Banana Split Chocolate Bark Recipe

The classic banana split, as invented in a Pennsylvania(or possibly Ohio) drug store around the turn of the 20th century, consists of a split fresh banana topped with scoops of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream and often including toppings such as strawberries, pineapple, chopped nuts, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and maraschino cherries. In this recipe, Developer Jessica Morone is using all of these different flavors and colors as the inspiration for a multi-layered candy bark. "There are so many different flavors here," she says, enthusing, "They all go together so well."

One of the best things about this recipe, according to Morone, is that "it's pretty easy to make ... You are just heating chocolate in the microwave until it melts and then chilling it when it's assembled." Despite the simplicity, she still characterizes the end result as "delicious" and even admits, "With all the fruit in it, I can convince myself that it's a healthy snack."

The base layers of this chocolate bark are made from chocolate chips, both semisweet and white. Dried strawberries help to flavor some of the chocolate, while peanuts, banana chips, dried cherries, and dried pineapple are used to add extra taste and texture to the candy.

Line a 9x13-inch baking pan (or a baking sheet) with parchment paper. Set aside.

Add the semi-sweet chocolate chips to a medium, microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between each interval, until the chocolate is melted (about 1 ½ minutes).

Spread the melted semi-sweet chocolate evenly in the bottom of the prepared baking pan.

Sprinkle the roasted peanuts evenly over the melted chocolate. Set aside.

Add the freeze dried strawberries to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the strawberries become a powder, set aside.

Add 12 ounces of white chocolate chips to a medium microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave in 15 second increments, stirring between each increment, until chocolate is melted.

Stir the powdered strawberries into the bowl with the white chocolate and mix until well combined.

Spread the chocolate strawberry mixture gently over the semi-sweet chocolate and peanut mixture in the baking pan. Put the baking pan in the fridge for about 5 minutes until it starts to set (but is not completely cool).

Add the remaining 12 ounces of white chocolate to a microwave safe bowl and follow the previous steps to melt it.

Spread the white chocolate evenly over the strawberry chocolate in the baking pan.

Sprinkle the top of the white chocolate with the banana chips, dried cherries, and dried pineapple. Press loose pieces gently into the chocolate.

Place the baking pan in the refrigerator until it sets completely, about 45 minutes.

Once set, peel the bark away from the parchment paper and break it into smaller pieces.

Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

While Morone notes that "banana splits have very specific flavors" and says that she tried to duplicate the chocolate and vanilla ice cream with the chocolate and white chips, there's really no reason you couldn't use milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet, if you prefer. The dried fruits and nuts, too, may all echo some component of the original ice cream concoction, but Morone says, "You could swap all these things for different things," so dried raspberries or cranberries could be used if you wish, or the peanuts replaced with almonds, pecans, or pistachios.

As Morone tells us, this recipe itself evolved out of another kind of candy. "I think it was something like banana and cherry bark," she recalls, saying, "That inspired me to turn it into banana split bark." The basic banana split recipe, too, has often come in for some significant tweaking, as is the case with our version made with grilled bananas, hot fudge sauce, and macadamias. Even if your ingredient swaps result in a candy that is, as Morone puts it, "a different type of chocolate bark," as long as you follow the basic template, it will likely turn out just as attractive and tasty as the original.

One of the great things about this banana split bark is that it lasts a long time. While Morone does caution that it's really only good for about 5 days at room temperature, in the refrigerator it can last for 3 weeks and it can also be frozen for longer storage. This means that this candy is something you can make ahead of time and use for holiday gifting.

If the holidays in question are the winter ones and your giftees live in the northern hemisphere, then you're in luck because, as Morone says, "In the colder months you can mail chocolate easily." So easy is it, in fact, that you could include this chocolate bark as part of a care package or gift basket, perhaps paired with some cute ice cream sundae glasses and spoons to carry out the banana split theme. If you need to mail the candy in warmer weather, though, you can ship it at expedited speed packed in an insulated container with ice packs or dry ice in order to keep it from melting.