How To Make Crispy Peanut Butter Banana Fritters
Let me teach you how to make banana fritters! These golden brown fritters combine sweet ripe bananas in a soft dough made with peanut butter and cinnamon. Serve warm from the hot oil with coffee caramel sauce for dipping.
I have been making these banana fritters for years. They are slightly more challenging than banana bread but, dare I say, more delicious? I mean is there anything that beats sweet dough warm from the fryer?
If you have surplus bananas sitting on the counter right now, this is a delicious way to use them. They are like the best banana doughnut hole you’ve ever tasted. There’s no better weekend morning than one that starts with homemade fritters.
The coffee caramel sauce is optional, but really takes these over the top. It is a sauce I learned to make when I was the Sous Chef at Mustard’s Grill in Napa Valley. At the restaurant we served the sauce with an intensely rich chocolate tart but I think it goes equally well with these fluffy fritters. Without the sauce they are more in breakfast territory or perhaps a quick snack but the sauce turns them into a dinner-party worthy dessert. Or maybe Easter brunch or a fun Valentine’s Day treat?
What Are Banana Fritters?
Banana fritters are a popular snack, breakfast, and dessert across the world from India and the Philippines to Jamaica and Trinidad. The term typically refers to fried dough that is made from mashed ripe bananas (although Filipino banana fritters are made with Saba banana or plantains). Warm spices like cinnamon and cardamom, as well as vanilla extract are typically in the mix as well.
This recipe for banana fritters is very similar but we are using peanut butter to add even more indulgence and making them (bonus!) vegan. This recipe is just as easy to whip up as banana pancakes or banana waffles on a Saturday morning.
If you are a banana lover you will also want to try my brown butter banana cupcakes or my blueberry banana buttermilk popsicles.
Made From Simple Ingredients
- Ripe bananas: Use overripe bananas for the sweetest banana flavor. I don’t recommend bananas that have been frozen however, they are too wet. Save those to make banana bundt cake. This is a great way to use up any bananas going bad on your counter.
- Crunchy Peanut Butter: There are no real wet ingredients here except peanut butter and bananas. I like Jif natural crunchy peanut butter.
- All-purpose flour: Part of the dry ingredients that holds the fritters together.
- Granulated sugar: To sweeten a little, the powdered sugar at the end adds most of the sweetness.
- Baking powder: To give the fritters an airy consistency.
- Cinnamon & salt: To add complexity.
- Vegetable oil: I recommend using vegetable oil but you can substitute canola or avocado oil. The amount of oil really depends on how wide or tall your pot is. You want oil to fill about 1/3 of the pot. I use a little more than 1 quart for my 5.5 quart Dutch oven. If you have a deep fryer fill that.
- Powdered sugar: For dusting or you can use cinnamon sugar.
- Coffee Caramel Sauce: If you don’t want to make the sauce, serve with store bought caramel sauce or ice cream (or both)! If serving for breakfast, maple syrup makes a good dipper.
How to Make Banana Fritters
- Make the caramel sauce: The first step is to make the coffee caramel sauce. You can make this up to a week in advance and store in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.
- Mash bananas: Mix the mashed bananas with the peanut butter.
- Stir in everything but the flour.
- Combine: Gently mix in the flour just until combined.
- Heat the Oil: Heat oil to 350 degrees f (177°C) over medium heat. A candy thermometer is helpful here.
- Fry the Fritters: Scoop the banana mixture with a cookie scoop and carefully drop in the hot cooking oil. Fry banana fritters for 2 minutes on each side then set on paper towel lined baking sheet.
And now some pictures! To make this easy banana fritters recipe mash the bananas and peanut butter together in a mixing bowl.
Then stir in the remaining ingredients.
With a cookie scoop carefully drop the banana fritter batter into the hot oil. Let the fritters cook about 2 minutes per side.
Use a slotted spoon to remove them from the oil letting the excess oil drip back into the pot. Place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels
Let cool 5 minutes to finish cooking then dust with powdered sugar while still warm.
