This Hack Will Ripen Your Bananas For Banana Bread In Only 20 Minutes

Fresh banana bread is one of the kitchen's greatest comforts. It brought many of us peace early in the pandemic as it seemed like everyone was baking their own variations of the treat, and still brings us joy years later.

While it's important to use ripened and soft bananas for the loaf, sometimes your local grocery store just doesn't have any that are ready, and maybe you don't want to wait until your green fruits turn brown. Luckily, TikToker @kellyscleankitchen showed us a pretty neat trick to get your bunch of bananas dessert ready — whether it's for the loaf or another recipe that isn't banana bread.

All you need to do is line your baking sheet and preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the bananas onto the tray and into the oven for 10 minutes, before flipping them over to cook for another 10 minutes. The bananas should be a dark brown or even black in color when the clock runs out.

The creator explains that baking the bananas caramelizes the sugars, making them super sweet, not to mention, soft and ready to mash.

A couple of users in the comments chimed in with their own suggestions like freezing the bananas and then thawing them, which also speeds up the ripening process, or popping them in the air fryer for a few minutes.

A genius way to have banana bread on demand, if you ask us.