The Key To Covering Frozen Bananas In Chocolate With Ease

Frozen bananas are the secret weapon for the creamiest smoothies and homemade ice cream, but you don't always have to blend them up to enjoy their frozen texture. Chocolate-covered frozen bananas are an easy homemade treat that is as sweet and satisfying as any store-bought ice cream bar and with a fraction of the calories. Plus, they're customizable and fun to make as a family. The key to covering frozen bananas in chocolate with ease is to make the frozen banana pops before dipping them into melted chocolate.

Cutting a banana into thirds, inserting a popsicle stick halfway through each third, and freezing them on parchment paper will make them easier to handle. Freezing will harden the banana's flesh, anchoring it to the popsicle stick so there's no chance that it'll fall off the stick when you dunk it in warm melted chocolate. Plus, frozen bananas will expedite the hardening of melted chocolate. The chocolate coating will set and stick to the bananas instead of sliding or dripping off them at room temperature.

Ensuring that the chocolate is nice and warm will also help it stick to the frozen banana. For this reason, using a double boiler to melt chocolate with coconut oil is a better method than the microwave. While the microwave takes less time, short blasts of heat and stirring won't keep it as warm as a double boiler. Dipping a frozen banana into chocolate that's already starting to set is a recipe for disaster.

Frozen bananas provide a sturdy base and the temperature contrast necessary to adhere warm melted chocolate, but there are a few more tips to obtain a shell-like coating. To coat the frozen banana you can either spoon melted chocolate over a frozen banana while you rotate it or you dunk and twist the frozen banana into melted chocolate. Whichever method you chose, the next step should be holding the freshly coated banana horizontally over the bowl of melted chocolate as it sets.

Any excess chocolate that doesn't stick and begin to harden will fall back into your melted chocolate so none of it gets wasted. Then, place the chocolate covered banana onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet to harden completely in the freezer for a few minutes. The parchment paper will ensure that the coating won't break when you lift the bananas off the baking sheet.

If you want to add crushed nuts, sprinkles, or coarse sea salt for a bit of crunch, you'll have a narrow window of time between coating it and placing it on the baking sheet. The warm chocolate will help the crushed garnishes adhere to the banana, but it's still prone to sliding off the banana with too much friction. Consequently, it's better to sprinkle or spoon crush-ins over the chocolate coating rather than rolling the chocolate coated banana in the add-ons.