This monkey butter is soooooo good. Seriously. I was shocked. You watch the ingredients go in the pan, and then you watch them cook. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll probably be thinking, “meh, it’s just pineapple and banana, so what?” But just as the banana melts down and the sugar starts to bubble, you’ll find it hard not to sneak a taste. As soon as my mixure was done simmering, I couldn’t resist any longer, and I tried a steaming little spoonful. And then I smiled.
It was so good that it actually made me smile. That’s pretty rare! It was sweet and tangy, with this awesome buttery texture. How have I never tried this before?!
It reminds me of a banana split. And let me just say it would taste AMAZING on ice cream. AMAZING. You know those delicious little pineapple bits that you get in a banana split? It’s always my favourite part of eating a banana split to taste the combination of banana, ice cream and pineapple, all together in one delicious mouthful. Â Yum! (Guess what I’ll be having for dessert tonight, maybe with a little chocolate syrup drizzled over top?! Mmmm…)
Try to use bananas that are perfectly ripe. I was kind of stressing about finding “perfectly ripe” bananas. When I went to the grocery store I panicked a bit that all the bananas on the shelf this week were either extremely green, or completely covered in brown spots. Go figure!
I’m apparently the crazy person who visits two grocery stores to try to find perfect bananas and ends up buying about two dozen bananas. (Which may sound excessive, but our little family of five goes through a shocking number of bananas in a week…). And then with two dozen bananas sitting on the counter, every time my husband would reach for one, I’d yell, “ONLY EAT THE UGLY ONES!!” Yup. I might be losing it.
The BEST Monkey Butter Recipe | Banana Jam
As far as recipes go, this one is really easy. Only 5 ingredients. The full printable recipe is at the end of this post, but here’s what you’ll need:
- Bananas
- Crushed Pineapple
- Ground Coconut
- White Sugar
- Bottled Lemon Juice
So these are the best bananas I could find! (I may or may not have edited out a few brown spots… 😉 ) If you can’t find perfect bananas either, don’t worry about it. These ever-so-slightly under ripe bananas worked perfectly and I’m sure that bananas with a couple of spots would work as well.
I just don’t recommend using over ripe bananas, or it will end up tasting crazy sweet.
I used “macaroon” coconut from the bulk store. It’s just ground coconut flakes (unsweetened). If you have any troubles finding it, throw a couple of tablespoons of regular coconut flakes into a small food processor and pulse until it turns into small bits.
Put all the ingredients into a large nonstick pan.
Bring the mixture to a boil on high heat, stirring frequently.
Then reduce the heat to low and simmer it until the banana has completely dissolved and the mixture thickens up. It took about 15 to 20 minutes.
It ends up having a texture similar to apple sauce. Maybe just a little bit thicker than apple sauce.
As I said, it would go PERFECTLY with ice cream. Or you could spread it on toast, or serve it on pancakes or waffles. I bet it would taste amazing if you added a bit right to the pancake batter too.
The lemon juice keeps the bananas from going brown, so it will last in the refrigerator for about 4 to 6 weeks.
The BEST Monkey Butter Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 perfectly ripe bananas no spots
- 14 oz can of crushed pineapple with the juice
- 2 cups white sugar
- 3 Tablespoons unsweetened ground coconut I used "macaroon" coconut
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice from a bottle
Instructions
- Chop the banana into thin slices.
- Combine all of the ingredients in a large nonstick pan.
- Bring to a rolling boil, stirring often.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the banana has dissolved and the mixture has thickened slightly (about 15 to 20 minutes), stirring frequently.
- Serve warm over ice cream or on toast, pancakes or waffles.
- Can be stored in the fridge for 4 to 6 weeks.
This five ingredient monkey butter is so easy to make and tastes sooooooooo good. I was eating it by the spoonful. It tastes amazing on ice cream, or you can serve it with pancakes, waffles or even spread it on toast or english muffins. Yum!
If you’re looking for more delicious banana recipes, check out our pan fried cinnamon bananas. These end up with an ever so slightly caramelized coating. So good!
Mae says
Just to let you know, perfectly ripe bananas ARE the ones covered with little brown dots. We Americans eat them green for some reason, they are much sweeter naturally when properly ripe – you need less sugar in your jam.
Kathie says
That’s what I was thinking too. Wouldn’t sweeter bananas be better? I’m all for less sugar.
Julie Snider Mennie says
AMEN!
Marcey says
Can I use coconut oil instead of flakes
Eden Popkes says
Is there anything that can replace the coconut? I am allergic? Nuts maybe? Please help. Thank you.
Cynthia says
I think some nuts would be good to take up the volume and you could add coconut flavoring if you like the flavor. No guarantee this would work but it doesn’t take much to give it a try. Even if it’s not perfect, it’s bound to be good, right?
Jen says
You can totally omit the coconut… I only ever made it with coconut one time and the kids liked it better without
Ria says
Have you done this recipe with Splenda?
Lynn says
Would this keep in the pantry if you water bath canned it?
Bethany says
I also wanted to know if this can be preserved
DeloresGayden says
Would monkey butter keep any. Better or longer by water bath?
L Killion says
No, do not can this recipe. Master Food Preservers (Sacramento) recently put out a warning that there is NO tested safe canning method for this recipe. They suggest freezing as an alternative.
Jodi says
Not approved or tested does not mean it cannot be done. It means it has not been tested by USDA. I tested mine for more than a year and it passed.
Pam says
I have canned this and it is good…you can find on you tube which was how it was suppose to be done…water bath for 15 mins. Been canning it for some time as with many others. Still looks as good as the day I canned it on the shelf. I opened a jar I did 1 yr ago and perfect!
Cynthia says
I see this recipe everywhere and would love to make it but I can’t figure out if the pineapple is in syrup or unsweetened. Any idea? Thanks so much. I’m really looking forward to it–oh, and I’ll be making it with fresh pineapple so I’ll let you know how it turns out–I just need to know if I need to add extra sugar or just the pineapple with some water.
frances adcock says
can you can this recipe , mason jars , how much lif time would it have
Sammy says
15 mins water bath
L Killion says
According to Master Food Preservers, there is NO tested safe canning method for Monkey Butter. They suggest freezing as an alternative.
Tim says
not sure if i seen a response to if this can be made with Splenda or not and since I’m a guy I can ask stupid questions. So can this be made with Splenda ? I am diabetic. Thanks Tim.
Thea says
I just made this monkey butter using swerve sugar substitute instead of sugar or Splenda and his turned out very good and will be child tested this evening.
Diane Shea says
Substitute lime juice for the lemon juice, cut the sugar back to 1 cup and add 1.7g (1 pkg Sure Gel) Low Sugar pectin and two tbs cream of coconut at the same time as sugar, stir for three minutes at a boil….,stiri in 1 tsp rum extract. Jar.