Baked Banana Spice Wontons - A Pantry Scraper Recipe

This was a recipe of novelty and frugality. Arising from an empty place where, upon gazing at the mismatching staples and supplies and supposedly unrelated items you realize, in a flash of cosmic understanding, a pattern and potential of all things. While most people would argue that the bananas that had been placed in suspended animation in my freezer since time forgot to prevent them from being wasted might not be so good after such a long cryogenic sleep I begged to differ.

"No," I said, "these now black fruit have potential." In fact their flavor had intensified and their sugars had become sweeter. While their skins were pitch, inside they were a creamy, though slightly off-putting off-white color. A black mark or two streaked down their fibrous, but pliable sides, as if to attest that they, indeed, weren't getting any younger.  I opened them up and they lugubriously fell into the bowl with slothful disdain for me for having thawed them from their frozen stasis. 

We then got out some chopped walnuts that were leftover from a pilaf I made a few months back. They were on their last legs, and the smell was questionable, but not enough so to deter us from their use. Walnuts are expensive, after all. 

Lastly we broke out the leftover wonton wrappers that had wantonly held some delicious gingered pork that had been devoured the night before, leaving behind many of their brethren to wonder what their pouchy-fate would be. While those had been steamed these would be baked, something neither of us had tried but were confident enough that between two somewhat competent cooks we would yield an edible result that wouldn't set off the smoke detector. 

My roommate and I decided to mash the bananas up with some freshly grated cinnamon and nutmeg. Adding some flour and the nuts to the mix as well we then began to fill and seal the wonton wrappers. After we gave them a fresh eggy coat and a sprinkling of brown sugar and cinnamon and into the oven they went.

They were delicious. Sweet, spicy, and the texture was intriguing; soft in the middle with enough give to make you wonder if the wrapper wanted to give up its fruity contents at all. The outer rim was crisp with a auditory-pleasing snap. The sugar and spice on top was just enough to counter the banana filling which we agreed was a bit heavy on the fresh nutmeg, but decided it was pleasing all the same. 

Banana Spice Wontons

Take out whatever old bananas you have, one banana will usually fill about 12 wonton wrappers. Mash up the bananas with a fork.

For each banana add:
-1 tablespoon of flour
-pinch of nutmeg
-1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

Beat an egg and set aside in a small bowl. Lay out the wonton wrapper. Dip your finger into the egg and wipe the rim of the wonton wrapper, this will seal the wrapper when you fold it. Add a teaspoon of the mashed banana mixture to the middle. Fold over into a triangle and press the edges together so the seal. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Give the top of each wonton a light egg-was with your finger or a brush and then sprinkle on some brown sugar and cinnamon. 

Bake for 10 minutes at 350. 

Store in a container without a lid as covering them will make the high amount of moisture from the bananas soften up the crispy wonton edges.

*I call this a pantry scraper because it's just made from whatever bits you can find left over in your kitchen to make something awesome. Furthermore, I just threw this together, which is reflected in the very laid back organization to the recipe.