Sparkle Kitchen: Banana "Mud" Boats
In this week's Junkyard Tales: All Together Now story, “Mud Boat Races”, it's raining in the Junkyard, and it has been for days. It's not only muddy everywhere, but now there are streams flowing along all the paths. Most of the animals are stuck in their houses, but a few mice have a fun idea: mud boat races!
What creative little mice, to come up with such fun on a rainy day! If it's dreary weather where you are, why not emulate them? Not by literally playing in the mud and rain—although that can be fun sometimes, too—but by making your own banana “mud” boat snack.
While these are commonly thought of as camping food, there's no reason you need an open fire to enjoy them. Plus, with just a few, commonly on-hand ingredients, they can be pulled out when cabin fever sets in, without too much advance planning.
It doesn't even matter if your bananas are a bit over or under ripe. If they're under ripe, just cook them a little longer. If they're over ripe, they'll be all the sweeter and gooier.
You can top your banana mud boats with ice cream, whipped cream, or yogurt, if you'd like, but we found that they were plenty sweet and satisfying without additional adornment.
Banana “Mud” Boats
Ingredients (for each boat)
1 banana
a few tablespoons of your favorite granola
5-6 chocolate chips
whipped cream, yogurt, or ice cream (optional)
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and prepare an aluminum foil “nest” in a small baking dish.
Leaving the banana in its peel, cut a large slit down the center, but don't cut through either end. Spoon in the granola, and dot several chocolate chips on top.
Then, place the banana in the baking dish, nestling the aluminum foil around it so that the cut side of the banana stays upright. Put the dish in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the chocolate gets gooey.
You can eat these by spooning them straight from the banana peel, or you can remove the peel and plop the banana out into a bowl. Top with whipped cream, yogurt, or ice cream, if you want.
Download the recipe HERE{.bttn #descriptor}
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About the Author
Meryl Carver-Allmond
The Sparkle Kitchen Series is created by Meryl Carver-Allmond.
Meryl lives in a hundred-year-old house near the prairie with her sweet husband, two preschoolers, one puppy, one gecko, and about ten chickens. While she's been writing since she could pick up a pen, in recent years she's discovered the joy of photography, too. She feels lucky to be able to combine those skills, along with a third passion — showing people that cooking for themselves can be healthy and fun — in her Sparkle Kitchen posts.
