Banana Pops

Lately, I have been having some trouble getting Owen to eat foods that he used to gobble up. He will hardly touch a vegetable anymore, which I suppose is pretty typical for a toddler. But now even fruit, which he used to love, is receiving the cold shoulder from him, too, including bananas. There was a time when he was consuming an entire banana a day. I had to start buying bigger bunches just to keep up with him, in fact.

These days, however, I am typically stuck with at least one — often more — banana from the bunch at the end of every week. Never one to throw away perfectly (albeit a bit brown) food, I usually just pop them in my freezer for some rainy day down the road when I'm in the mood to bake a batch of banana bread.

But since my freezer stock is getting a little outrageous, I've started trying something new. Something I'm calling, banana pops. I was first inspired to try them after seeing them in a Parents magazine.

I guess this is pretty much the same recipe that I've been following, but I've also seen some others recently, like here and here. Anyway, here's how I did it.

What you need:

• Bananas
• Popsicle sticks (or I used candy sticks that I had leftover from the Peeps Pops I made at Easter)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil

First, you cut your bananas in half (I actually cut them in thirds this time because half a banana was too much for me the first time I tried it) with the peel still intact. 

Stick the popsicle sticks in the center of each one and peel away the peel.

Place in the freezer for at least an hour, until hardened.

Next, combine chocolate chips and oil in a bowl (I used a glass measuring cup) and microwave for 10-second intervals, stirring between each, until melted. Place whatever coating you prefer (I happened to have on hand some Rice Krispies and granola) on a dish.

Remove bananas from freezer and quickly dunk in melted chocolate, and then roll in coating. Place back on the dish and return to the freezer just until completely hardened (which should only take a minute or two).

Enjoy!

I would love to say that this is how I've managed to get Owen to eat bananas again, but sadly, despite calling it "ice cream" in his presence, he's figured out how to munch on all the chocolate and cereal and, once that's gone, he abandons the frozen banana on a stick. Stinker.

Oh well, more for me I guess!