Cook Fast, Live Young: Recipes for (Nearly) Rotten Fruit

When I buy fruit, I always have good intentions. I make an estimate of how much I think I'll eat, and sometimes I even buy a little less than that. But no matter how much I adjust and re-figure, inevitably I end up with a box of soggy strawberries or brown bananas, and it feels like such a waste of money that I am reluctant to buy more fruit on my next trip to the farmer's market.

In the same boat? Well, let me tell you I've found the solution! There are tons of simple baking recipes that make really yummy use of nearly rotten fruit. In fact, banana bread is actually better if the fruit is mushy. Generally, the recipes use the same set of ingredients, so it's easy to keep them on hand for the next time you overestimate your appetite for fruit.

Banana Bread ($3 – 4)

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
3 or 4 ripe bananas (Should be roughly 1 ½ cups when mashed)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour the pan.
3. Combine butter and sugar. Whisk until smooth.
4. Beat in eggs.
5. Mash the bananas well with a fork, and add to the mixture.
6. Add flour and baking soda, stirring until combined.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Cinnamon Strawberry Bread ($5 – 6)

16 oz. strawberries
2 cups sugar
1.5 cups canola oil
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

1. Grease and flour the pan.
2. Combine sugar and oil.
3. Beat eggs, and add to sugar and oil.
4. Slightly mash the strawberries with a fork, and add that to the mix.
5. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

(Try switching out strawberries for other fruit, such as blueberries or raspberries.)

Share your recipes and tips for making use of fruit that's past its prime in the comments!

Juliana Weiss-Roessler has ten years of professional writing and editing experience. For four years, she managed the web content for the star of an Emmy-nominated reality series. Currently, she is an editor for the geek girl e-zine PinkRaygun.com, a contributor to the career blog at Resumark.com, and owner of the food blog CookFastLiveYoung.blogspot.com. Follow her @cookfast on Twitter and learn more about her work at WeissRoessler.com.