By: Jodie Shield, RD

My family loves this recipe!  I got it from a dear friend, Evelyn Tribole, RD.  She has written several cook books.  This recipe came from one of her first: Healthy Homestyle Desserts (Viking, 1996).  Enjoy!

Chocolate Frozen Bananas

makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

3 large bananas, peeled

6 wooden ice-pop sticks

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup fat-free fudge topping

5 teaspoons water

1 1/4 cups crisp rice cereal

Directions:

Line a tray with wax paper.  Cut each banana in half.  Insert an ice-pop stick into each piece of banana, and place on the tray.  Freeze until firm, about one hour.

Combine the chocolate chips, fudge topping, and water in a bowl, and microwave on high for 45 to 60 seconds.  Stir until blended.

Spread out the rice cereal in shallow dish or pan.  Remove the bananas from the freezer.  Dip one banana at a time into the warm chocolate, allowing any excess chocolate to drip off into a bowl.  Immediately roll the banana into the crisp cereal before the chocolate hardens.  When coated, place the bananas on a tray, cover with plastic wrap, and return to the freezer.  Serve frozen.

How I lowered fat and calories:

1. Reduced the amount of chocolate chips and replaced them in part with fat-free fudge topping.
2. Used crisp cereal instead of nuts.
3. Eliminated the shortening often used in these types of recipes.

I always try to keep a bunch of frozen bananas in the freezer.  They make a great snack too.  How did this recipe go over with your little monkeys?