Banana Boats
Posted by terrepruitt on February 18, 2014
I really thought I had posted about these before. I probably decided against it because it is not the healthiest of desserts and certainly will be frowned upon by many. But . . . this is also not one of the unhealthiest desserts – as far as desserts go. It IS one of the yummiest desserts and sooooo easy. This one has a lot more calories, fat, and processed ingredients than the blended bananas, but it is pretty much just as easy. Since it is just my husband and I that are usually eating them my recipe is for two, but it is so easy to adjust you can make it for one, three, ten, or more it is up to you. I first saw this recipe in a magazine, I think it was Taste of Home. What they called them I don’t remember because my husband quickly named them Banana Boats.
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Recipe for two:
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Banana Boats
Two less than ripe bananas*
Aluminum foil
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup mini-marshmallows
Put your oven rack on the lowest position. Turn oven to 450° F. While the oven is heating up slice the banana down the inside-of-the-curve middle. Do not cut all the way through the skin on the outside-of-the-curve, but do cut all the way through the banana. Situate the banana in a “boat” made of aluminum foil, with the slice facing up. Use a spoon or something to open the banana a little bit so you have room to fill it. Then put half of the chocolate chips in the slice. Top the chips with half of the marshmallows. Repeat with the other banana.
Put the banana on the lowest oven rack (the one you remembered to lower BEFORE you turned the oven on) and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Check the banana. With the rack at the lowest possible point the chocolate should be melted and the banana warm. The marshmallows might be browning. You decide how brown you like your marshmallows. The banana skin will turn black and look rather not-pretty. But your banana will be fine. When the marshmallows are browned to your liking, take the bananas out of the oven. I like mine around 7 minutes.
How you serve them is up to you. We usually just put the banana on a plate and use a spoon to scoop out the chocolatey-marshmallowey-banana goodness.
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Usually my husband grills them. He grills them at a kinda low to medium temp. Then he watches them until they have black skin and melted/browned marshmallows. Of course every grill is different so the low to medium might not work on your grill. Basically just keep an eye on them.
*Regarding the ripeness of the bananas. We have found that ripe bananas do not work as well. I honestly can’t remember why. I just remember it was not as yummy. So they do work and it will still be a great dessert, but not as yummy as when the bananas are on the hard – less-than ripe side.
All of the pictures are courtesy of my hubby! Thanks, Hubby!
What do you think?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 
My French Heaven said
Life is short. Healthy is important, but decadent is NECESSARY. At least that’s my humble opinion. Very nice idea your banana boat!
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terrepruitt said
Ahhh, so these are decadent? They are pretty good. And anything can be added to them. I think I added nuts once, but I like them with just chocolate and marshmallows best!
(And, hello there!)
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John Pruitt said
They look like Viking longboats filled with hordes of chocolatey/marshmallow invaders
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terrepruitt said
Comment, you did.
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John Pruitt said
Pulling a Yoda on me? Nicely played jedi… nicely played.
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terrepruitt said
Well, that is about all I could say about your Viking ships . . . .
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soupsloth said
I think you beat me with the Banana Boat loading! I’ve got a bit of a thing about marshmallows (my brother’s “stuff your mouth” challenge has put me off), but that looks so good I may hunt out some vegetarian ones to use:D
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terrepruitt said
You could try making your own. This is really good. And fun to make. Easy to make. We usually start making them during grilling season. We are still making them when grilling season ends. End up making them once or twice in the oven. The forget about them until grilling season again!
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