In today’s post: These chocolate peanut butter banana bites are a great little treat to keep in your freezer for times you are craving something sweet!
I recently tried the chocolate covered banana bites from the freezer section of Costco. I had high hopes: how can you go wrong with a combination of chocolate, peanut butter, and frozen banana? Sadly, I wasn’t super impressed with them and most of the bag languished in my freezer for a month without anyone eating them. So we decided to see if a homemade version would taste better. Spoiler alert: it does!
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make frozen chocolate peanut butter banana bites:
- Bananas: Use bananas that are slightly riper than you like to eat, but are not completely brown and mushy. I like my bananas on the greener side normally, so I used bananas that were completely yellow but not very spotty. Most people probably want to use a banana that is completely yellow and has some spots but is still a bit firm.
- Peanut Butter: I used creamy peanut butter. Any brand should be fine, but natural peanut butter won’t work well here because it’s a little too runny.
- Chocolate: I’ve been converted to Ghirardelli’s chocolate melting wafers when it comes to dipping candies, especially ones that will stay in the fridge or freezer. These wafers melt beautifully and don’t get streaky when chilled (like most chocolate does). This is what I recommend for this recipe, although you are welcome to experiment with your favorite chocolate for dipping. If you plan to use milk or dark chocolate chips, you may want to stir in some coconut oil when you melt them.
How to Make Chocolate Banana Bites
These frozen banana bites are really easy to make! You can make a small batch (8-10) in about twenty minutes, and some of that is chilling time so if you want to double the batch it will not double your total time. Just be aware that they will need to freeze for a few hours before you eat them.
Make banana sandwiches
To begin, you’ll want to peel a banana and slice it into 1/4 inch slices. Make the slices as straight as you can – if needed cut a few wedge shaped slices out and just eat them!
Next you’ll add peanut butter on top of half the slices. I found it easiest to place the peanut butter in a small plastic bag, then cut off the corner and “pipe” about a teaspoon of peanut butter onto the banana slice.
Top each PB banana slice with another piece of banana to make a sandwich. Press down gently to squeeze the peanut butter out to the edges of the banana slices.
Freeze
Once you have all your banana sandwiches made, pop them into the freezer for ten minutes. This gives them time to firm up slightly making it easier to dip them in chocolate.
Dip in Chocolate
After ten minutes your banana sandwiches should be firm enough to hold together (if they are not, let them freeze a bit longer). Melt some chocolate melting wafers according to the directions on the package in a small bowl or mug. Then dip each banana sandwich, tap off the excess chocolate, and place onto a baking sheet or cutting board lined with parchment paper.
You have a couple options for dipping the bananas. You can spear them with a toothpick, dunk in the chocolate, and then gently pull them back out and place them on your tray. If you do this, you may need to spoon a little extra chocolate on the top to cover up the hole the toothpick leaves. Alternately, you can drop the banana sandwich into the melted chocolate and use a fork to pick it back up and drop onto your tray. After dipping, feel free to sprinkle your banana bites with chopped nuts of flaky sea salt if desired!
Work Quickly in Small Batches
Be aware that you will need to work quickly as the chocolate will begin to cool as you are dipping. It can be a good idea to place the mug of melted chocolate on a heating pad to keep it warm. Also, if you are doubling the batch you should NOT melt all the chocolate at once. Only melt about 4 oz at a time – enough to dip 8-10 banana sandwiches. If you melt a lot of chocolate and try to dip 20 sandwiches at once the chocolate will cool off and get too thick as you work, meaning you’ll have to microwave it again which can affect the consistency and shine.
Freeze Until Hard
Once you’ve dipped your banana slices, place them back in the freezer for at least two hours to let the bananas harden. The chocolate will harden right away, but if you try to eat one without freezing it first the banana inside will be a bit mushy. Store them in an airtight container in the freezer for easy snacking.
Frozen Chocolate Banana Bites
Ingredients
- 1 Medium Banana completely yellow with a few spots
- 3 tablespoons Creamy Peanut Butter not natural peanut butter
- 4-5 ounces Milk Chocolate Melting Wafers about half a bag
Want more project ideas? Sign up to get my favorite easy crafts and recipes straight to your inbox!
Instructions
- Peel the banana and slice into 1/4 inch slices. Pipe out some peanut butter on half of the slices, and then top them each with another banana slice to make a sandwich.
- Place the banana sandwiches in the freezer for 10 minutes until firm.
- Melt the chocolate in a small bowl or mug according to the package directions. Dip each banana bite in the chocolate, tap off the excess, then place onto a tray lined with parchment paper.
- Place banana bites back in the freezer and freeze at least 2 hours until firm. Store in an airtight container or plastic bag in the freezer.
Christine Hunter says
I haven’t made them yet but just reading the recipe tells me these are going to be amazing. I’m thinking I’ll start with one batch but do half in milk chocolate and the other half in dark chocolate. I’m a huge fan of peanut butter and banana sandwiches and my husband thinks they’re nasty. That’s fine with me. It’ll just mean more for me!