Over the Memorial Day Weekend we went to a BBQ at a friend’s house and I was tasked with bringing a healthy-ish dessert.
Frozen chocolate covered bananas were always my favorite Disneyland treat and I think it is because that was the only place I ever saw them when I was younger. I had a MASSIVE sweet tooth, yet I would choose those every time over a Mickey ice cream sandwich or the other fun ice cream treats they sold.
I thought that chocolate covered frozen bananas would fit the bill and would be fun for my daughter and I to make together. She is the age now where I am wanting to give her more freedom in the kitchen and this was the perfect recipe for that.
This dessert ended-up being a hit with kids and adults alike…I’m pretty sure they will make a regular appearance this summer.
INGREDIENTS
Ripe Bananas (not too ripe though)
Popsicle sticks
Chocolate chips for melting (I used Enjoy Life brand)
Various toppings
Trail mix (we chopped ours up in the blender)
Nuts
Mini marshmallows
Raisins
Cereal
Sprinkles
Coarse sugar
METHOD
Cut bananas into 3″ slices
Stick a Popsicle stick into each banana piece
Place the banana pieces on a cookie sheet and freeze for an hour or longer
Snacks don’t need to be complicated. One day last week my kids came home from school and were greeted by the snack you see pictured above. Both my son and daughter loved it! They were so excited by how “fancy” these PB Banana Bites were and I was so excited about how easy it was to prepare.
Simply spoon some peanut butter (approx 2 Tbs. per large banana) into a piping bag and pipe away. I find that this is a less messy and much less time consuming way to make this snack than my old method…spooning PB onto each piece of banana.
My kids also love to eat this snack with almond and cashew butter. A super special decadent treat for them is to make this snack with Justin’s line of chocolate nut butters…yum! I love to use their Chocolate Hazelnut Butter as a vegan Nutella substitute.
For more info on Justin’s product line click here.
This recipe is so simple. My daughter is an oatmeal fiend, so first thing in the morning I gather my oatmeal ingredients and put it on the stove to cook. This allows me to let it cook while I sit down at the computer and put my daily plan together (before the kids wake-up). By the time my daughter comes downstairs for breakfast the oatmeal is ready, thickened, and cooled down enough for her to eat.
I have MANY oatmeal variations, but this is the current favorite in our house…it feels like the favorite flavor rotates every few weeks. Maybe it will become one of your new favorites…
As I said, this recipe is so simple. Pour all of the ingredients into a small pot on medium heat and bring it to a boil. Once the oatmeal comes to a boil, turn the heat down to low and simmer until you reach your desired consistency.
In daily life we really do want to minimize / eliminate sweets, but who can resist a little chocolate on Valentine’s Day? Make this raw molten cake with peanut butter lava for your honey and I guarantee they will be feeling the love. This is sooooooo yum!
Take the frozen pecans and place them in the food processor (I use a Cuisinart I purchased at Costco). Turn on the processor and process until the nuts become meal. Do not process too long or it will turn into nut butter.
Frozen Raw Pecans
Process Into Meal
Pour the raw agave into the nuts while processing. The nuts and agave will turn into batter.
Batter
Add the raw cacao and process to incorporate. The processor will begin working very hard…you may have to stop and scrape down the bowl.
Add the Cacao Powder
Scrape Down the Sides
When well mixed, take the batter out and transfer it to a bowl. Wearing latex-type gloves (to avoid sticking), mix in the coconut flour with your hands.
Transfer to a Bowl
Add the Coconut Flour
Use Hands to Incorporate
Line your mini cake molds with saran wrap.
Mini Bundt Molds
Line With Plastic Wrap
Once mixed well, use a 2 Tbs. ice cream scoop to fill each of the 6 molds. Wrap the remaining cacao batter in Saran Wrap and place it as well as the filled molds in the fridge for 30 minutes to harden.
Scoop in Batter
Wrap-up Remaining Batter and Chill
Once hardened take the molds out and wearing gloves press the batter into the molds making a well in the middle. Make sure you spread the cacao mixture as evenly as possible so it dehydrates evenly. Fill the wells with 1 Tbs. of organic peanut butter (or chocolate sauce).
Press Into Molds Evenly Then Create Wells
Add Filling (Peanut Butter or Chocolate)
Take the remaining batter that was in plastic wrap out of the fridge and pinch off enough (approx. 1 Tbs.) to make a disc that will cover the bottom of each PB filled mold. Gently press the disc onto the bottom of the filled cakes.
