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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.
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Banana Leather
Ingredients
- 2 bananas
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- Slice the bananas lengthwise into 1/8 inch strips.
- Place the banana strips on a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Cool and serve.
This should still be okay. Watch her closely when you give her the first one to see how she handles it!
My daughter is eight months old and has 5 teeth, but three of them aren’t all the way out, do you think these are a good idea for her?
[…] them, I thought these might be the perfect solution. I did some searching around the web and found Weelicious.com‘s version of how to prepare them. I modified it slightly (it’s just bananas, there is […]
It really depends on your baby and what stage she’s at! I gave these to my kids while they were teething. Good job making sure to supervise when offering a new food!
What age do you recommend these for? I made them today, gave them to my baby while supervising and pieces broke off. I had to finger sweep her mouth. Very scary!
I just made these last night, and the house smelled great while they were baking, like banana bread, and they tasted great!. But, some of the pieces came out a bit crisp, and others were still a little mushy. Maybe some were too thin and others too thick? They also kept falling apart while cutting. What do you recommend as the perfect ripeness of the bananas? Mine were starting to get brown spots and little too soft (in my opinion) to eat.
Probably not, but I would switch the trays halfway through. Rotate them and switch their positions!
If I bake two batches at once will it change the time?
I made these this weekend (along w/ strawberries) and brushed them lightly with a dilute honey glaze. I baked on a silpat at 195 deg (also had a pan of strawberry rollups in there) and it took a VERY long time – about 3.5 hours for the bananas and strawberries to become crispy. I thought they were fantastic – which is a good thing, b/c nobody else in my family would touch them. Yum, more for me!
I tried these and they didn’t come out right. I cut them thin and they broke apart, and the ones that were slightly thicker were gooey and mushy. I don’t know what I did wrong but I followed the directions. Is it possible that they need more time in the oven? The crispy thin ones were delicious but I dont think I would give them to my baby. Any tips?
Have you tried this in a dehydrator?
I attempted to make these for the first time today and found that I didn’t cut them very well and had trouble with getting them off the parchment paper as well. =P I’ve never really liked bananas even as a kid and all through my entire life but there are so yummy! Absolutely addicting!
OMG, I can’t wait to try making these! I live in Canada, where there are no TJs, and my mum just came up from the States for her summer visit and brought me only 2 packs of Flattened Bananas! I was hoping to find a recipe that didn’t require a dehydrator, so I’m very excited and will let you know how I make out. Cheers!
This is great! I’ll do anything to make my own stuff rather than buy Trader Joe’s – there’s so much plastic packaging per serving of snack food! I’m excited to try this.
I love you! Tried this tuesday and LOVE them. My 2 & 4 year old call them candy and mommy and daddy love them too. I’ve never liked banana chips but these are nice and soft. Hubby used to by dried bananas whole from the natural food store as a treat but I think mommy can make them now, thanks to you! Which is great because the last batch needs returned to the store as something is wrong with it…
Two techniques might make slicing the bananas lengthwise a bit easier. One would be to briefly freeze the bananas. The second would be to slice the bananas with the peeling left intact. I would use a serated bread knife for slicing in either method.