I was feeling like a cool summery dessert to chill us out (we’re currently having a heatwave here in Australia). Banana split was a favourite dessert of mine when I was a child, but I felt like changing it up a bit. So, this grilled banana split was born.
The tastiest banana split
Grilled banana halves. Homemade creamy coconut icecream. Sugar-free chocolate drizzle. A sprinkle of chopped walnuts. It was a shame I only made this recipe large enough for 4 servings, because we ALL wanted seconds!
(Full disclaimer: we actually ate this for lunch. Such is the life for my little recipe testers :D ) By the way, apologies for the melty icecream photos…it probably was not the best idea to make this for photography purposes when the temperature was 35C!
I made my own eeeeeeasy coconut icecream, but you could easily use store-bought vegan icecream instead. At first I was thinking about using banana nicecream (like this one but without the strawberries) but then I thought it would be banana overload :P
The grilled bananas added a really tasty touch to the whole dessert. And the smell of the bananas while grilling was simply divine – floral, almost. You want to grill the bananas for just a few minutes on each side, just enough to get a bit of caramelisation happening.
- 400ml coconut cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp stevia
- 1 tbs cacao powder
- 1 tsp stevia
- 1½ tbs coconut oil
- Stir together the coconut icecream ingredients, pour into a freezer safe container.
- Freeze for about 4 hours, or until solid, removing from the freezer to stir and break up the ice crystals every hour. If you freeze the icecream for too long, let it defrost at room temperature for about 30 minutes to become scoopable again.
- Melt the coconut oil, if not already liquid.
- Mix together with cacao and stevia.
- Set aside (keep warm to prevent coconut oil solidifying.
- Peel the bananas and slice in half lengthways.
- Preheat your stovetop grill plate (or a frying pan) over medium heat. Note: you might need to use a bit of coconut oil if not using a non-stick pan.
- Grill the halved bananas for 2-3 minutes, flip and grill for a further minute on the other side. The bananas should become golden brown.
- Place 2 banana halves on each serving plate, top with the icecream, chocolate drizzle and chopped walnuts.
- Serve immediately.
I’d love to hear from you!
- What are your favourite cool treats to eat during hot weather?
- Do you have a dessert you loved when you were a non-vegan? Have you attempted to veganise it?
Kyra x
By the way – have you entered my giveaway for Plant Powered Families by Dreena Burton? Entries are open until 30th November 2015!
Sharing this recipe at #freefromfridays and Healthy Vegan Fridays.
How fantastic :) I don’t envy you the 35’C weather but this does look like a good way to get through it!
Yes, this icecream did cool things down for us a bit! I’m thankful that the weather will cool down slightly next week…:)
Helllooo, yes please, that looks amazing! :-)
Thank you Jenny! :)
how gorgeous is this – I something think of the fried bananas my mum used to make and now I am trying to remember if we had them with ice cream – I love the melty ice cream in your photos – after all that is part of the fun of such a dish when hot meets cold – I bet your kids were excited
I think I vaguely remember my mother making fried bananas too, now that you mention it! Yes, it is kind of inevitable that the icecream would melt over the hot bananas, haha :) my kids were very excited when I said we were having dessert for lunch! :D
Oh my goodness! This looks heavenly! I could eat this right now (my boyfriend and I still eat ice cream in winter, I don’t get why people stop eating ice cream in winter… but nevermind). The caramelized bananas look glorious <3 Homemade popsicles are usually are fav way to cool down in the summer or a juicy watermelon :)
Thank you Bianca! I used to eat icecream during winter but since moving to a colder climate, I just find it too cool to really enjoy! Although we don’t even get snow like you do, haha :D
OMG! This sounds so good!!!
We are most definitely not experiencing a heat wave, but I shall try this out in the chilly weather we are having nonetheless.
I can’t imagine it would get too chilly in California to not enjoy icecream during the winter :D but especially this banana split, the warm bananas balance out the coldness of the icecream! Be sure to let me know if you do try it out :)
It does get a little chilly ;p It certainly isn’t too chilly for this!
Thanks so much for sharing at Healthy Vegan Fridays – I’m pinning & sharing!
Thank you so much Kimmy! <3
This looks absolutely phenomenal – beautiful photos and beautiful food! I’m always super sad about my coconut allergy when it comes to this sneaky ice-cream business, but I’m definitely grilling bananas this weekend! :)
Thank you so much Margaux! The grilled bananas would be delicious with or without the icecream (or with coconut-free icecream :) ) <3