Here’s your next healthy energy snack.

Bananas are a well-known nutritious energy food. Who doesn’t love throwing them into smoothies, ice cream or boosting healthy baking with the natural sugars from a few smashed bananas. Whether you’re about to go on a hike or just need more healthy snacks, homemade dehydrated bananas are a great little energy snack. Dehydrating preserves the taste and nutrients so you can satisfy your sweet tooth for months.

Dehydrating banana in the Breeze Food Dehydrator is really simple, and it’s a much healthier option than many store-bought varieties, especially those crunchy banana chips which are actually fried rather than dried.

If you want your dehydrated bananas to have a light colour, you will have to pre-treat them with a solution that helps prevent browning before you dehydrate them. We use a simple mixture of lemon juice and water. The juice will not affect the taste of the bananas and bonus, it acts as a preservative. When all the moisture is drawn out, you’ll be left with slightly crunchy, slightly chewy sweet morsels of concentrated banana.

When selecting bananas for dehydrating, make sure they are firm, and not too over-ripe or bruised. Firmer bananas will go more chip-like while over-ripe bananas will remain sticky.

You can cut them into circular pieces or lengthwise slices depending on your preference.

INGREDIENTS

Bananas
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice*
2 cups water*

*Optional pre-treatment solution.

METHOD

1.   Prepare the lemon juice and water solution in a large bowl.
2.   Peel the bananas and cut into uniform slices, either crosswise or lengthwise.
3.   Soak the banana pieces in the lemon solution for approx. 5 minutes.
4.   Line the Breeze dehydrator racks with silicon mesh liners to prevent the banana from sticking.

5.   Remove the banana pieces with a slotted spoon or your hands and arrange in a single layer on the dehydrator trays, making sure the slices are not touching.
6.   Tap the trays so the excess juice drips off. What does not come off will evaporate during dehydration.

7.   Stack the trays then set the temperature to 60°C / 140°F and the time to 8 hours. The bananas may not be completely dry at this point, but it is a good idea to check in and take a sample. Let a piece cool to room temperature then bend and taste it to see if it’s your desired texture.
8.   Dried banana should be pliable and slightly sticky when done, however you can choose to leave them on for longer until they become more brittle like banana chip. It is not possible to achieve the same level of crunch that you would get from a commercial banana chip.

9.   Depending on the thickness of your slices and the humidity on the day it will take between 8–12 hours to dehydrate banana.
10.  If your banana is destined for long term storage, follow the steps in this conditioning guide.
11.  Store dried banana in sealed jars or vacuum seal for longer. See our new vacuum canisters for long term storage solutions.
12.  If stored correctly, dehydrated banana should last for more than a year.

If you make this, or any of our recipes, we would love to see your creations. Leave us a comment, or tag a photo using #luvelelife on Instagram. 

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