I Tried This Easy Milkshake Upgrade and It Was Like Glorious Bananas Foster in a Glass
There’s a reason that people put bananas in a ton of stuff. Aside from adding a naturally sweet flavor, bananas also lend a wonderfully creamy texture to drinks like smoothies and milkshakes.
The next time you plan on making a banana-based milkshake for breakfast or dessert (or for whenever, really), consider adding one extra step: Broil the bananas until they caramelize.
In a recent TikTok video, user icki_micki talks about their love for banana milkshakes and how their coworker (who also loves banana milkshakes) gave them a tip for making a banana milkshake with a twist. Icki_micki’s method involves splitting the bananas in half lengthwise and broiling them in the oven until they caramelize.
This simple yet creative idea sounded so amazing that I had to try it for myself. In doing so, I followed most of the steps mentioned. One change I made (which was inspired by some of the comments on the video) was that I sprinkled two of the banana halves with dark brown sugar (I left the other two plain). I also added in a pinch of ground cinnamon to the mixture before blending it.
I set my oven to around 450°F (since my oven’s broiler doesn’t work quite right) and cooked the sliced bananas for about 10 minutes before flipping them. Then I continued cooking them for another 10 minutes, checking on them periodically. (You can definitely do this using your oven’s broiler or a toaster oven — just be sure to adjust the time as needed to get the bananas caramelized and browned.)
The bananas that had the brown sugar were definitely darker and more caramelized, but both were nice and sweet. After letting the bananas cool, I added them to the blender along with a 5-ounce container of vanilla yogurt, milk, and a pinch of ground cinnamon. I topped the milkshake with a couple slices of banana that I had roasted while the bananas cooled.
The broiled banana milkshake was super delicious and the flavor had more dimension than a regular banana shake. Additionally, after trying the smoothie, I found that adding a small pinch of kosher salt helped the flavor come through more vibrantly. It was a small change but made a noticeable difference.
Sure, bananas on their own are delicious, but when you broil them, it makes the sugars in the banana caramelize, which creates a much more dynamic flavor. The results is, as icki_micki mentions in following videos, a milkshake creation that is very reminiscent of bananas Foster.