When it comes to drawing inspiration for food ideas, I rely on everything from menu-items at restaurants, to items found on grocery store shelves.
On a recent trip to Trader Joe’s, I found myself in the frozen aisle section looking for popsicle prospects and came across “Gone Bananas!” frozen banana slices. I instantly flipped the box over to see the list of ingredients and then gently… put the box back. The ingredients included: “Bananas, chocolate (cocoa butter, cane sugar, chocolate liquor, soy lecithin, palm oil). Contains soy”
There wasn’t anything nutritious about the chocolate used or the list of ingredients, so I thought I could easily make these at home and, in true fashion, add in some extra nutrients to make these a powerful superfood-treat for my kids.
When it comes to picking out chocolate go for dark chocolate, the highest cocoa content and the fewest ingredients listed. The higher the cacao percentage the more antioxidants and overall nutrients you’re going to get, so shoot for anything over 65% cacao.
I could have easily used a bag of my favorite vegan chocolate chips to make these vegan, or (one of my favorite things to do) picked out a really dark, unsweetened chocolate bark and then sweetened it myself with grade-B maple syrup and some vanilla for a really *clean* chocolate. BUT, I was just testing this out, so I went for the quick and easy and picked up these Dark Chocolate Lover’s 85% Cacao Chocolate Bars instead.
These bars have a simple list of ingredients that includes 4 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber. The only eye-brow-raiser is the soy lecithin. It’s basically an emulsifier and helps the chocolate bar hold together. It’s extracted from soybeans and is a by-product of soybean oil production. IF you are concerned about GMO’s, this is an ingredient you want to steer clear of in any product. Unless a product states “non-GMO’s” it’s presumed to have been modified, in this case the soybeans, so just something to keep in mind! (I would not get these bars again based on that alone. I’d either look for a cleaner bar, or make my own chocolate. In my research I learned how easy it is to make chocolate. I’ll test and post soon!)
These treats were relatively easy to make, but did leave my kitchen (and myself) a tad-bit messy. I ended up consuming a fair amount of chocolate in the clean-up/creative process. There’s just something about melted chocolate that’s enticing to the tongue, you know? I lost count of how many licks I took, but I’m certain those calories translated into fat somewhere on my body… so beware!
To get started on these you need to melt your chocolate. The easiest way is to use a double broiler if you have one, or use a small saucepan and fill it with water, place a small bowl inside the pan on top of the water, and melt your chocolate on low to medium heat on the stove. It melts beautifully and you don’t have to worry about it scorching.
You then slice your bananas and set up a little assembly line of toppings. I chose some organic bananas. I also set out some raw, unsweetened coconut flakes and chopped walnuts to coat them in. I then amped up my melted chocolate by stirring in some…
…chia seeds! I love these potent seeds derived from the plant Salvia Hispanica (related to mint). They’re packed with nutrients, most notably: fiber, omega-3’s calcium and protein. I slip these into food any way I can. They blend in so easily and can go undetected. Even the littlest health-food detectives won’t be able to spot them.
To make the bananas you simply dip your sliced banana into the melted chocolate. You can use a skewer or I used a chop-stick to coat the bananas evenly.
Place banana into toppings, coat evenly and then place it onto a tray lined with parchment paper.
I made an assortment; some with coconut, some with walnuts and I left some plain. Pop the tray into the freezer for one hour.
Once bananas are frozen, place them into an air tight container. You’ll store and serve these from the freezer.
The sweet taste of the bananas wrapped in a crispy chocolaty coating is the perfect sweet-treat. It’s unlike anything you’ll find at the store in taste and nutrients.
You can even turn the slices, into full-blown banana popsicles. You just need some popsicle sticks. The rest of the process is exactly the same.
There you have it! A simple, super-food filled dessert that is perfect for the kiddos and, let’s be honest, MOMS and DADS too!
Here’s what you’ll need for these Chia Chocolate Frozen Bananas:
Ingredients:
5 organic bananas
7 oz. of dark chocolate
1 Tbsp chia seeds (optional)
3 tsp of unrefined coconut oil
Toppings: (optional)
1/2 c. raw, unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 c. finely chopped walnuts
Directions:
- Melt chocolate in a double broiler, OR by placing water in a small saucepan, then place a small bowl inside the saucepan, place chocolate inside the bowl. You can also microwave it, heat for 30 seconds, stir, heat another 30 seconds. Continue the process until chocolate is fully melted.
- Grab a cookie sheet or tray and line it with parchment paper, set aside.
- Once chocolate begins to melt, stir in coconut oil. Let chocolate melt completely then remove from heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of chia seeds.
- Cut bananas into slices, either thick or thin.
- Use a skewer to dip bananas into chocolate, roll around until covered and then lift out one at a time, letting excess chocolate drip off completely.
- Dip chocolate covered banana into toppings, either the coconut flakes, walnuts, or both. Once covered place onto tray.
- Repeat the process until all the chocolate is used. *Note may take more or less bananas depending on size.
- Place tray of bananas into freezer for one hour to set up.
- Once frozen, take bananas off tray, using a knife to gently peel bananas off of the parchment paper, then place bananas in an air-tight container, seal and put back in freezer or serve immediately.
- Store and serve these from the freezer. Will last several weeks.
Notes:
*If using chocolate chips 1 & 1/4 cups of chips is the rough conversion. You might have a little chocolate leftover with this, but you can just use more bananas, double dip some bananas, or just eat it. 😉
*If making banana popsicles, place bananas in freezer with sticks inserted BEFORE coating in chocolate and toppings. This makes it easier to coat with toppings. Melted chocolate will also need to be slightly cooled first.
*If you’re confused about using cacao or cocoa bars or chips just know they are one in the same. Raw cacao is un-roasted cocoa beans, where the living enzymes are preserved in the cocoa and the fat (cacao butter) is removed. Cocoa is raw cacao, roasted at a high temperature that destroys much of the living enzymes which in turn lowers its nutritional value. Cacao is just healthier, with more nutrients, so try and choose chocolate where that’s the main ingredient.
