Mashing bananas for Muffins: By hand or with blender?
I am planning to bake some Banana Muffins. The recipe calls for mashed bananas. From my experience I know this can be tricky, because when mashing them by hand, of course they aren't as finely mashed as if I use my stick blender.
What is the ideal consistency for mashed bananas in muffins?
When done by hand I am afraid some parts of the banana will sink to the bottom. When done with the blender I am afraid it gets too liquid.
Best Answer
It sounds like your bananas might not be ripe enough. If they're really ripe, you can mash with a fork and with very little effort turn them into a nice smooth goopy mush. There shouldn't be any pieces left to sink. You want to wait until they're so ripe you wouldn't want to eat them - blackening skin, very very soft.
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Can you use a blender to mash bananas?
Take out the banana "string" and cut off both ends of the banana tips. Slice the banana(s) into small chunks or pieces. Place the pieces into a food processor or blender. Blend or pur\xe9e mixture until well mixed thoroughly.What is the best way to mash bananas for banana bread?
According to The Kitchn, if you want to have banana bread with completely smooth bananas throughout, and no chunks, mashing them in a separate bowl before introducing them to the mixture is the best way to go.1 Minute Blender BANANA BREAD RECIPE ! The EASIEST Banana Bread Recipe 🍌
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Answer 2
A trick to make sure they're ripe enough is to put them in a brown paper bag overnight. They emit ethylene gas, which causes them to change color, flavor, and texture. Putting them in a brown paper bag allows them to still breathe, but traps in all that gas, which hastens the ripening process. This is best to do with already ripe bananas the night before you want to make the muffins (or bread, etc.).
After, just use a fork in a large bowl. The consistency should be to the point where you could almost drink it with a straw - very goopy.
Answer 3
One more trick, but it requires about two days planning:
- Freeze the bananas.
- Thaw them in a bowl in the fridge. (takes about a day, depending on how thoroughly frozen they are)
You will be left with some rather sad bananas when they're done, but you just slice the bananas in half, and the insides just slide right out, and you can finish mashing with a fork or potato masher.
(warning : there will be quite a bit of liquid. The freezing breaks the cell walls, causing the banana to soften up; the advantage is that you can keep them in the freezer for months, so when you have a sad banana or two you can pop 'em in the freezer and come back when you have enough bananas & free time to make bread.)
Answer 4
From my experience, I like the bananas to be liquified so you don't see lumps of banana in the finished muffin. Most banana muffin recipes are thick enough that any lumps wouldn't likely sink to the bottom, however. (Unless they're really big chunks.) My recipe for muffins uses oil, and I like to blend the oil and cut up banana together in my small blender (Magic Bullet). The added benefit is it incorporates some air to help make the banana lighter. (I wouldn't recommend adding the eggs into the blender however, because eggs toughen if over beaten and it's easy to do in a blender.)
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