With National Banana Day coming up on April 20th. we’re adding a new and different banana recipe to our repertoire: a spicy banana dip recipe to serve with crackers, crudités, or tortilla chips. It’s from Dole.

While the bananas should be ripe, a dip is a good use for overripe bananas, too.

You can use bananas even when the peel turns black. The blacker the peel, the riper the banana, and the sweeter it is.

Other uses for overripe bananas, mashed or puréed: baking, puddings (including bread pudding), shakes and smoothies, made into ice cream†, added to pancake batter, stirred into yogurt and oatmeal*. Check out these banana meatballs!

Banana trivia: The U.S. imports most of its bananas from Guatemala, followed by Ecuador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, with smaller amounts from other countries. See this chart.

> The history of bananas.
 
 
RECIPE #1: DOLE SPICY BANANA DIP

Serve this dip with whole-grain cinnamon crackers, or vegetables such as celery and carrots.

You can buy cinnamon crackers, or bake your own with the recipe below. You can also serve it with plantain chips, tortilla chips, and pretzels.

For a dessert dip or sweet snack, leave out the savory ingredients, sweeten to taste, and serve with plain cookies and fruit.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. MASH the bananas with a fork. Stir in the lime juice, cilantro, mint, ginger, and green chile. Transfer to a serving bowl.

2. REFRIGERATE in an airtight container until ready to use.
 
 
RECIPE #2: HOMEMADE WHOLE GRAIN CRACKERS
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. Combine the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, chia/flaxseed, salt, and baking powder.

2. ADD the water and olive oil, and mix until the dough holds together. If necessary, add one or two more tablespoons of water. Transfer to the counter and knead 4 or 5 times.

3. DIVIDE the dough into 4 equal pieces, cover, and rest for 10 minutes.

4. ROLL the dough on a lightly whole wheat-floured surface until it is wafer-thin. Carefully move the dough pieces to a parchment-lined baking sheet.

5. DUST the cinnamon over the top, and bake for 4 minutes on each side. Remove crackers from the oven and break them into bite-size pieces.
 
 
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*You can add a dash of cinnamon and some chopped walnuts and raisins.

†In addition to conventional ice cream, you can simply freeze chunks of bananas and process them into a frozen dessert. Lay them on a plate or cookie sheet to freeze, so they don’t clump together. Place the frozen bananas in a food processor and blend until smooth, scraping the sides as needed. Place the banana purée in a bowl in the freezer for an hour or two, to desired consistency. Stir in chocolate chips, nuts, or raisins as desired.

[1] Spicy banana dip with homemade cinnamon crackers (photos #1 and #3 © Dole).

[2] You can serve any dip with crudités, crackers, chips, or pretzels (photo © The Fry Family Food Co. | Unsplash).

[3] Use ripe bananas for this dip, but dip is also a good use for overripe bananas. For dessert, you can make it a sweet dip with cookies and fruit.

[4] If you want less heat than a jalapeño, choose Anaheim or poblano chile (photo © Good Eggs).