Frozen Chocolate Covered Bananas

Chocolate Covered Bananas are the perfect summer dessert. Frozen bananas are coated in a dark chocolate shell, and have an ice-cream-like texture that’s hard to resist. 

They’re like an ice cream bar, only better for you!

Now, if you’re like me, you may assume this recipe should be super-easy to make without any additional direction. You just dip a banana in melted chocolate right?

Well, it’s almost that easy.

As it turns out, it can get kind of messy if you dip a fresh banana into melted chocolate and then try to freeze it. The chocolate can drip off before it starts to harden in the freezer, so you’ll wind up with a huge flat disc of chocolate on one side of the frozen banana.

It’s much more successful if you start with frozen bananas first, so check out the photo tutorial for these frozen treats below.

Ingredients You’ll Need

All you need for a basic chocolate-covered banana is chocolate chips, coconut oil, and ripe frozen bananas. With that being said, feel free to gather more toppings if you’d like to make these extra fancy. 

I highly recommend chopping up some salted peanuts for a crunchy coating!

You can also sprinkle these with chopped almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, pistachios, walnuts, rainbow sprinkles, or shredded coconut.

How to Make Chocolate Covered Bananas

• Freeze the bananas. 

Line a large baking sheet or plate with parchment paper or wax paper. (Make sure it will fit on a flat surface in your freezer!)

Peel the bananas and cut them into thirds. I think this size is the easiest to manage, especially if you have kids in the house who need smaller portions, but you can also cut them in half if you’d like to make larger banana pops. Or cut them into 4 smaller pieces, if you want even smaller banana bites.

Insert a popsicle stick into the bottom of each banana, going at least halfway into the banana, so it will stay securely in place. Then place the banana on the lined baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining pieces. You should get 6 banana pops from 2 large bananas.

Place the pan on a flat shelf in the freezer and let them freeze until firm, about 3 hours.

• Melt the chocolate.

Add the chocolate chips and coconut oil to a heat-safe bowl that will snugly sit on top of a small saucepan.

Create a double boiler by filling that saucepan with 1 inch of water and then bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Place the bowl of chocolate chips and coconut oil on top of the pan, so the steam will gently melt them. Stir well until the melted chocolate is smooth.

• Coat the bananas.

Be sure to gather any additional toppings you might need before getting started, as this process will move quickly. If you’d like to roll the bananas in crushed peanuts or sprinkles, make sure they are standing by in a separate bowl.

I also recommend keeping a large plate nearby, to catch any mess you make as you add the toppings to the banana.

Remove the frozen bananas from the freezer and work with just 1 banana at a time. Hold the banana over the bowl of melted chocolate, and use a spoon to drizzle the chocolate evenly over the banana, until it is covered on all sides. 

Let any excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.

If you’d like to add a topping, quickly move the banana to hover over the large plate nearby, to catch any drips. Use your fingers to sprinkle your topping of choice onto the melted chocolate. The chocolate coating will start to harden in just 60 to 90 seconds, so you don’t have long to get the coating on.

Hold the dipped banana in the air as the chocolate sets, which shouldn’t take much longer than 2 minutes or so. Then place it back onto the parchment paper-lined pan.

Repeat with the remaining frozen bananas, adding the remaining chocolate and toppings. Let them harden before placing them back on the pan, for the prettiest results.

• Freeze briefly.

Return the bananas to the freezer for at least 10 minutes, so the chocolate can harden. Then the bananas are ready to serve.

You can store frozen chocolate-covered bananas in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months, but I think the texture is best if you eat them within 30 days of making them.

Homemade Chocolate Shell

If you prefer to skip the refined sugar found in chocolate chips, here’s how to make a chocolate shell that is naturally sweetened with maple syrup.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons cacao powder
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Melt the 3 ingredients together in a double boiler as directed above. This will keep the mixture warm, which is key to keeping the texture runny enough for drizzling on bananas.

Drizzle it over the frozen bananas, and watch it harden in just 60 to 90 seconds. This mixture should make enough to cover 6 banana pops (made from cutting 2 ripe bananas). The homemade chocolate shell is softer to bite into if you prefer a less crunchy coating.

Looking for more banana recipes? Try Chocolate-Covered Banana Bites, which are made with frozen banana slices and peanut butter.  Or make a loaf of gluten-free banana bread!

If you try these chocolate-covered banana pops, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like them!