Cooking outside needs to be unfussy, delicious and, above all, fun. Whether you’re standing over the grill or sitting around a campfire, nestle these chocolate marshmallow banana boats near the flame to cook up a memory-making dessert.
Banana boats are pretty straightforward: Slice open bananas, stuff them with chocolate and marshmallows, wrap the bananas in aluminum foil boats and watch the embers of your fire melt the chocolate and marshmallows into gooey perfection. They’re loved by both kids and adults and are easy to customize with your favorite sweet toppings.
Ingredients for Banana Boats
- Bananas: Use fully yellow bananas or ones that have a few brown speckles on them. A small tinge of green is OK, but underripe bananas will be too starchy and flavorless. Alternatively, very brown bananas will become too mushy over the campfire. Save those for banana bread recipes.
- Chocolate chips: Mini chocolate chips are best for filling the inside of the banana pocket, but you can certainly use regular-size chips if you’d like.
- Mini marshmallows: Golden, toasty, gooey marshmallows are a quintessential dessert when cooking outdoors. Like the chocolate chips, we use mini marshmallows in our banana boat recipe, as they fill the bananas much more easily.
Directions
Step 1: Cut the banana peel
Cut the banana peel lengthwise along its concave side, about 1/2 inch deep, leaving 1/2 inch at both ends. Open just the peel wider to form a pocket.
Step 2: Fill with toppings
Fill each banana pocket with 1 teaspoon of mini chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of mini marshmallows.
Step 3: Cover with aluminum foil
Take pieces of heavy-duty foil (about 12-inch squares) and crimp and shape each one around the bananas, forming boats.
Step 4: Grill
Arrange your banana boats on the grill. Grill them, covered, over medium heat until the marshmallows melt and are golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes.
Recipe Variations
- Sprinkle with graham crackers: For instant s’mores flavor, sprinkle in crushed graham crackers once the bananas are cooked.
- Fill with flavored baking chips: Semi-sweet, milk or dark chocolate are excellent in this recipe for banana boats, and pink ruby chocolate or peanut butter, caramel, butterscotch or some of these other flavored baking chips we love make banana boats even more fun.
- Stream with a dessert sauce: Drizzle Nutella, dulce de leche, peanut butter, pistachio butter or cookie butter down the center of the sliced open bananas.
- Don’t be shy about adding texture: Banana boat desserts are pretty soft. I love texture on my desserts, so I add toppings like Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, chopped peanuts, candied pecans, hazelnuts or slivered almond slices.
- Add more fruit: Bananas are just one of those fruits that seemingly pairs with all other fruits. Fill the bananas with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, pitted cherries or chopped strawberries for a fresh note.
- Top with your favorite chocolate bars: Chopped-up Reese’s cups, Snickers, Hershey’s bars, Symphony bars and Butterfingers make an excellent filling.
How to Store Banana Boats
Wrap up any leftover banana boats in their aluminum foil, and keep them in the fridge for a day or so. When you’re ready to enjoy a banana boat again, discard the aluminum foil and place the banana boat on a microwave-safe plate. Zap it in the microwave until heated through.
Banana Boat Tips
How do I cook banana boats over a campfire?
Rake some of the coals or embers away from the active fire, and place your wrapped banana boats on them, topping side up. Warm the bananas until the marshmallows are melted and a bit toasted, about five minutes.
If you have a grill grate for your campfire, first allow the grill grate to warm a bit over the flames. Move the grate up and out of the flames, then place the banana boats on the grill grate. Let the residual heat from the flames warm the bananas and melt the toppings, three to four minutes.
How do I cook banana boats in the oven or air fryer?
Preheat your oven or air fryer to 300°F. Place your foil-wrapped banana boats in the oven or air fryer, nestling them in the grates. Bake the banana boats till the toppings have melted, 5 to 10 minutes.
What do I serve with banana boats?
Banana boats are perfect all by themselves, but who could ever say no to a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a warm dessert? We also love enjoying these with a mug of homemade hot cocoa on chilly fall evenings. Serve banana boats after you feast on your favorite camping recipes or tried-and-true grilling recipes.
