Chocolate Covered Banana Peanut Butter Bites

I have been wanting to make a simple treat for someone who loves banana and my first thought was adding a slice of banana to a homemade peanut butter cup. I still might try that, but while brainstorming I came up with this idea which is a bit healthier and much more banana focused. They came out as good as I had hoped (the mixing of the different chocolates and flavors really adds to it in my opinion) and were very easy to make. Freezing them thoroughly before dunking them in the chocolate is a necessary step though so make sure enough time is saved for that.

Chocolate Covered Banana Peanut Butter Bites
How I Did It:

2 ripe bananas
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/8 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Peel and slice your bananas. You won't need the 4 end pieces.

2. Scoop peanut butter on top of a slice of banana (be generous) and cover with another slice. Repeat for the remaining slices, matching up similiar sized pieces.

3. Place all "sandwiches" in a parchment paper lined container in the freezer. Freeze at least for a couple hours, if not overnight.

4. When the sandwiches are nice and frozen, pour your chocolate and butterscotch into a double boiler and heat. Stir occasionally to help melt. Once melted, stir in the vanilla extract.

5. One at a time , place a peanut butter banana sandwich into the melted chocolate. Once coated, carefully scoop out with a fork, letting some of the excess chocolate fall off. Place in a container lined with parchment paper. Repeat for remaining sandwiches, only take 2 out to work with at a time and leaving the rest frozen.

6. Once all of the sandwiches are coated in chocolate, cover the container and place back in the freezer until you are ready to enjoy!

Special Blueberry Banana Bread

This banana bread was one of the two desserts I made for Mother's Day. I found it at Gluten Free Vegan Girl. My mom loved it and my sister and I agreed that it would be great for breakfast. Of course, the only one I shared the secret ingredient with was my mom. I have used tofu in vegan frosting before and it really does make for a nice texture (you can't taste it - promise). This bread is vegan, gluten-free and has no added sugar - the sweetness comes from the bananas and blueberries, but it's only mildly sweet. I doubled recipe (per below) and I think that was the perfect amount for a loaf pan and it still cut and served easily.

Special Blueberry Banana Bread

How I Did It:

4 ripe bananas

300 grams silken tofu

2 cups of rolled oats

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a bread pan with canola oil.

2. With a potato masher, mash together the bananas and tofu in a bowl.

3. In a food processor, grind the oats into oat flour. Pour into the banana/tofu mix along with the baking powder. Stir to combine.

4. Pour into prepared bread pan and spread out evenly. One at a time, push blueberries into the batter.

5. Bake for about an hour or until it doesn't jiggle when you shake the pan and it is cooked through (will remain very moist).

6. Store covered and refrigerated. 

Everyday Chocolate Ice Cream

Okay, so I admit this might not call out to you, but trust me when I say it should! It tastes just like banana chocolate ice cream, but without the diary, fat, excessive amounts of sugars, and all those preservatives and other stuff that I can't pronounce or explain. I should tell you that banana is not one of my favorite flavors, but it just tastes so good mixed with other flavors in smoothies...especially chocolate, of course. You can have this as a smoothie or ice cream and it is great either way!

So where did this come from? Over the summer I tried Starbuck's chocolate smoothie on a whim and it really exceeded my expectations. It tasted just like banana and chocolate and before I was done I had decided I must try to recreate it myself. I have made many different versions, and this is the one I like the best. It works well with just banana and chocolate powder though too. You can also make it with all unsweetened cocoa (since ripe banana is so sweet), but I like the added sweetness. If you do use all unsweetened cocoa, keep in mind it will be much more intensely chocolate.

I have no idea what gunk Starbuck's puts in their version, but I'm pretty happy with mine!

Everyday Chocolate Ice Cream
How I Did It:

(serves one)

1 1/2 frozen very ripe bananas
1 tbsp sweetened powdered baking chocolate
1 tbsp unsweetended cocoa
1 tbsp almond milk
1 tsp vanilla

1. Break up the frozen banana a bit and throw in your food processor. Process until it is just small chunks of banana and then add in all other ingredients. Blend until smooth and well combined.

2. Enjoy as is for a delicious chocolate smoothie or place in freezer for 5 - 20 minutes to turn it into chocolate banana ice cream. That's it!

Banana Almond Whoopie Pies

If you can't tell from the picture, these aren't your traditional, sugar and fat filled whoopie pies.  I saw very tasty looking banana chocolate chunk cookies over at Spoonful of Sugar Free and I knew I would have to make some version of them for my mom's belated birthday celebration. We were planning on celebrate via some sort of outdoor picnic during our mini vacation so cake of any sort wouldn't make it unfortunately. Well, once we all tried them all thoughts of "mom friendly" cake vanished!

I made a few changes to cater to my family's taste and food sensitives and they turned out great! Just sweet enough and the almond flavored center with the banana was perfect! These could easily be part of your breakfast or a great midday pick-you-up snack!  I left some without the filling and they are great like that as well. As an extra bonus the batter is quite tasty uncooked and of course perfectly safe to eat!

Sunning itself before being consumed during the birthday picnic

Banana Almond Whoopie Pies
How I Did it:

Cookies:
(makes one dozen single layer cookies)
2 cups oats
2 very ripe bananas
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/8 cup raisins

Filling:
1 cup almond butter
2 tbs almond milk
1 1/4 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Grind oats in a food processor until they become flour-like. Set aside.

3. In a mixing bowl, mash bananas with a potato masher. Mix in vanilla and salt.

4. Add in oat flour, baking powder, and baking soda and mix until well combined. Stir in water.

5. Add in dates and raisins and mix to distribute evenly.

6. Place heaping tablespoonfuls of dough onto prepared baking sheets. It won't change size/shape too much so depending on your preference you can make them flatter or more fluffy as you are putting them on the cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes - they will turn light brown and you will be able to pluck them right off the sheet. Let fully cool.

7. While your cookies are cooling, make the filling. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and beat well. Cover and place in the refrigerator (to firm up) until cookies are completely cool.

8. Once the cookies are fully cooled, try to pair up by size so each are matched with a cookie whose bottom is similar in size. Generously spread the filling on the flat bottom one of the matched cookies, allowing it to pile up more in the middle. Take it's partner and slightly press down to secure it on top. Repeat for the rest of the cookies. Store in a container in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature for best test before eating.