CREATORS GALAXY: Frozen Banana Bites with Chocolate

When you have little ones in the house, the need to make something quickly is probably your kitchen mantra. Mine has been this for the last few months. A lot has been happening at my end and life's been keeping me busier than usual. This probably shows the most in my blog (evidence being lack of posts, duh!) followed by the kind of recipes in my kitchen. Yes, I have been cooking a lot - some new experimental recipes even but mostly its been food that's bordering on keywords like -"Easy", "Quick", "Minimal Ingredients" etc.

When I said that to a reader few weeks back, she pronto asked me why I have not been blogging them given it would help others in the same boat instead of not blogging anything!. Huh? <scratching head> If I had the time to blog, I could very well cook something more elaborate right?! :) Anyways, last weekend I had a breather and given I was making my little one's favorite snack/dessert, I thought I will take some pictures along the way.

If you love bananas, chocolate and are nuts about some crunch, then this one will please your palate. We are not chocolate lovers in the house per se, but my little one likes to enjoy some on and off. This is his favorite snack and I don't mind him indulging given that this is on the nutritious side. Instead of butter, I use Coconut oil but you can use butter instead. You can skip the nuts as well and use any of the variations I recommend here.

References

chocolate sauce from gimme some oven and few of the topping ideas from epicurious

Basic Information

Prep Time: Under 15 min

Cook Time: Under 15 min

Serves: 4 people

Yield: About 15-20 bites depending upon the size of the bananas

Ingredients

About 3 small-medium ripe Bananas, see Tips
1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips - see Tips
2 Tbsp melted Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, see Tips
2-3 tbsp assorted Nuts (Almonds, Pistachios, Pecans, Hazelnuts, Walnuts etc), (optional)

Tips

1. Banana: I personally would recommend using ripe bananas that's not too ripe and/or mushy.
2. Chocolate Chips : You can use any kind you like - dark, semisweet, milk chocolate, white, etc. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips that's soy, nut and dairy free. My only reason to use this is to avoid Soy lecithin that's commonly used as an ingredient. Unless specified as Non GMO or Organic, I tend to personally avoid it.
3. Coconut Oil: I use Coconut oil, but you can use cultured butter instead.
Topping Variations instead of assorted Nuts
1. Crushed Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
2. Toffee Bits
3. Chopped Butterfinger Candy Bars
4. Chopped Salted Peanuts,
5. Toasted Shredded Sweetened Coconut
6. Coarse Sea Salt
7. Sprinkles
8. Granola
9. Chopped Salted Pistachios/ Smoked almonds
10.Cocoa nibs

Method

Cut the bananas into bite sized pieces. You really don't need to be fussed about this.

Place them on a foil covered baking sheet (or use parchment paper).

Poke them with cocktail forks or any other fancy things you might possess in your pantry waiting to be put to good use. Freeze them for about 2 hours or until frozen.

Meanwhile dry toast any nuts of your choice.

Cool them and chop them coarsely into teeny tiny pieces. Set aside.

Stir together the coconut oil and chocolate chips on top of a double boiler. Make sure to melt the oil before using. I used almost 2 tbsp (may be 1.5 tbsp? ) of oil. Keep stirring until the chocolate is melted and all smooth (and velvety).
Note: You can do this in a M/W too. I do not use one hence cannot really advise on the time and/or intervals for stirring.

Now remove the frozen banana, dip it in the chocolate - completely or half way as per your liking.

You can either sprinkle the nuts on top of it and just roll it on the nuts (this might be little messier but that's the lazy woman's version :))

Place it back on the cold baking sheet until dried.

Serve this pronto or re-freeze it until serving. You might have some chocolate sauce leftover that you can cover and store at room temperature (note: Not in the fridge) for up to a month.

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