Puree Fruit Easily with Yonanas

Yonanas is a kitchen appliance that instantly turns frozen fruit and other flavorings into a delicious and healthy soft-serve treat. The Yonanas unit combines frozen bananas and any additional fruit or chocolate and instantly churns the ingredients to produce a treat with the texture of frozen yogurt or soft-serve ice cream, but without the additional fat, sugar, or preservatives.

Watch the video from the Yonanas website. It shows the process clearly and may give you some additional ideas for how you can use it. The Yonanas machine runs around $40.00 on Amazon for just the Yonanas machine or $59.99 for the Deluxe Yonanas package (includes extras, see below).

If you like making fresh foods for your baby you can also use Yonanas to puree fruit or even vegetables. Just make sure they are slightly frozen. If they aren’t they will just be a big mush when they come out. Babies will especially like bananas in the Yonanas because they are not only smooth but they are cold and great if they are teething.

The Yonanas works much better at making a smooth fruit treat than a normal food processor or a Vitamix. You will burn out your mixer or blender trying to do what this machine will easily do and the only thing is it designed to do. Kids will love the smooth texture and you will get them to eat more fruit because they think they are eating ice cream.

For an added treat, add in coconut, chocolate chips, or put sprinkles on top for the kids. Try freezing pineapple chunks and use that along with the bananas. You don’t want to put these extras in the machine. It really isn’t designed for that and it could cause problem. I would suggest sprinkling them on afterwards or mixing them in.

The only thing we had a problem with was the noise. The Yonanas machine is super loud and it will definitely scare the cat or your baby. You won’t want to use it while either of them are taking a nap.

The unit seems to be made well and is built of hard plastic and stainless steel. The motor, housing and drive head were powerful in our test. The true test is how long it lasts but it does come with a warranty and you can return it if needed.

It is suggested that you freeze your bananas and other fruit and then thaw them slightly either in a microwave on low or by letting them sit on the counter for a while before you use them. Then turn the Yonanas on, put them down the chute, push the plunger down and watch the smooth mix come out the other end.

We started with one banana and gradually added raspberries and blackberries to make our soft-serve fruit treat. You can use just about any fruit you like and personally, I wouldn’t use bananas most of the time because I would rather have berries.

The best banana to use is a ripe one or as they call it, one with “cheetah spots.” Using the Yonanas is also a good alternative to throwing out fruit that is too ripe that you aren’t going to eat.

As you push the fruit down into the Yonanas machine the integrated spinning blade mashes and incorporates the fruit together. It comes out as a silky-smooth confection with the texture of soft-serve ice cream or yogurt.

You do have to make sure your fruit isn’t too frozen. I can’t stress that enough. We didn’t wait long enough and our final product wasn’t as smooth or creamy as it could have been.

If the banana is too frozen it will come out in the beginning in small chips. As the banana softens, or if you put it out to thaw a bit, it will come out smoother.

A cereal bowl size will required one medium banana with about 4 oz of frozen strawberries or other fruit to fill it.

You can purchase the Yonanas machine or purchase the Yonanas Deluxe Model (901) and you also get the dessert storage container, four Popsicle molds, and recipe booklet. I think the Yonanas would make great frozen fruit pops but we didn’t test that out.

Some Recipes to use with your Yonanas Machine:

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Ingredients:

• 2 frozen ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup frozen mixed berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries)
• 1 Tablespoon room temperature peanut butter

Directions:

1. Insert one frozen banana into the Yonanas machine.
2. Add 3/4 cup mixed berries.
3. Insert second frozen banana.
4. Stir 1 Tablespoon peanut butter into the bowl and serve.

Key Lime

Ingredients:

• 2 frozen ripe bananas
• 1 Tablespoon lime zest
• 1/3 cup cinnamon graham crackers, crumbled

Directions:

1. Insert one frozen banana into the Yonanas machine.
2. Add 1 Tablespoon lime zest.
3. Insert second frozen banana.
4. Stir in the bowl to combine.
5. Sprinkle crumbled cinnamon graham crackers on top.

More recipes are included with the Yonanas unit.

The Yonanas machine plugs into AC outlet. It measures 14″ high x 7-1/2″ wide  x 6″ deep and doesn’t take up a lot of space on the counter.  It easily comes apart and breaks down to four pieces that are easy to clean. The chute, plunger, and blade are dishwasher safe.