Food Friday ~ Frozen Chocolate Covered Bananas

Friday, June 22, 2012

Welcome to this week’s Food Friday!  It’s Casharina… here to bring you a Chocolate Dipped Frozen Banana Recipe!  Wow!  That’s a long title! ;)  But boy is it delicious and really it’s not even that bad for you!!  These little treats are EASY to make and are great for lazy summer days!

Let’s get started…grab the ingredients and ask the kiddos if they want to join in on the fun!  The sprinkles always make my girls happy!!  (Although for this post we didn’t end up doing sprinkles, itty bitty was gone to Mamaws by the time they were frozen and ready for dipping!)

 For this tasty treat you simply need a few ingredients!  (That’s ALWAYS nice!)  For each batch you will use:

• 1 cup of chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable shortening
• Bananas
• Popsicle sticks
• Wax paper
• Sprinkles, nuts, etc. that you’d like to add!

 Directions:

• To get started you’ll need peel your bananas.  I like to get the girls to help me with this part; it makes them feel important when they’re helping and it’s GREAT quality time.  This time I only had the itty bitty with me so we especially loved the one on one time!
• After they’re peeled, you’ll cut them in half.  I’ve found that this size is best for dipping and storing.
• Line a cookie sheet with wax paper, and then begin carefully sticking your popsicle sticks into the bottom portion of your banana halves. Tip: Be careful so that you don’t accidently poke it through the side. I try to put them in at least half way through the banana to help ensure they won’t fall off during the dipping and eating stages!
• Now pop them in the freezer until they’re frozen I usually wait a few hours, and have even waited overnight. (Do not grab by the stick until they’re completely frozen!)

Dipping:

• For this portion you have to work pretty quickly.  The chocolate will start to dry very quickly, so if you’re planning on letting the kiddos “decorate” the goodies they need a ready work station.  I usually place a piece of wax paper over a cookie sheet and have the sprinkles handy for them to use immediately.
• Measure out the amount of chocolate chips you’ll need. I usually use a 2 cup glass measuring cup to do the mixing/melting/dipping in and it works pretty good.

• Melt the chocolate chips.  I have a wonderful button on my microwave that is specifically for melting butter, chocolate, or marshmallows, and it works GREAT for me!  If you don’t have this option simply melt your chocolate chips and vegetable shortening in a microwave safe bowl on high power for up to 1 minute.
• After this first cycle, take them out of the microwave and stir, if they’re easy to stir you’re ready…if they still a little on the stiff side put them back in for 10-15 seconds as needed to get that soft dipping consistency.
• Now, you’ll take your bananas out of the freezer, I only take a few out at a time, so that they don’t defrost while waiting their turns to dip into the chocolate. Once you dip, simply swirl them around in the container until the banana half is covered to your liking.
• Quickly hand it off to your child/helper to begin the sprinkling.  The chocolate will dry very quickly so you have to work fast to ensure the banana is covered before the chocolate dries.  Sometimes I will lay them on the cookie sheet for the girls and just let them decorate them on one side, they don’t seem to mind, it’s still fun for them.  We’ve tried all sorts of goodies on the bananas, from sprinkles, to sugar crystals, peanut pieces, and even white chocolate swirled on top of the dark chocolate.  These are so much fun and so tasty.
• Once they’ve dried place them back into the freezer, when they are totally frozen you can place them into a Ziploc bag to last for a few days??  Weeks??  Who knows, we always eat them within a few days! ;)

That’s it for today, I hope you enjoy this recipe and if you choose to make them I’d love to hear how they turn out and what kinds of toppings you placed on them!

Be sure to stop back by on Monday for the Layout of the Week!!  Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

CasharinaFood Stuff, Uncategorized 7 Comments