Air Fryer Caramelized Bananas

Air fryer bananas with a sweet, brown sugar caramel make a delicious and decadent dessert. Caramelized bananas are soft and warm with just a slight crunch from the caramelized sugar. They are delicious served with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Made with simple ingredients and ready in about 15 minutes, they work well as a snack or dessert or can be served for breakfast with some Greek yogurt.

Jump to:

• What are Air Fried Bananas?
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Serving Suggestions
• Top tip & FAQS
• More Air Fryer Dessert Recipes
• Printable Recipe

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What are Air Fried Bananas?

Air-fried caramelized bananas are quick and easy. They are a delicious dessert option when you want something light, but they also make a nice snack. They can even be served for breakfast with some Greek yogurt and crunchy granola.

Whole, fresh bananas are simply sliced in half, brushed with butter, then sprinkled with a brown sugar cinnamon mixture that turns into a sweet caramel when heated in the air fryer.

The air-fried bananas will be soft and warm and are delicious served with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. But they are just as tasty when they are served cold.

The caramelized banana halves are also an excellent choice as a base for banana splits.

Ingredients

For a complete list of ingredients, see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Fresh bananas – Choose ripe bananas that are still firm without many brown spots. The firm bananas will hold up better when cooked.
• Brown sugar – Dark or light brown sugar both work fine. Dark brown sugar will have a slightly richer flavour than light brown sugar. 
• Cinnamon – Cinnamon adds a nice light spice to these bananas. If you want, you can substitute this with spices like pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice, depending what you have on hand.
• Butter – I like to use salted butter as it gives the caramel just a bit more flavour, but you can use unsalted butter just fine.

Instructions

While you are preparing the ingredients, begin preheating the air fyrer. Preheat it at 350° for 5 minutes.

Next, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

Peel the bananas and slice them in half lengthwise. Then brush the bananas with melted butter on both sides of the halves and sprinkle with the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. You can gently pat the sugar onto the bananas to help it stick.

Once the air fryer has preheated, line the basket with a piece of parchment and lay the banana halves on top in a single layer.

Pro Tip: Don’t skip the parchment paper in this recipe. The bananas will be delicate after cooking, lifting them out with the parchment paper will help prevent them from falling apart.

Place the basket into the air fryer and set it to 350° for 7 mintues. After 7 minutes check the bananas. If they are not quite soft enough, or the sugar is not fully melted, add another minute or two.

Carefully lift the bananas out of the air fryer by lifing the parchement paper, with the banans on top, out of the fryer. Set on a plate or tray, then transfer the bananas to plates for serving. The bananas may still break a bit as they are extremely delicate after cooking, but they will still be delicious.

Pro Tip: Cooking time will vary slightly depending on the ripeness of the bananas. Softer bananas will need a shorter cooking time, while bananas on the firmer side will require a longer cooking time.

Serving Suggestions

There are so many ways you can serve these caramelized bananas. 

As a dessert – The simplest way to serve these air-fried bananas is warm with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

For a bit of crunch, you can top them with sliced almonds or chopped pecans.

To make them more adult you can add a drizzle of liqueur if you like. They are delicious with a drizzle of Kaluha!

These bananas also work well, and are especially delicious, as a base for banana splits.

As a breakfast – Try serving these bananas with a dollop of Greek yogurt and a sprinkle of granola or muesli.

As a snack – Anything goes. Top them with ice cream, yogurt, caramel, or just eat them as is.

Top tip & FAQS

• You don’t need to flip the bananas while cooking. As soon as the bananas warm they will become delicate and flipping will just cause them to fall apart.
• If your bananas are extremely ripe, start with slightly less cooking time as they will soften further while in the air fryer.

More Air Fryer Dessert Recipes

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Printable Recipe

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