Frozen Banana Treats

Over the last year I got in a kitchen funk.  The two years of figuring out how to cook for my food allergic family took its toll on my creativity and I started to detest menu planning and recipe searches, something I used to *love* to do.  I also got in horrible habits once we started to be able to add back some of our allergens and we haven't been eating well.  I finally got fed up with feeding my family too many allergens (and reaping the consequences), eating the same food all the time, and not having options for my kids when they asked for a snack.  Also, Andrew has started to show some signs of food allergies (boo!!) and that was the final straw that caused me to become fed up with my lack of planning and creativity!

Enter Frozen Banana Treats - a great snack or dessert during these hot summer days!  Here's what I used to make these tasty bites:

• 2 bananas
• 1/4 c. chocolate chips
• 2 squares unsweetened bakers chocolate
• 1/2 c. almond butter
• 2 TB coconut oil
• unsweetened shredded coconut

You could easily alter these ingredients to suit your needs, using peanut butter, all chocolate chips and no squares or oil - it is very forgiving! I altered my ingredients from the original recipe, which I found on this blog The Spunky Coconut, by the way! It isn't one of her recipes, but it was in a link up there, and I cannot remember which blog it was originally from...

Anyway, melt all the ingredients together except for the shredded coconut, until it is just smooth, then allow it to cool.

While this mixture is getting cool enough to touch, slice the bananas into bite size pieces.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Dip each banana piece into the chocolate and set it on the baking sheet.  Once all the pieces are dipped, use remaining chocolate mixture to spoon over the top of each piece to make a thicker coating.  If desired, sprinkle coconut shreds on top.  Put the entire pan in the freezer for an hour or so until they are solid, then transfer to an airtight container.

These were a hit with my family! Next time I make them, I will leave out the chocolate chips (allergens) and use all baking chocolate sweetened with honey or coconut sugar.  With that change these will be quite healthy, and tasty to boot!