To Revive Old Banana Bread, Fry It In Butter

Put down that glass of milk and the week-old slice of banana bread. You know that the baked good that's been sitting on your counter has lost its delicious luster, and you don't have to put yourself through the pain of trying to finish it off as it is. And we say "as it is," because chefs across the globe have devised ways to try and make old banana bread tasty again. For example, one method for resurrecting the dried-up room-temperature dessert involves covering the remains of the loaf in a moist towel before popping it in the microwave. And another banana bread seance ritual consists of sprinkling the leftover slices with water, topping them with aluminum foil, and reheating them in the oven.

But while both of these techniques will warm and moisten your banana bread, America's Test Kitchen reports there is one baking trick that will do more than just freshen up your dessert. In fact, the outlet states this particular cooking hack has the potential to make your old banana bread taste as good as it did when it was a shiny and newly baked treat. Grab some butter and a frying pan to give your loaf the flavor and texture resuscitation it so desperately needs.

Aside from its taste, banana bread's deliciousness can be attributed to three factors — its soft texture, moist mouthfeel, and flaky crust. And according to America's Test Kitchen, frying your old loaf with some butter in a skillet will make your banana bread return to its original "tender" and spongy state. Oh, and that delectable crust? After trying the method, Pantry & Larder found that frying an older banana bread loaf in butter "crisped up" the dessert. So are you ready to help your treat make a tasty comeback?

First, you'll need to cut your remaining loaf into slices. Make sure they are thin, If your pieces are too thick you won't be able to heat your bread all the way through. After you've prepared your bread for revival, you'll then throw some butter in a pan over medium heat. Once your butter melts, you should place up to four slices of banana bread into the skillet. Then, you need to cook each side thoroughly until they both look golden brown. After that, you can take up your renewed banana bread slices and enjoy a delicious afternoon snack.

While you can make your old banana bread snap back to life with a bit of butter and frying pan magic, you can also use your stale dessert to create other sweet recipes. Gemma's Bigger Bolder Baking offers a banana bread to banana bread pudding transformation, and you only have to cube your loaf and soak it in a combination of mashed banana, milk, cream, eggs, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla before baking it in the oven. And, of course, all stale bread leads to French toast.

And we're not done yet. Baking Kneads states you can press your bread into the bottom of a baking pan and layer chocolate brownie mix on top to make banana bread brownies. But if you want to get a little fancy, the same site states you can even turn your banana bread into tiramisu. You just have to cut the loaf into large slices and soak it in coffee and a mascarpone cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract mixture before letting it set in the fridge. So whether you choose to fry it back to its former glory or make something out of its stale leftovers, your banana bread will not go uneaten.