Manzana Bananas: What Are They and How Do I Use Them?

I never heard of Manzana Bananas until I saw them in the produce department at a local grocery store.  They’re cute little bananas, 8-10 to a bunch, and they provide about three mouthfuls of fruit.

They seemed like the perfect answer to my lifelong problem of buying regular bananas and watching them over-ripen before having the chance to eat all of them.

Once I got them home, though, I became confused.  The store receipt said Manzana Bananas, but the label on the fruit itself said Baby Bananas from Guatemala.  Eating one didn’t solve anything.  It tasted like a banana, which is why I bought them in the first place.

I did some research and learned that Manzana Bananas have a tinge of apple flavor, which explains why sometimes they are called apple bananas.  But that’s too subtle for me.  If I want an apple flavor, I’ll eat an apple.

Normally I don’t think of bananas as a dessert ingredient, but my research reminded me that I used to make Bananas Foster, which is basically bananas fried in butter, sugar, rum, vanilla and cinnamon, sometimes served over vanilla ice cream.  I stopped making it when I decided that the only desserts worth eating had chocolate in them.

I do make Chocolate Banana Bread from time to time, and it fulfills my banana and chocolate needs.

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