Irresistible Fried Banana Chocolate Bites

You know these flavors, but we’ll bet you’ve never tried anything like these fried banana chocolate bites. Ripe bananas get injected with chocolate hazelnut spread and peanut butter, then fried until crispy and rolled in cinnamon & sugar. Churro lovers, just try to resist these!

Did you ever make banana boats around the campfire? Clearly that combo of caramelized banana, molten chocolate, and rich peanut butter got embedded somewhere deep in our primal brains because we keep coming back to it. Except this time, we found a way to make those flavors truly irresistible, the way only deep frying and rolling something in cinnamon & sugar can.

We stuffed our bananas with the all-time, hands-down, best-ever dessert duo, namely chocolate and peanut butter. (Those of you who sneak banana slices into your grilled PB and Nutella sandwiches, you already know what we’re talking about.) But we can think of a few other fried banana fillings you wouldn’t have to twist our arms to try: marshmallow fluff, dulce de leche, strawberry jam… (just stop us when your mouth starts watering).

We’d like to imagine dunking these bites, churro-style, into a cup of thick hot chocolate. Or serving them with a just barely melting scoop of vanilla ice cream. Or getting really fancy and skewering them on toothpicks, then dipping them into a chocolate fountain. But these dreams would require actually getting the banana bites from the cinnamon & sugar bowl to the table before they all ‘disappear’ — and, well, you try it!

 

Fried Banana Chocolate Bites

Makes 9 bites Prep Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 bananas
  • chocolate hazelnut spread
  • peanut butter
  • ½ cup flour
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup plain dry breadcrumbs
  • oil for frying
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation

    1. Cut the very top and bottom off of each banana. Cut each banana into 3 equal pieces, but leave the peel attached.
    2. Using a paring knife, hollow out a small cylinder of banana from both ends of each piece of banana.
    3. Using the end of a spoon, fill the resulting holes with chocolate hazelnut spread or peanut butter. Repeat the process with the remaining banana pieces, then remove their peels and set them aside.
  1. Take the filled pieces of banana and roll them first in the flour, then in the beaten egg, and finally in the breadcrumbs. Make sure the banana pieces are evenly and completely coated with breading, otherwise the filling will come out while you’re frying them.
  2. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a medium bowl and set it aside.
  3. Heat the oil to 375°F/190°C and fry the filled and breaded banana pieces, a few at a time, until they’re golden brown.
  4. Let the fried bananas cool slightly until you can touch them, then roll them in the cinnamon and sugar mixture and serve warm.

Tell the truth, did these fried chocolate peanut butter banana bites blow your mind? Are you going to take them to a party, or eat them as a midnight snack?

Recipe adapted from Lecker Schmecker.