Rum and Cinnamon Caramelized Bananas

Yes. Bananas, butter, brown sugar. With the addition of rum, cinnamon, and a pinch of coarse sea salt. All cooked in a pan until they are golden brown, syrupy, and perfectly soft.

You might think this is a dessert. And you could be right. These rum caramelized bananas definitely taste like dessert. And you could definitely eat them over ice cream. They would be delicious over french toast. I put them in oatmeal.

I know. Boring. But I try (and often fail!) to eat a healthy breakfast, and oatmeal is often on the list. But it gets so boring. For real.

So I sometimes add treats to my oatmeal. It could be chocolate. It could be nut butter. Or in this case it’s definitely some bananas caramelized with a bit of rum and cinnamon. Is it the healthiest addition? Probably not. But it’s better than the cinnamon roll or doughnut that I want to eat, so I consider it a win.

When you make these, you’ll need bananas. Obviously. But unlike most banana recipes where you might want super ripe, blackened bananas, in this case, you want yellow bananas with no green or black in sight. It might take some luck on your part, but that will give you the best result here. Your caramelized bananas won’t be mushy, but they also won’t taste like unripened fruit. So aim for perfection if you can, but use what you’ve got.

As far as everything else goes, it’s pretty easy. Rum — whatever dark rum you have. Only a splash is necessary. If you don’t have dark rum, you can use bourbon, whiskey, white rum, or leave it out (in that order!) I mean, you don’t have to add the liquor. But it just elevates this to a new level, I promise you.