I'm a poor college student, who's never baked anything.

[DrWeird]

But I've got a bunch of bruised apples and browning bananas on my counter. I'm thinking apple and banana creme pies. Any recipes, hints, suggestions?

[Beware the Beast Man]

1. Banana Bread is unbelievably easy to make

As far as beginner's baking stuff goes (I'm not much of a baker myself). So you should be in luck. Just type "banana bread" into google; there's a slew of recipes.

[Donkeyboy75]

11. And, DrWeird,

the great thing about using your old bananas for this is that you can pop them into a freezer to hold until you have the time to make the banana bread. It makes the bananas mushier and easier to work with...

[Lavender Brown]

2. I'd make apple sauce with the apples and

banana bread is the best use for browning bananas. There is a really good recipe on the Betty Crocker website.

[helnwhls]

3. Good advice on the banna bread

and it would probably be yummy with a few diced apples in.

[Logansquare]

4. Apple pie can be easy for amateurs, too

You can buy pretty good pre-made pie crusts at most grocery stores. Some of them are in the freezer section, and others are in the refrigerated section near dairy products.

Quarter your apples, peel off the skins, remove the seeds and core by making a little "V" at the center of the wedge and cutting them out. Cut out any brown spots. Mix them in a bowl with sugar. I think most recipes call for too much sugar. Start out with one-quarter cup sugar per two cups cut up apples. Add a few little pieces of butter/margarine and half teaspoon of cinnamon if you have it.

Scoop the filling either into a thawed "frozen" crust (they usually come with a foil pie pan), or take the refrigerated crust and tuck it evenly into a pie pan. Take another thawed frozen crust and upturn it over the other, removing it's foil pan, or lay the refrigerated top crust on top of the filling. Fold and press the edges together and "flute" them with a fork. Pierce the top of the pie so juice and hot air can escape. Put it in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. If the crust looks too brown, put a loose piece of aluminum foil on top of the pie.

[mrbassman03]

5. Just cook the apples with cinnamon, sugar, and butter...

in a pan for about 7-10 minutes until the sauce darkens... mmm. Oh yeah, cut up the apples first.

[helnwhls]

6. yum, i used to love baked apples.

[Nicole]

7. pancakes

are easy. I love pancakes with chopped apples, bananas or blueberries in them.

Smoothies are another way to use up older fruit.

[yellowdogintexas]

8. bananas: browner the better makes the best bread

You can freeze those black bananas too. Just peel them and pop them into ziplock bags. they will keep indefinitely. then when you are in the mood for banana bread, just thaw them out.

[HereSince1628]

9. Apples peeled, dusted in cinnamon sprinkle of sugar, baked

you will think that your great great grandmother has been resurrected and sent to take care of your deepest cravings!

[imenja]

10. Apple crisp

mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, and cold butter together--crumble with your hands or use 2 knives, and sprinkle on top of sliced apples. Bake at about 350 until the top is browned and the apples soft.
Best served hot with ice cream on top.

You can also use oatmeal in place of flour.