Seriously. Good. And fun. Can be made on the grill or in the oven. And even a seven year old can make these (with a little help from an adult).
I had planned on making my Wine Cake for dessert this past weekend. We were out in the country with a group of friends, swimming, horseback riding, watching the Indy 500, reading, shopping, and of course cooking and eating. Mr. L and I planned to cook everyone a meal of barbecued ribs, (sorta) Baked Beans, Orzo Pasta Salad, cornbread and of course the wine cake for dessert. That was, until I saw this recipe on the Food Networks Food2 blog.
I think the reason I enjoyed making this dessert so much was the fact that I got to do it with the Godson's sister. She's 7 and she really wanted to help me make dessert. All I did was slice the bananas...she put in the chocolate chips and the marshmallows. I then put it in the oven and we watched it bake. Though I took the bananas out, she served them to all us vacationers. If you have kids that want to help make a quick dessert, let them try their hand at this.
I would suggest using ripe bananas, though not the "squishy, totally brown" ripe. Some of the bananas we used were still a bit hard. We were also a bit stingy with the chocolate and marshmallows, so have your kids (or you) toss in more chocolate and marshmallows than you think you need. You can grill these (like the original recipe) or just stick them in the oven like we did. Make sure the kids understand that the bananas when they come out, are pretty hot and need to cool a bit. Just give folks a spoon and let them scoop out the banana, chocolate, marshmallow mixture.
Loved the taste of the bananas, chocolate and marshmallow. Loved that it was something interesting for the kids to make and eat. Loved the fact that I can make this very quickly when I need a dessert since I usually have all three ingredients on hand. Love that it will be a great thing to take camping or to a barbecue.
Variations of this can be different types of chocolate or sprinkling crushed graham crackers on top.
CHOCOLATE BANANA S'MORES
One (1) Banana for each person
chocolate chips
mini-marshmallows
Take a knife and make a slit lengthwise from top to bottom of the banana. Make sure you don't cut all the way through the banana and leave the ends intact. Place the bananas on a tin-foil lined pan. Pull open the banana to make a "boat" to put the goodies in. Add chocolate chips and then top with mini-marshmallows. I cooked these in a 300 degree oven for maybe 4-5 minutes, but I'd watch them as they could be done earlier. Let cool slightly. Eat with a spoon.
Note: Next time I'd probably cook them a bit more so that the marshmallows get darker and have more of a crust.
Note: The Food2 recipe states to use pieces of broken-up chocolate bars or Hershey's Kisses instead of the chocolate chips. Using mint chips or different flavored chocolate bars would be fun. They also grilled theirs on tin-foil for 3-5 minutes.
We make these over a campfire. Just wrap all in foil and throw in the coals. We also add peanut butter to ours. Mmmmm.....good
Posted by: Jan | May 27, 2009 at 04:19 AM
I really like this! It's amazingly creative, and the kind of thing that kids just love (I'm counting myself as a kid... actual years don't matter if in your head you're still six.:)) Seriously, this is a great idea.
Posted by: Fearless Kitchen | May 27, 2009 at 06:49 AM
I love this idea. A fun dessert that you could make without having to run to the store! Perfect for camping!
Posted by: Barbara | May 27, 2009 at 09:29 AM
Jan - Oh, peanut butter would be a great idea!
Fearless Kitchen - I got a kick out of making it, it was fun to look at and yeah, tasted yummy too.
Barbara - I think my friends plan on making this next time they go camping as the kids can still help.
Posted by: Mrs. L | May 27, 2009 at 02:39 PM
This looks like serious fun to me.
Posted by: Giz | May 27, 2009 at 03:07 PM
What a fun dessert snack and delicious!
Posted by: Natasha - 5 Star Foodie | May 27, 2009 at 08:41 PM
wow, this looks delicious and totally fun!
Posted by: NotSoccer Mom | May 28, 2009 at 01:59 PM
I'm pretty sure I'm going to try this at a bbq I'm going to this weekend, yum!
Posted by: Miranda | May 28, 2009 at 03:43 PM
these looks yummy! and so easy!
Posted by: Chef Barbie | May 30, 2009 at 04:30 PM
What a clever idea. Anxious to give this idea a try.
Posted by: Kelly Stone | July 16, 2010 at 06:06 AM