Our 3 ingredient banana lollies (or banana pops) are a great treat for the whole family, and a healthy alternative to traditional ice cream lollies.
We dipped ours in dark chocolate, after adding a thick layer of peanut butter. They're so delicious, and so easy!
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Why you'll love these lollies
- They super easy to make, and a great thing for the kids to get involved in making. Especially when it comes to decorating.
- We use wholesome and nourishing ingredients to make these a much healthier alternative to store bought options. Ice-lollies that are actually good for you, who knew right?!
- Bananas are a low cost food item, making this a really accessible recipe for those who need it. You can even skip the nut butter and dark chocolate entirely. The banana lollies are still SO GOOD on their own. There is no obligation to get jazzy with toppings, simple is delicious in it's own right.
- It's very easy to switch up your toppings with these. You can get as creative as you like, or not. You do you.
- If you omit the nut butter, these are a great weight loss dessert option.
- As long as you go for dairy free chocolate like we did, this recipe is suitable for vegans.
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- Bananas - Riper bananas will be sweeter, so ideally you want to go for the ones with a few brown spots on (as pictured above).
- Peanut Butter - We chose peanut butter, but you can choose any nut butter. Almond butter or cashew butter would be tasty choices. You can also use sunflower seed butter or homemade caramel for a nut free option.
- Dark Chocolate - We aim to choose dark chocolate with at least 80% cocoa. Some brands do still contain small quantities of sugar. So make sure you check the label and buy the chocolate that most aligns with your preferences and values.
Equipment
- Baking Tray
- Baking Paper
- Medium Glass Bowl
- Small Saucepan
- Spatula
- Knife
- Spoons x 2 (one for peanut butter, one for chocolate)
- Ice-Lolly Sticks x 6
How to make banana lollies
Firstly you'll need to prep a freezer suitable tray by lining it with baking paper. This tray will be used to freeze the banana lollies on. So also make sure you have the correct amount of space in your freezer for it.
Cut your bananas in half. Then insert an ice lolly stick in to the cut end of your banana half. Try and work out your best angle depending on how bent the banana is. You don't want to start pushing it through, only for it to poke out the other side and split the banana.
Once your sticks have been inserted, place them on the baking paper lined tray, and pop into the freezer for 3 hours.
tip: I line mine up on top of the banana first to work out how best to insert half the stick length, without going through to the other side. You need a sturdy lolly.
5 minutes before you plan to remove them from the freezer, start melting your chocolate. Using a heatproof bowl, melt your chocolate using either a double boiler or microwave. Once melted, set aside to cool, you want chocolate that's warm, not piping hot.
Whilst the chocolate cools, get your nut butter ready and remove the tray of banana lollies from the freezer.
Using a spoon or knife, add a layer of nut butter to the lollies on the side facing up. You can go thick or thin with this, it's totally up to you.
Once all the lollies have a coating of nut butter, you can either dip the lollies in the melted chocolate, or you can drizzle the chocolate over using a spoon.
We find that drizzling the melted chocolate is a better option, especially when the kids are helping.
If you are adding any additional toppings such as chopped nuts or sprinkles, you will need to do so quickly before your chocolate sets. The chocolate will set very fast on frozen bananas. I suggest coating one lolly at a time with the chocolate, and then adding the toppings, before moving on to the next.
Recipe tip
You can add a teaspoon of coconut oil to the melted chocolate. Because frozen chocolate has a matte look to it, adding the coconut oil will give it extra shine once set.
Substitutions and variations
Feel free to enjoy these the same way you would any other ice cream, you can drizzle with chocolate sauce, dip entirely in hundreds and thousands, or you can change the chocolate. Milk chocolate and white chocolate are great alternatives if you don't enjoy dark chocolate.
Storage
If not eating these straight away, make sure they are stored in freezer bags to prevent freezer burn. Eat these up within one month of making them.
FAQ's
Yes! Frozen bananas are actually a great way to soothe sore gums from teething. If making this recipe for babies, just give them to frozen banana without any nut butter or chocolate.
Recipe
Frozen Banana Lollies - Easy, Healthy & Vegan
Equipment
- Baking Tray
- Baking Paper
- Medium Glass Bowl
- Small Saucepan
- Spatula
- Knife
- Spoons x 2
- Ice-Lolly Sticks x 6
Ingredients
- 3 Ripe Bananas
- ½ cup Peanut Butter smooth or crunchy
- 100g Dark Chocolate
Instructions
- Firstly you'll need to prep a freezer suitable tray by lining it with baking paper. This tray will be used to freeze the banana lollies on. So also make sure you have the correct amount of space in your freezer for it.
- Next, cut your bananas in half so that you have equal lengths.
- Then take an ice lolly stick and insert half of the length of it in to the cut end of each banana half. Try and work out your best angle depending on how bent the banana is. You don't want to start pushing it through, only for it to poke out the other side and split the banana.
- Once your sticks have been inserted, place them on the baking paper lined tray, and pop into the freezer for 3 hours to harden.
- 5 minutes before you plan to remove them from the freezer, start melting your chocolate. Using a heatproof bowl, melt your chocolate using either a double boiler (you'll need the saucepan for this method) or you can use a microwave. Once melted, set aside to cool. You want chocolate that's warm, not piping hot.
- Whilst the chocolate cools, get your peanut butter ready and remove the tray of banana lollies from the freezer.
- Using a spoon or knife, add a layer of peanut butter to the lollies on the side facing up.
- Once all the lollies have a coating of peanut butter you can drizzle over the cooled melted chocolate.
- If you are adding any additional toppings such as chopped nuts or sprinkles, you will need to do so quickly before your chocolate sets. The chocolate will set very fast on frozen bananas. I recommend that you cover one lolly at a time with the chocolate, and then toppings, before moving on to the next.
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