Frozen Chocolate Almond Bananas

Bananas have to be one of the most amazing foods ever.  Fresh, cooked, baked or frozen, this fruit knows no limits.  I’ve been making banana ‘ice cream’ out of frozen blended bananas for awhile now, but I’ve never actually eaten a whole frozen banana before.

Turns out that they taste amazing frozen just on their own!  They are creamy and smooth and have the most incredible texture.  Of course, I couldn’t just stop there.  Dipped in melted dark chocolate and rolled in toasted chopped almonds (you could use any nut really, hazelnuts would be amazing too), these healthy treats have catapulted their way to the top of our family favourite list.

They store for 1-2 weeks in the freezer if you keep them in a re-sealable container.  That is, if you have any left.  I double dare you to keep them around for that long!

Makes 12

Ingredients:

• 6 ripe bananas, peeled and cut in half crossways
• 1 c. roughly chopped dark chocolate
• 1/2 c. chopped toasted almonds*
• 12 wooden popsicle sticks

* I used a small food processor and pulsed it until they were roughly chopped into small pieces

Directions:

1. Take each banana half and insert a popsicle stick into the middle of the cut end of the banana until it is about half-way through.  Repeat with all of the banana halves.
2. Once finished, place the bananas on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze them until solid, an hour or two.
3. Once frozen, bring a small pot of water to a simmer.  Place the chocolate in a medium sized heat-proof bowl (glass or stainless steel) and set on top of the simmering water (or use a double boiler if you have one).  Melt the chocolate, stirring constantly, over the water and remove from the heat immediately.  Alternately you can melt the chocolate in a microwave, stopping to stir the chocolate every 10-15 seconds until completely melted.  Place the melted chocolate in a narrow glass for dipping the bananas.
4. Place the almonds in a small shallow bowl.
5. Take each frozen banana half, and dip the end of each banana in the melted chocolate and immediately roll the chocolate end in the almonds.  Place back on the parchment paper and repeat until all of the bananas are dipped.
6. Freeze the tray of bananas until ready to serve.