Name: 10-Minute Caramelized Bananas Recipe (Quick and Easy)
Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 10 min
Cuisine: Topping
Ingredients: Two Medium Ripe or Overripe Bananas; 2 Tablespoons Plant-Based Butter or Margarine (see Note 2); 2 Tablespoons Coconut Sugar (see Note 3); 1/8 to 1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract, Optional; A sprinkle (1/8 to 1/4 Teaspoon) of Cinnamon, Optional

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Caramelized Bananas are a super quick and easy topping for vanilla ice cream, French toast, and more. You only need a handful of ingredients and less than 10 minutes to make this golden brown, syrupy treat that will take any decadent dessert to the next level.

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Hey Internet, learning how to caramelize fruit has been one of our favorite ways to make any sweet breakfast or dessert to the next level. Caramelized bananas are our new favorite topping for vanilla ice cream (dairy-free of course) and our morning oatmeal or chia pudding. So good!

We've already made Caramelized Peaches and put them in Peach Chia Pudding and on our Vegan Dutch Baby. We've also made Caramelized Apples and put them on top of Vegan Apple Cake and in Vegan Apple Pie Chia Pudding.

It might now be somewhat obvious what we did with these caramelized bananas then... we put them on some chia pudding and made Banana Chia Pudding and it was totally delicious. Oh, and we so made another few batches to have on vegan vanilla ice cream and it was seriously a next level decadent dessert.

Today, we're going to make our super easy caramelized bananas. This fast yet comforting vegan dessert is truly delicious and there are so many different ways to enjoy it. Our personal favorite is with ice cream of course. The best ice cream to eat with this easy caramelized banana recipe? We really love vanilla flavored oat milk ice cream but any you like should work.

With simple ingredients, this 5-ingredient recipe only takes about 10 minutes to make. Soon you'll have a topping for your ice cream for an easy dessert, or a fun new topping for your morning oatmeal, chia pudding, French toast, pancakes, waffles, vegan Greek yogurt, or whatever else you can think of!

Why You'll Love These Caramelized Bananas

Super Simple: Only 5 ingredients and 10 minutes to get a ton of sweet banana flavor.
So Sweet and Gooey: The syrup that surrounds these bananas is perfect for the sweet tooth in your life.
Perfect Topping: Put these sliced bananas on any dessert to make it so much better, from parfaits to pound cake, on top of ice cream, to French toast, and more!

Ingredients

Pick up the following basic ingredients for these caramelized banana slices the next time you're at your local grocery store. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredients, instructions, and accurate nutrition information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs or need to meet certain daily values of any nutrient). we give substitutions for the ingredients in the section below this one, so most people can still make this recipe!

Two Medium Bananas: You can use ripe bananas or overripe bananas for this recipe. The overripe ones can sometimes fall apart during the cooking process, so keep that in mind (you may or may not like that depending on your preferences!).
2 Tablespoons Plant-Based Butter or Margarine: This helps caramelize the sugar and create the decadent caramel sauce.
2 Tablespoons Coconut Sugar: While cane sugar (white sugar) and brown sugar will both work, we wanted to try this recipe with coconut sugar because we thought the flavor would be amazing... and we were right! It also keeps things naturally sweetened if that's important to you.
⅛ to ¼ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract, Optional: A little boost of vanilla to the flavor is awesome in this caramelized banana recipe, but feel free to skip it if you like.
A sprinkle (⅛ to ¼ Teaspoon) of Cinnamon, Optional: We liked the flavor of a little cinnamon here, but it's optional. We are cinnamon snobs, by the way, and only really like Ceylon cinnamon which has a far superior flavor (and better health benefits) than any other type of cinnamon.

Substitutions

Bananas: This appears to work with many other fruits... but then it wouldn't be a caramelized bananas recipe! Feel free to try this method and base recipe with other fruits though such as plums or pineapple!
Vegan Butter: You can swap out the vegan butter for coconut oil if you'd like. We haven't tried this recipe without the butter or oil so we aren't sure how it would turn out but in theory it should still work. BTW if your vegan butter is unsalted butter, you may wish to add a tiny pinch of salt to the recipe.
Coconut Sugar: Cane sugar or brown sugar will work fine with this recipe. Maple syrup or agave syrup will also work.

How to Caramelize Bananas

Slice Bananas: Slice fresh bananas into thick (¼-inch) coins. Alternatively, you could cut long halves if you want to be fancy and make bananas foster.
Heat Frying Pan: Heat a nonstick skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. And and let the butter melt, moving it around the pan to coat it in the melted butter.
Add Bananas: Place bananas in the melted butter in a single layer (if you cut your bananas lengthwise, place them flat side down).
Add Remaining Ingredients: Add the coconut sugar and any other ingredients such as vanilla, cinnamon, and/or a pinch of salt. Stir.
Cook: Let the sugar dissolve and stir occasionally, cooking for about 6-8 minutes until desired tenderness but keeping a close watch. The flesh of the banana should turn golden brown and the caramel sauce should be come thick and syrup-like.
Cool Slightly and Serve: Cool for a few minutes before adding to a scoop of ice cream, Banana Chia Pudding, or eating straight out of the pan (not that we've done that...).
Storage: These will keep for 1-2 days but the texture does start to deteriorate. For best results, consume soon after making.

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