My favorite ice cream treat at Disney World is the frozen chocolate banana. I've always loved the combination of chocolate and banana, and I love it even more when it's coated with crushed pecans, almonds, cashews...pretty much any kind of nut.
This week on Pinterest I found a recipe for frozen bananas, but instead of being dipped in melted chocolate, they're dipped in Greek yogurt mixed with cinnamon, then covered in crushed almonds. Since it's 100 degrees outside, a frozen treat was definitely what I wanted to make.
The best part about this sweet concoction is that it's simple and doesn't take long to freeze.
First, place parchment paper on a baking sheet (make sure it fits in your freezer before you start). I used Fage Total 0% Greek Yogurt and mixed it with freshly grated cinnamon. I only had cinnamon sticks, so I had to grate cinnamon into the yogurt. I think it made the yogurt taste a lot better, but that could be because my kitchen smelled like cinnamon for the rest of the day.
The recipe doesn't give a specific amount for any of the ingredients, so it's really up to you with how much cinnamon you want to add to the yogurt. I decided to sprinkle in enough until there were little speckles of cinnamon throughout.
Now, it's time to prepare the bananas to be coated in yogurt and almonds.
After peeling the bananas, slice the ends off of each of them to make a flat surface to easily insert the Popsicle stick. Once each banana has a Popsicle stick, you're ready to cover them in Greek yogurt. For me, this was a challenge because the recipe doesn't tell you how to get the yogurt on the bananas. All it says is cover the bananas with yogurt and almonds. Not very detailed.
I started by placing a banana in the bowl of yogurt, attempting to cover it by dolloping yogurt and spreading it with a knife, but once I picked up the banana to place on the baking sheet, the Greek yogurt was too heavy and caused the Popsicle stick to split the banana in half. Epic fail.
The next method was to use two Popsicle sticks on both ends, just like I was placing skewers into corn on the cob. But, it was again difficult to completely coat the banana with the yogurt. Then, I had an idea. I remembered that I have a barbecue basting brush! Painting the Greek yogurt on the bananas was so much easier than dipping them or coating them with a spoon. By simply holding the Popsicle stick with one hand and painting the Greek yogurt with the other, I was able to evenly coat the bananas. They looked much prettier this time. Third time is a charm, I guess.
Just roll the bananas in crushed almonds or press them onto the bananas, if you don't mind getting a little messy. Now, you're done! Just stick them in the freezer, let them harden and you've got yourself a homemade frozen treat.
The tangy Greek yogurt pairs wonderfully with the naturally sweet banana and subtle taste of cinnamon. It's creamy, delicious and will definitely cool you down this summer.
If you're craving a little chocolate with it (I sure was), dip the bananas in melted chocolate or chocolate syrup. Your sweet tooth will thank you.
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