These frosty delicious Banana Almond Butter and Chocolate Bites make the perfect snack. They are a healthy warm-weather treat and since they are bite-size, we can consider them low-calorie (if you manage not to eat more than 1 or 2 at a time).
These banana bites are naturally vegan and gluten-free! And they not only make a perfect snack but also an easy dessert. They make an incredible midday snack when it’s not lunchtime yet but your belly roars, and also make a delicious after-dinner treat when you’re craving a little chocolate.
I cannot recommend this more and I firmly suggest you keep a batch in the freezer for easy snacking. Last but not least, Banana Almond Butter and Chocolate Bites couldn’t be a better recipe to make with kids.
Banana Almond Butter and Chocolate Bites Idea
The recipe is adapted from the one by Downshiftology. I happened to rewatch her video from last summer after having just made a batch of my homemade almond butter and having some bananas in the fridge, the rest was history.
Lisa is an ace and has a cooking style and principles that really resonate with me (cooking with fresh, simple and seasonal ingredients is her motto, does that ring the bell?). Oh and she’s celiac so you can find many amazing gluten-free bakes on her website. Her work is incredible!
What Do I Need to Make Almond Butter Banana Bites?
You can make these bites with only 3 ingredients!
- Bananas: use fresh bananas. They shouldn’t be either too ripe or too green. If they are too ripe, they will be difficult to slice and handle. If they are too green, they won’t be the sweet healthy treat you’re after. I used 2 large bananas, but you can use more or less depending on how big you want your batch to be.
- Almond Butter: I used my homemade almond butter, but feel free to use store-bought. Just look for one that is 100% almonds (roasted, sugar-free, oil-free). Hazelnut butter or peanut butter would work really well here.
- Chocolate: I prefer dark chocolate, but you can use milk chocolate too if you don’t have a vegan diet, even white chocolate would work (although that one has tons of sugar). I generally use a chocolate bar which I chop and melt, it’s cheaper than chocolate chips, but you can use chocolate chips too!
- Coconut Oil (optional): this makes the chocolate be less snappy when it hardens after dipping the bananas into it. And I can confirm, as Lisa says, that it doesn’t add any cooconuty flavour. A bit of melted butter would do the trick too, but then the bites will no longer be vegan.
- Flaky Sea Salt (optional): by now you know I love salt & chocolate together. Here it’s totally optional, but again chocolate & salt are so good together. IMPORTANT! Just add the salt at the moment of serving or eating the bites. The salt melts when refrigerated/frozen due to condensation and can make the bites too salty.
Some Considerations
- Don’t slice your bananas too thick. Sandwiched thick banana slices will no longer be bite-sized.
- Dip the bites in batches. These bites thaw very quickly so it’s better to work in batches. When you take the frozen banana bites out of the freezer to dip in chocolate, take just half of them out first (or even a quarter) and keep the rest waiting in the freezer. When you have finished dipping the first batch, than place it into the freezer and take the remainder bites out.
- They are freezer friendly. You can store these bites in freezer-safe containers for up to 1-2 months. Separate the layers with parchment paper to prevent them from sticking to each other and so you can pick them up easily for snacking.
What Do I Do if I Have Leftover Melted Chocolate?
Do Not Waste It!! If you have some leftover chocolate after having dipped all the bites you have a couple of options
- Make more bites if you still have some bananas and almond butter, or
- Spread the melted chocolate on a silpat or parchment paper. Put it in the fridge so it hardens again. Finally, store the hardened chocolate to reuseor eat in the future.
More Healthy Treats
If you make this Banana Almond Butter and Chocolate Bites recipe, be sure to leave a comment and rate it. Hearing from you is everything! Oh, and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram, I absolutely love seeing your creations. Happy cooking!
Banana Almond Butter and Chocolate Bites
Ingredients
- 2 large bananas
- 80 ml almond butter
- 100 g dark chocolate - roughly chopped
- 1 tsp coconut oil - optional
- Flaky sea salt - optional
Instructions
- Line a tray with parchment paper.
- Peel and slice bananas into rounds about 0.5 cm thick.
- Place half of the banana slices on the tray. Add about a teaspoon of almond butter on each slice. Top them with the remaining banana slices, making a sandwich.
- Freeze to harden for about 1 hour.
- In a small bowl mix the coconut oil (if using it) and chocolate. Melt on a bain marie or in the microwave. If using the microwave, microwave it in 20-second increments, stirring after each increment.
- Remove half of the banana sandwiches from the freezer (see notes). Dip each bite into the melted chocolate so that half of it is coated (see notes) and place them back onto the tray with parchment paper (since the bites are frozen, the chocolate will set very quickly). Place them back into the freezer and repeat with the remaining bites.
- Transfer the bites into a freezer-safe storage container for later. Optionally, when you are going to eat them, sprinkle some flaky sea salt over the chocolaty part.
Notes
- If you take all the bites out at the same time, some will start to thaw and get slippery, making the chocolate dipping very hard.
- You can coat the full bite with chocolate. Bear in mind that you will need to double the chocolate quantity in the recipe.
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @paulasapron on Instagram and hashtag it #paulasapron.