananas lengthwise into 1/8 inch strips.
3. Place the banana strips on a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
4. Cool and serve.

I’m not sure who liked this recipe more, Chloe or the rest of the family. This Roast Pear & Banana Puree is naturally sweet and concentrated with fruit flavor. If you decide to prepare this for your baby, make sure to double the recipe because it’s addictive no matter how old you are!

This recipe only take minutes to prepare, it’s healthy and your kids will fall in love with it! We make Baked Maple Bananas for breakfast, a snack, even dessert. Get your kids in the kitchen with you to help and have some fun!

Recently, I made Baked Maple Bananas for Kenya. Everyone who tried them couldn’t get over how delicious they turned out. They’re intensely sweet, creamy and have a delicious caramel note to them. I felt like there were more recipes to be mined from that one. Pears are in season and abundance at our farmer’s market, so I thought I would try roasting them together with bananas to make baby food for Chloe. There’s nothing wrong with pureeing ripe pears and bananas together, but when you roast them it just intensifies the flavors and texture even more.

Pears and bananas are a good source of fiber, so they’ll also help to get things moving when your little one gets stopped up (TMI?)

How did it come out? Amazing! I have no other words. In fact, if you don’t believe me, check out this quick video I posted here on Twitter of Chloe taking her first bites of it. Now the hard part is trying to keep this puree away from everyone else in the family! It’s so yummy, you’ll want to serve it on top of yogurt or even to spread on a bagel with almond butter. It’s funny how these days everyone in my family wants to eat Chloe’s baby food!

Roast Pear & Banana Puree (Makes 6 Servings)

2 Bananas, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 Pears, peeled and cut into wedges (I used Bartlett pears)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place the bananas and pears on a parchment paper or Silpat lined baking sheet.
3. Roast for 25 minutes.
4. Puree until smooth.
5. Cool and serve.

We eat a lot of bananas in our house. I would say between the four of us we easily go through six bananas a day (yes, even baby Chloe eats one a day now). Sometimes, I think I live in the monkey house.

When I want to spice things up a little and do something beyond the standard banana cut up on oatmeal, blended in the smoothie or just eaten on it’s own, I make this quick, sweet dish. It seems very fancy and difficult to prepare, but it couldn’t be easier to do. Whether you’re making this for breakfast or dessert, it will excite you toddler and impress the adults. For the little ones, I like to serve the bananas with plain yogurt, but for a party you could add a scoop of Yogurt, Honey and Cinammon “Ice Cream” to make it a little more elegant.

Baked Maple Bananas

1 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
4 Bananas, peeled and cut into pieces or sliced lengthwise
1 Tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In an 8×8 inch pyrex dish combine the butter and maple syrup.
3. Melt the butter and maple syrup in the microwave or oven.
4. Add the lemon juice and cinnamon and stir to combine.
5. Gently toss the bananas in the liquid mixture to coat.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.
7. Serve.

Banana Almond Butter Recipe

This recipe is going to blow your mind (and your taste buds)! I’ve been making banana bread for years, but I must admit my original recipe contained pretty significant quantities of butter and sugar. As you know, those days are long gone for me. Still, I crave banana bread and I wanted to make a much more healthy version — minus the sugar, of course — to see how my family would like it. I don’t mean to brag, but my original banana bread recipe was pretty fantastic, so I had to keep testing and experimenting to try and match the original’s flavor and texture. I also decided to use the new recipe to make muffins, as portion control is easier and little muffins are the perfect size for little hands.

Normally, I love cooking with wheat germ because it contains 23 nutrients (like potassium and riboflavin) and has more nutrients per ounce than any other grain or vegetable. It also has a high concentration of complex carbohydrates and protein which makes it the perfect ingredient for getting your day started right. It turned out to be a great addition. It adds great taste and makes the muffins super healthy.

I was shocked at how light and sweet the new recipe turned out. When you try it, remember that the real key is using super ripe bananas. Our grocery puts the brown, spotty ones for on sale several times a week, so I always stock up on them for recipes just like this!

Banana Muffins

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Wheat Germ
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt
3 Medium Very Ripe Bananas, mashed, plus 1 banana sliced approx. 3/4 inch thick for topping
1/2 Cup Agave
3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp Vanilla
1 Large Egg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a bowl.
3. In a standing mixer combine the 3 mashed bananas, agave, oil, vanilla and egg. Beat until combined.
4. Gently mix in the dry ingredients in 3 stages until just combined. Do not over-mix.
5. Grease or line muffin cups or mini loaf pans and fill 3/4 full with the mixture.
6. Place the slices of banana on top of each filled muffin cup or decoratively over the loaf pan.
7. Bake 15 minutes for mini muffin cups, 20 for regular muffin cups or 25 minutes for mini loaf pans or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool and serve.

We used these to make this recipe:

KitchenAid Precision 24-cup Mini Muffin Pan