Cooking with Kids: Banana Boats Cooked Over the Campfire

Banana Boats are a gooey, sweet classic dessert to cook over the campfire - utterly delicious, and they need only three ingredients and a few minutes to put together! (Skip to recipe.)

Cooking with Meredith

Yay! It's summertime! And that means campfires and outdoor living (as much as possible between the thunderstorms, that is). This week Meredith and I cooked our dinner over the firepit outside.

We had a great time building the fire first, just like I learned at Girl Guide camp many moons ago (we won't say how many). Piling up the kindling, from tiny shavings to increasingly larger twigs, in the shape of a teepee brought back many memories: sitting in the dark with a a whole pack of friends, staring into the mesmerizing flames and singing all those traditional campfire songs, some silly, some haunting, and all memorable. And we'd be roasting marshmallows for s'mores, though we called them Angels with Dirty Faces (I like that name much better) and digging the warm, sweet gooey insides out of our roasted banana boats to devour as late night desserts to accompany the singing.

For our campfire meal, Meredith and I made foil packets filled with potatoes, carrots and onions, using the special method here for keeping them nice and moist and not getting burnt on the campfire.

We also roasted corn cobs in their husks laid on the grate over the fire, and roasted chunks of sausages on sticks.

And of course, the dessert finale was those delicious, classic, banana boats. The bananas become warm and soft and caramelized as they roast, and the chocolate and marshmallow melt to make a luscious sauce. They're as easy to make as 1-2-3-4-wrap.

So grab yourselves some bananas, chocolate, and marshmallows, build yourself a good fire, and then enjoy some warm, melting, gooey banana boats (and don't forget to sing a few rousing verses of Down by the Bay).

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Kitchen Frau Notes: Of course, your banana boats can just be laid on the barbecue grill, too, if you don't have a campfire handy.

Milk chocolate is the classic filling for banana boats, but if your taste runs to semi sweet or dark chocolate, feel free to substitute that instead.

Banana Boats

• 1 banana per person
• milk chocolate bars, 2 or 3 squares per banana (or use milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips), use dairy-free chocolate chips if necessary
• marshmallows, 2 regular or a handful minis per banana
• 1 large square of tin foil/aluminum foil per banana

Cut a long rectangle through the peel on the inside curve of each banana. Remove the peel, then scoop out some of the banana inside the rectangle, either by cutting out a V-shaped trench into the banana, or using a spoon to scrape out some of the banana (enough to make room for the chocolate and marshmallow).

Cut the chocolate squares into halves and lay them down into the trench in the banana. Tear the marshmallows into pieces and stuff them on top of the chocolate, fitting in as many as you can (or use mini-marshmallows).

Wrap each banana in tin foil, folding over the the open edges and ends several times and pressing the foil gently but firmly against the banana to mold it to the shape.

Let the campfire burn down until the flames are no longer high and the logs have become nice hot glowing embers. Place the wrapped bananas on a grate set over the hot coals, or on a barbecue grill, and cook them for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side, just until the marshmallows are melted and the banana is soft and caramelized.

To serve, unwrap each banana partially and scoop out the insides with a spoon.

Each banana serves 1.

Guten Appetit!

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For more fun cooking projects to make with kids, see the ‘Cooking With Kids’ series here.

You might also like:

Campfire Baked Potatoes

Juniper Berry Stuffed Pork Chops over the Campfire

Strawberries with Sour Cream and Brown Sugar

Homemade Gluten Free Pancake Mix (great for camping)