Canned Bananas?

I had a surplus of bananas and wondered what I could do with them. The bananas were pretty old and I thought we may just end up giving the bananas to the chickens. Fortunately I found a recipe on line that I used to can banana butter. Turns out we really like it!

Ingredients:
16 medium sized bananas-very ripe

very ripe bananas!

1/2 cup pear juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
4 cups granulated sugar
1 TBSP unsalted butter
1(3oz)pkg of powdered pectin
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1tsp ground cloves

Step 1
Peel bananas and mash them in a large pot. Add pear juice, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, stirring constantly. Simmer 30 minutes.

Step 2
Run the banana mixture through a sieve. Return the banana mixture to the pan. Now you want to add the butter, and seasonings. Stir until blended. Add lemon juice, and sugar. Bring the mixture back to boil, stirring constantly. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the pectin.

Step 3
Continue stirring and reduce the heat. Stirring is important because you don't want to burn or scorch the mixture. Simmer for another 30 minutes. Be sure to skim off any foam that appears. Mixture will begin to thicken, and become creamy.

Step 4
Water Bath Canner
To preserve the butter by canning, spoon warm butter into sterile canning jars and process 15 minutes(boiling water bath). This will make about 7 half pint jars. Any butter you want to keep can be refrigerated for up to 10 days.

banana butter

A few years ago, I would have tossed bananas that looked like what came from these peels! Who knew what I was missing?How sad was I that I wasted so much food? They look pretty sorry, but in the process of canning the banana butter, we on the farm discovered a new breakfast! Instead of doing anything beyond step one, stop and serve up in cereal bowls. This was so yummy!!

Notes :I ended up canning 4 pints and 1-1/2 pint with this recipe. I exchanged lemon juice with lime juice, and I got pear juice from a can of peaches that were canned in pear juice(it was exactly 1/2 cup).