Chocolate Dipped Frozen Bananas

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Over the weekend our 4 year old daughter, Lola, had her first ballet recital. And let me tell you, it was a big deal. I have never seen so many girls running around in pink tutus! Lots of twirling, jumping and giggling. It was great and Lola did fantastic. I may or may not have shed a few tears.

With her recital not until Saturday afternoon, we had a big barbeque for everyone in town Friday evening. Chicken and vegetable kabobs were on the grill, with a shaved asparagus salad and cut up pineapple at the table. It was a great night and always fun to see our family.

Whenever we have people over, and especially during summer barbeque season, I try to choose quick and easy recipes that can be prepped and made in advance. This way I can have a drink and enjoy everyone’s company instead of always being tied up in the kitchen. So for dessert, I made these chocolate dipped frozen bananas.

I have been seeing a lot of frozen bananas online the past few weeks with the return of Arrested Development. Do you watch the show? Jake and I are just getting into it, and loving it. The bananas are very simple to make, and you can top them with whatever you have on hand in the kitchen. They take 6-8 hours to freeze so just make sure the make these ahead of time. Other than that, they take about 5 minutes to make. I love that. And the best part is, they are bananas, not ice cream, yet taste like ice cream!

 INGREDIENTS:
4 oz. dark chocolate, chopped * (feel free to use all of one chocolate, or a different chocolate as well)
4 oz. milk chocolate, chopped *
1/2 tablespoon ground coffee * (optional)
1 pinch of kosher salt
3 large firm bananas
6 wooden popsicle sticks or skewer sticks (which is what I used)

TOPPINGS:
coconut shreds
sliced almonds
crushed graham crackers
sprinkles
coarse sea salt flakes

DIRECTIONS:
Fill a saucepan with water about 1/4 of the way. Place a glass bowl over top making sure that it does not touch the water. Bring the water to a boil, add the chocolate to the glass bowl. Stir occasionally until melted. Remove from the heat and add pinch of kosher salt and ground coffee and mix together.

Slice firm bananas in half. Carefully insert your wooden stick about 1/2 way into the banana (I had one split on me). Coat the bananas with chocolate using a spoon with one hand, and carefully supporting the banana with the other. Sprinkle with your toppings. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 1 hour. Transfer to the freezer. Mine took about 6 hours to freeze. If you do not eat them all, which you will, but if not, they can now be placed in a ziploc bag or container and stored in the freezer.