Self-Taught Vegan Chef :: Food Network Champion :: TV Host
This past weekend was my boyfriend’s birthday and I planned a surprise party for him (yes, I can be sweet when I try!). So, I decided to treat everyone to some quick, sweet bites- Banana Bread Cake Pops. Why the Banana Bread? Well, it’s a staple in the Naik House- we always have some moist, chocolatey and nutty banana bread that my boyfriend always goes home with. Let’s just say he REALLY likes our banana bread! I thought, why don’t I just use that banana bread and make them into cake pops? Plus, no guests likes to stand around holding a plate and fork chowing down a slice of cake! I mean no one said that cake pops have to be made with a particular type of cake, or cake at all!
I combined a tweeked version of our Banana Bread recipe with sweet banana frosting and enrobed it in deep, dark chocolate. Now, if that doesn’t sound good to you, than I don’t what does! If you’re not a banana fan (like me), you’re palette is definitely going to change after you take a bite out of these!
Banana Bread Recipe:
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 3 Ripe Bananas
- 1 1/2 cups Sugar
- 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1/3 cup Heavy Cream- At Room Temperature
- 2 Large Eggs- At Room Temperature
- PAM Baking Flavor
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 1 1/2 quart loaf pan with PAM. Set aside.
1. In a medium-sized bowl sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl whisk together eggs, cream and oil until well combined. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, break up the banana and add sugar.
Using a hand mixer, whip together until fluffy, about 1 minute. With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the wet ingredients and beat for 2 minutes.
Add the flour mixture (I added 1/2 cup at a time) and continue beating for 2 minutes longer. DO NOT OVER BEAT! Pour into the loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until inserted wooden toothpicks comes out clean. Set aside to cool for an hour.
Banana Frosting:
- 1 1/2 Ripe Bananas- mashed
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tbsp Milk
- 3 cups Confectioner’s Sugar
1. In a large bowl mash the banana with the lemon juice. Mix in the vanilla and milk.
Using a hand mixer, blend banana mixture together on medium-low speed until slightly smooth. Add the sugar in slowly and continuously with the blender on medium-low. As the frosting becomes thicker, increase the speed of the mixer. Frosting should have a thick and creamy consistency- you don’t want it to be too thick. If it is too thick, you can add a little milk.
Makes 2 cups of Frosting
Coating:
- 5 3.5oz Dark Chocolate Bars (I used Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Brand)
- Sugar Pearls- any color
- 1/2 3.5oz White Chocolate Bar (I used Ghiradelli Brand)
1. In a large clear bowl, break dark chocolate bar into small pieces. Microwave for 35 second. Remove and stir with a spatula. Continue until chocolate is almost all melted. Stir vigorously to melt remaining pieces and the chocolate will become shiny. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
2. When you’re ready to decorate, melt the white chocolate the same way.
To Make Cake Pop Balls:
1. Once the banana bread is cool, break it up into a large bowl.
2. Use a little more than 1 cup of the banana frosting, and stir into the crumbled banana bread. Mix well. The consistency should be almost like a thick, crumbly dough:
3. Using your hands, grab a little bit of the dough and roll into 1-2 inch balls. Ass your rolling, press the dough together to make sure its compacted tightly- you don’t want them falling apart later on! If your hand gets super sticky, just dab a little warmer on them and continue rolling. Place balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper:
Freeze for about 2 hours, or until the balls are cool and hard.
4. Once the chocolate is melted and cooled to room temperature, stick the cookie stick into each cake pop, and dip the balls until completely coated and smooth. Remove and carefully place back on parchment lined sheet. Dip each ball, making sure that they’re dipped all around, and there are no rough edges. If decorating with sugar pearls, coat the tops with a few pearls right after you dip the cake pops. If decorating with white chocolate drizzle, let cool (overnight preferably).
Pour the melted white chocolate in a small ziplock bag and cut a TINY part of the corner off. Drizzle the cooled cake pops, going back and forth until a pretty lined drizzle-effect appears. Let cool for about 2 hours.
5. I served mine in a rectangular basket, filled with a styrofoam piece (so they stay put), and everyone loved them!
Makes about 48-50 Cake Pops
wow! sooo perfect. banana bread is the best, and this recipe kinda just changed my life… you are too good!
thank you so much for your very sweet compliment! You must give them a try- please let me know if you do 🙂
Yes, indeed! These look good. Will have to give it a go.
thank you! Please let me know if you’ve tried the recipe and what you think!
I love this idea! I haven’t tried cake pops because they seem so processed (not a fan of canned forsting), but I love how yours are made with homemade banana bread and frosting. Great!
Thank you! I don’t think i’ve ever made any of my pops with boxed or canned frosting- it’s just not authentic enough for me! Plus the flavor is SO much ebtter when everything is homemade!
Yum….these look wonderful. I love the banana bread flavor.
yes, the banana bread adds a nice warm touch! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
[…] Banana Bread Cake Pops […]
Oh wow those look really good. Just enough to enjoy.
These look really delicious-great idea using sweet bread instead of regular cake! Thanks for sharing
Hi, I made these using some old banana bread cup cakes that were a bit past their best and your recipe for the frosting. Delicious! Some friends came over this afternoon and raved about them. Thanks for giving me the boost I needed to try these 🙂
How far in advance do you think I could make these and keep them refrigerated or frozen?
What a brilliant idea for a cake pop, these look so delicious!! 🙂
Nice recipe,
I was going to make the below version but I think I will make this instead.
http://www.wascene.com/food-drink/delicious-banana-bread-recipe/
Jen
haha how’d they come out?? Hope you enjoyed them!
What a brilliant idea for a cake pop, these look absolutely delicious and super cute! 🙂
Holy cow, that’s such a great idea! 🙂 I would love a banan & chcolate cake pop 🙂
Wow, these look fabulous. I am not a banana lover but this just might change my mind. Love that chocolate coating and all of it on a stick too. Cool!
This is a hit recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
hi! just came across your recipe and am definitely going to give this a try … but how do i control the sweetness? cause it seems to be just really sweet with the icing/banana frosting etc and the choc on top …
you can put less sugar in the banana bread itself.. but it wasn’t too sweet!
Those are just gorgeous–though I fear that if I made them, I wouldn’t be able to stop eating them. Love how you’ve decorated them!
Those look just amazing–though I fear that if I made them, I wouldn’t be able to stop eating them. Love the decorations!
What a delicious idea – putting choc chips into banana bread was getting old school anyway 😀
Yum!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Latest: Maple Raisin Ice Cream
What a neat idea. I can see my husband eating a few gazillion of these if I made them hehe