I made this flatbread for my better half for dessert one night, mostly just to use up a couple bananas that were about to turn one degree too ripe in the next five minutes. What is it about bananas and ripeness? It’s as if they’re a hair underripe when you buy them, then by the time you get them home, they’re about to turn soft. When they get too soft, into the freezer they go, destined to be a smoothie, and even that bag is getting bigger by the week. One can only eat so many smoothies. Our life is a constant juggle of banana ripeness.

I’ve noticed that absolutely everyone has a very specific level of banana ripeness that they prefer. (Come on, you know you do!) Even our dog, who loves banana, won’t eat a piece if it’s even a bit too ripe for him. So confounding!

Anyways, my better half loves food that makes him feel like he’s on a tropical island: coconuts, bananas, mangoes, you name it. He’s always buying bananas. And one night after we had salads for dinner, I noticed him cruising around the kitchen looking for something sweet. What can I say, I know him!

I had been wanting to broil some banana slices for some time, so I offered to make him a little something special on which to slake his sweet tooth. He didn’t even know what was coming, but he readily agreed. I shooed him out of the kitchen and set to work.

Not that it was a whole lot of ‘work.’ In the time it takes to pre-heat the broiler, this flatbread recipe can be completely prepped up, and ready to go.

Someday I’ll invest in a crème brûlée torch to melt the sugar on the banana slices with a bit more precision, but until then, a broiler will have to suffice. No one should probably live in a home where crème brûlée is easy to make, and this would be one step closer to that world, am I right?

This flatbread comes close to the creamy sweetness of that classic French dessert, right down to the slight crunch of the turbinado sugar, but with a tropical edge. Needless to say, my sweet-who-loves-sweets loved it, and was even willing to share with me my latest flatbread creation.

If only all banana solutions were as quick and easy!

-Amy at Flatout