Shape Disc for Bottom
Ready to Chill Again
Put the cakes in the fridge for another hour to harden. Keep the cakes in the fridge until 2 hours before you plan on serving them.
2 hours before serving time place the cakes on your dehydrator’s mesh tray and dehydrate for 2 hours (It takes longer than that for the Excalibur dehydrator get to 115°, so rest assured those enzymes will still be alive and kicking).
Place on Mesh Dehydrator Trays
Dehydrated Cakes
When the 2 hours is up you will notice that the cakes are no longer shiny, they will look matte as if they have been cooked. Top each cake with some chocolate sauce, a very thin sprinkling of organic powdered sugar, and sliced bananas. Serve IMMEDIATELY since these cakes are best warm…it will allow the peanut butter to ooze out when cut into.
Raw Chocolate Peanut Butter Molten Cake
I also made an all chocolate version using the Fun Fresh Foods chocolate agave nectar as the filling…topped with powdered sugar and strawberries!
Raw Chocolate Molten Cake
For a printable version of this recipe click here.
I am always looking for healthy snack alternatives for my family. My children really love whole fruit on it’s own, but there are times when I want to send them to school with a chip alternative and these snacks serve that purpose. My kids and husband love these. What I love about them is their simplicity. The apple cinnamon snacks are made with just that…apple and cinnamon. I do wish that they offered more organic fruit crisps, but they do offer one, organic strawberry.
I just picked-up a pack of mixed freeze dried fruit snacks at Costco today. My daughter was with me and saw them as we were doing our shopping, so we stocked-up again.
For more information about Brother’s All Natural click here.
One word of caution…I do not endorse buying their potato crisps because the sodium content is WAY too high!
Our family eats a lot of bananas, but ever so often a few get to the point where my kids find them too ripe to eat plain… I then know it is time to whip-up some banana bread (click here to see another use for ripe bananas). This recipe has been my tried and true recipe for a while.
My daughter has a wheat allergy, so a few years ago I began experimenting with alternative flours. I know I have a winning recipe when my husband (who does not have a wheat allergy) gives them the thumbs up.
This recipe tends to be healthier than most because it uses nut flours as the base (coconut and almond) which are much lower on the glycemic index than regular flours. I also do not use sugar in this recipe. The bananas in themselves are very sweet since they are so ripe. I do add some Somersweet (which was created by Suzanne Somers). Somersweet uses inulin which comes from chicory and is a pre-biotic. If you do not have Somersweet on hand, you can substitute sugar (coconut sugar or brown sugar). Coconut oil is also a very beneficial and nutritious.
Grease the bottom and sides of your muffin tins with coconut oil (I use a mini crumb cake pan).
Grease the Pan
Combine all of the dry ingredients (except for the coconut oil, pecans, and chocolate chips) in a bowl and whisk them to incorporate.
Whisk All of the Dry Ingredients
Once the dry ingredients are well mixed, add the coconut oil into the mixture and cut it in with a pastry blender. You want the coconut oil to break into lots of tiny pieces so that when you add the wet ingredients you won’t have large chunks of coconut oil throughout your batter (this step is very important).
Blend in the Coconut Oil
Slice the bananas into a separate bowl and then mash them being sure to leave some chunks.
I Use a Potato Masher
Add the rest of the wet ingredients into the bowl with the bananas and mix well.
Add in the Wet Ingredients
Next combine the wet ingredients with the dry and mix to combine. The batter will not be runny, but will hold together fairly well.
Once the batter is fully mixed, add in the pecans and chocolate chips.
I use an ice cream scoop (approximately 1/3 cup) to fill my muffin tins and make them uniform so they cook evenly. Once you have filled the muffin tins, push them down to flatten.
Using and Ice Cream Scoop
Flatten the Muffins
If you have any remaining batter, put it into a zip lock bag, flatten it, and remove all of the air bubbles. This batter freezes well.
Freeze Remaining Batter
Bake the muffins for 30-40 minutes (depending upon your muffin tin). Turn the pan 180˚ halfway through the bake time.
Once they are nice and brown and the middle of the muffin is set, remove from the oven.
Nice & Brown
Let the muffins rest for 5 minutes and then transfer them to cooling racks. It is very important to allow the muffins to cool so they firm/set-up. The texture of the muffin won’t be at its best until it is room temperature (not that my kids ever wait that long).