Frying Tips!
The easiest way to fry these is in a large heavy-bottomed pot. Deep frying requires oil that is VERY hot, so a heavy-bottomed, Dutch oven is the safest choice. I usually use my 5.5 quart Le Creuset. Pour a quart or two of oil into your pot. You want at least 2-3 inches of oil—don’t let it come more than halfway up the pot. Use a candy/deep fry thermometer to heat measure the oil temperature. It should be at 350°F (177 degrees c).
Cook a few banana fritters at a time, only about 2 minutes on each side. Monitor the oil temperature carefully. You want it to stay as close to 350°F the entire time as possible so raise or lower the heat as necessary.
Most importantly: Have a box of baking soda near by to use on any grease fires. DO NOT USE WATER to put out a grease fire.
Once you’ve mastered the frying here, you’ll be set to try your hand at homemade fried chicken or falafel!
Coffee Caramel Sauce
If there’s an opportunity for coffee caramel sauce, let’s take it.
Make the caramel sauce first so that you can serve the banana fritters warm with the sauce for dipping–OMG! Just like my espresso brownies, one of the main components in this great recipe is instant espresso powder. This is available at most grocery stores or online.
Like fluffy banana pillows! These are such a great snack, I would love to know if you try them.
Peanut Butter Banana Fritters with Coffee Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
For the coffee caramel sauce:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons instant espresso powder
For the Banana Fritters:
- 2 ripe bananas (about 14 ounces)
- 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1-2 quarts vegetable oil, for frying
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, for dusting (or dust with cinnamon sugar)
Instructions
For the coffee caramel sauce:
- Make the sauce up to a week in advance. It needs to cool and thicken before serving, so make the sauce first, then begin the fritters.
- Combine 1 cup cream and 3 tablespoons instant espresso powder in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, whisking until the espresso powder dissolves completely into the cream. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Heat the 1 cup sugar in a separate large saucepan over medium heat. Let it cook undisturbed until you start to see the sugar melt and darken on the edges then start whisking until it goes from crystalized sugar to smooth and light amber in color, about 6 minutes.
- Add the 6 tablespoons butter, whisking until combined. If you are worried about splatters, wear kitchen gloves. Keep whisking until the butter is completely mixed in and not separated on the sides, about 2 minutes.
- Carefully pour in the espresso cream and whisk until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes more. Be careful the cream will foam up and splatter.
- Remove to a heat proof bowl and let cool while you make the banana fritters. The caramel sauce will be thin but will thicken as it cools.
For the banana fritters:
- Mash the 2 bananas and 1/4 cup peanut butter in a medium bowl with a potato masher until well combined.
- Add the 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Stir with a silicone spatula until evenly mixed.
- Sprinkle the flour over the top and gently mix in with the spatula. Batter will be thick.
- Pour about 2 inches of oil into a deep pot and heat over medium heat until it reaches between 340°F-350°F on a candy/deep fry thermometer, or until a piece of bread dropped in the oil browns in 30 seconds.
- Using a cookie scoop, if you have one, scoop the batter and carefully drop 4-5 fritters at a time into the hot oil. Fry for 3-4 minutes, turning halfway through.
- Remove fritters to a paper towel-lined tray and repeat with the remaining batter.
- Serve fritters warm, dusted with powdered sugar and drizzled with coffee sauce. They are best enjoyed right away.
Notes
- Bananas: Use overripe or very ripe bananas for the most intense banana flavor. Don’t use bananas that have been previously frozen however, they will be too wet.
- Make ahead instructions: The caramel sauce can be made up to a week in advance. If it gets too hard in the refrigerator, warm in the microwave or in a hot water bath on the stove. The fritters are best the day they are made.
- Leftover Oil: Do not pour used oil down the sink drain. Allow to cool, then pour into an empty container and discard in the trash.
- Instant espresso powder: Look for this in the coffee aisle at your local grocery store (it is also sometimes located with the baking supplies).I like the brand Medaglia D’Oro.
