Frozen bananas or “monkey tails” have been a favorite frozen treat of mine since I lived in Southern California as a teenager. Whenever I bring them to an event they fly off the platter.
Here is my frozen banana recipe:
Chocolate-Dipped Frozen Bananas or Monkey Tails
Serves 8
Ingredients
- 4 ripe but firm large bananas, cut off stem end, peel & cut in half
- 8 wooden popsicle sticks
- 32 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped or chips (you may want more than this for ease of dipping)
- 1 1/2-2 Tablespoons shortening (add a little more shortening at a time if needed to get desired thickness)
Directions
Dipping decorations: granola, chopped nuts, sprinkles, jimmies, crushed cookies, toasted coconut, mini M & M’s etc. (I prefer coarsely chopped, salted, roasted peanuts)
Line a cookie sheet or jellyroll pan with parchment or wax paper. Carefully insert a popsicle stick into the cut-end of each banana half pushing the stick in 1-2 inches, leaving the other end exposed for use as a handle. Brush with lemon juice to prevent browning. Place the bananas on the sheet pan and freeze until frozen solid. (At this point I sometimes store the prepped bananas in an airtight bag or container in the freezer. Then I just pull out as many as are needed and dip in chocolate and toppings.) They also store well dipped for 1-2 weeks.
Melt the chocolate and shortening by preferred method (I use the microwave, being careful not to burn)stirring occasionally.
Arrange the dipping decorations on several flat plates or a pieces of wax paper. Working with 1 banana at a time, dip it in the chocolate and turn to completely coat (spoon some on, if needed). Roll the dipped banana in the desired decorations, transfer to the cookie sheet, and return to the freezer.Only take 2-3 put of the freezer at a time to dip so they won’t melt.
Once frozen, store the dipped bananas in an airtight container or bag in the freezer.
Here’s what they look like prepped and ready to dip.
I made frozen bananas for a client’s tennis dinner. After dinner and wine the ladies squealed with delight when I brought out the platter of frozen bananas. Apparently they had all read Fifty Shades of Gray and found the frozen bananas to be a great source of much laughter and innuendo. I haven’t read the book myself but as I told my client ” frozen bananas will be be a FUN dessert! Apparently I was right!
