RECIPE | Frozen Chocolate Dipped Bananas

I can be a little obsessive in my TV watching habits. I tend to watch one or two programs at a time, and when I do, I watch a LOT of it! For example, I’ve recently been re-watching some old favourites and, well, after a few hours of literally marathon-ing seasons of Arrested Development, I started to develop a hankering for a Bluth’s frozen banana.  Considering, this is a company that doesn’t actually exist, I realised I’d have to make my own (Phooey!)

Freezing anything pretty much makes it on par with ice cream. And who doesn’t love anything even remotely similar to ice cream? That’s right; no-one. A previous attempt at homemade frozen bananas left me with banana shaped ‘rocks’ on sticks. Turns out, fruit freezes reeaallly well.  This time around I decided to take the banana’s out of the freezer a littler earlier and was able to actually ingest my icy treat, and brought it back into ‘kind of like ice cream’ territory. Hooray!

You can’t really go wrong with this recipe. You are literally covering fruit with chocolate and sprinkling any topping you like on top. How easy is that? There’s only thing you need to remember, so repeat after me; There’s always money in the banana stand. 

What You Need:
1 packet of Chocolate melts
3 large bananas
Chopped pistachios
Chopped almonds
Chopped hazel nuts
Popsicle sticks

What You Do:
1. Start by cutting the banana’s into thirds (without removing the skin). Insert a popsicle stick into the cut end of each banana piece. Keeping the skin on means the banana is easier to handle.

2. Using a sharp knife, cut a slit in the skin down one side so that you can remove the peel with ease. Remove the skin and any stringy bits that remain. Set aside.

3. Melt chocolate either in a double boiler on stove top, or in the microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring in between each.  Stir well, until the chocolate is smooth, glossy, and there are no lumps.

4. One at a time, dip each banana into the warm melted chocolate, ensuring the whole thing is covered completely. Carefully, shake off excess chocolate. The chocolate will weigh down the banana so be careful not to let the banana slip off the stick when shaking off the excess.

5. Place each dipped banana on a tray lines with baking paper and sprinkle generously with chopped pistachios, almonds, or hazel nuts.

6. Place in the freezer to harden and set. Remove from the freezer when mostly frozen (roughly 1 - 2 hours) depending on your taste. If you aren’t going to eat straight away, wrap each banana with plastic wrap and store in the freezer until you are ready to nom.