Banana Boats (Easy Campfire Dessert!)

Move over s’mores, these easy campfire banana boats are coming for you! A warm and gooey banana full of marshmallows, chocolate or your favorite toppings is then wrapped in foil and placed on the campfire or grill. The banana gets all gooey and you can eat this treat right out of the foil for a fun dessert.

What Is A Banana Boat?

A banana boat is a campfire dessert that is easy to make over a fire and delicious. You start by hollowing out a banana with a spoon then fill it with a variety of sweet toppings like chocolate, marshmallows and peanut butter cups.

Wrap the banana in aluminum foil, and you can heat it over the campfire, grill or even in the oven. Banana boats can be a spin on a traditional s’more when they are loaded with chocolate, graham cracker pieces and marshmallows, but they can also be filled with many other sweet toppings.

This banana boat recipe is almost like a cross between a s’more and a classic banana split, and is always a crowd pleaser. You can of course add vanilla ice cream if you want!

Why We Love Campfire Banana Boats

• Great For Camping Or Summer– You can use this dessert idea for your next camping trip, grill night or a summer night around a fire pit. You can also throw these desserts in the oven wrapped in tin foil.
• Easy To Customize– The best part is everyone can add their favorite toppings. Set the toppings up as a build your own style bar and let everyone have fun. This style of dessert also makes it easy to adapt if anyone in your group has food sensitivities or dietary needs.
• Fun Easy Dessert– This dessert is simply just fun to make, and even tastier to eat! It’s a great way to use up ripe bananas, and it’s just fun. We used to make this recipe when I was a kid at Girl Scout camp.

Ingredients For Campfire Banana Boats

How To Make Banana Boats

How To Prep Banana Boats

1. Gently peel the banana peel away from the inner curve of the banana leaving the peel attached if possible. Lay each banana on a piece of foil. With a small spoon scoop out the banana to carve a “boat” and make room for toppings. (We usually just eat the banana we hollow out as we work, since we each make our own.)

2. Fill the banana with chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and pieces of graham crackers. Pull the banana peel back over the banana.

3. Wrap the banana in foil, being careful to roll the ends in so the toppings don’t spill out.

For The Campfire

1. Place the banana boats over indirect heat. You can place them on a grill over the fire so the flames aren’t touching them, or on the fire next to some lower-burning embers. Direct flames will cook the banana too much and can make it char.
2. Cook for 10-15 minutes over the hot coals, or until the bananas are squishy when picked up with tongs. Open the foil carefully, peel back the banana peel and enjoy with a spoon!

For The Grill

1. Cook on the grill over indirect heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the banana feels a little squishy when you pick it up with tongs. Open the foil carefully, peel back the banana peel and enjoy with a spoon!

For The Oven

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the bananas on a sheetpan for 10-15 minutes or until the banana feels squishy when you pick it up with tongs. Open the foil carefully, peel back the banana peel and enjoy with a spoon!

Banana Boat Topping Ideas

Toppings To Add Before Cooking The Banana

• Berries– Chopped strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and even blackberries are all great ideas!
• Chocolate Chips– You can go for the typical semisweet chocolate, or swap in dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or white chocolate chips. Or you can chop up other chocolate you may have.
• Peanut Butter Cups– I like to buy some of the mini peanut butter cups for banana boats, but you can also just chop up regular peanut butter cups.
• Peanut Butter– You can also just dollop peanut butter on the banana, or use peanut butter chips.
• Nuts– Pecans, peanuts, walnuts, sliced almonds, most nuts will be delicious. You can choose salted or unsalted, both work.
• Cereal– Sweetened cereal gives this treat a crunch! Try Golden Grahams, Cookie Crisp or your favorite granola. Most sweet cereal will work and give extra crunch!
• Honey – Depending on what else you’ve added to your banana boat, a drizzle of warm honey can be pretty tasty, especially with peanut butter.
• Coconut Flakes– Sprinkle them on top, coconut flakes go great with the melted chocolate.

Toppings To Add After Cooking The Banana

• Whipped Cream– I usually add whipped cream after I have cooked the banana, but it can be really delicious on top!
• Sprinkles– Sprinkles always add a bit of fun to desserts! I recommend adding sprinkles after the banana has cooked or sometimes the colors bleed when cooking.
• Caramel Sauce– A drizzle of caramel sauce can be pretty delicious! While a little before you cook the banana can be great warmed up, I find the kids tend to go a little crazy and end up with it dripping out of the foil. I like to offer sauces like this after the banana has cooked.
• Chocolate Sauce– Depending on how much chocolate you have already piled on, a drizzle of chocolate syrup can also be yummy. Just like with caramel sauce, I like to add chocolate sauce at the end after the banana has cooked.

What Can I Use Instead Of A Banana?

Not everyone loves bananas, so in case you have someone who won’t like bananas, try these ideas as the base instead. Swapping out the banana will make the overall dessert much more messy so be prepared with a spoon when you eat!

• Strawberries– Make sure to remove the tops, but sliced strawberries will work. Wrap them in foil with the toppings then warm them up over the campfire.
• Ice Cream Cones- Campfire cones are another popular campfire dessert that can hold all the toppings from banana boats easily.
• Graham Crackers Or Cookies– Lay a layer of cookies into the foil, then top with all of the toppings. These are similar to smores, but turn out more like a gooey dessert nacho.
• Waffles/ Pancakes- Have leftover waffles or pancakes? You can use a waffle or pancake as the base for this dessert, kind of like a crepe or a “dessert taco.”

How Long Will Banana Boats Last?

Banana boats are best if they are made to order per person. Don’t expect to save leftovers, banana boats just don’t hold up long once cooked.

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Banana Boats

Author Kristy Richardson

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4 Servings

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These warm campfire banana boats are full of marshmallows, chocolate and your favorite toppings, then are cooked on the campfire, grill or in the oven until they are the perfect gooey treat! Move over s'mores!

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Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 4 bananas
• ▢ ¼ cup chocolate chips
• ▢ ¼ cup mini marshmallows
• ▢ 1 graham cracker sheet – broken into pieces

Instructions

How To Prep Banana Boats

• Gently peel the banana peel away from the inner curve of the banana leaving the peel attached if possible. Lay each banana on a piece of foil. With a small spoon scoop out the banana to carve a “boat” and make room for toppings. (We usually just eat the banana we hollow out as we work since we each make our own.)
• Fill the banana with chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and pieces of graham crackers. Pull the banana peel back over the banana.
• Wrap the banana in foil, being careful to roll the ends in so the toppings don't spill out.

For The Campfire

• Place the banana boats over indirect heat. You can place them on a grill over the fire so the flames aren’t touching them, or on the fire next to some lower-burning embers. Direct flames will cook the banana too much and can make it char.
• Cook for 10-15 minutes over the hot coals or until the bananas are squishy when picked up with tongs. Open the foil carefully, peel back the banana peel and enjoy with a spoon!

For The Grill

• Cook on the grill over indirect heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the banana feels a little squishy when you pick it up with tongs. Open the foil carefully, peel back the banana peel and enjoy with a spoon!

For The Oven

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the bananas on a sheetpan for 10-15 minutes or until the banana feels squishy when you pick it up with tongs. Open the foil carefully, peel back the banana peel and enjoy with a spoon!

Nutrition

Calories: 186kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Sodium: 27mg | Potassium: 461mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 76IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 0.5mg

Keyword banana, chocolate, Grill, smores

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