May 18, 2013

Bananas are Good Frozen Nutella-Covered Bananas


This post is a little bittersweet.

Not the recipe. No, that's all sweet.

Today's the season finale of Doctor Who, which means I'll be switching up the series to once a month. No more Doctor Who Saturdays until June 22nd. *sniffle* As much as I love doing this weekly series (and having a legitimate excuse to go full-fangirl once a week), I can't keep this up until November. Moffat, you really should have worked that timing out better.

I had originally planned to do something elaborate and classic and fun for this little send off, but with the way everything's been going, I only had the stamina left for something simple. And you know what? Sometime's simple's better. Especially since this is a recipe that I know, without a doubt, would be Doctor-approved (well, at least so far as Nine and Ten are concerned. Though I have a sneaking suspicion Eleven would, too.)
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Bananas. Not completely sure why the Doctor loves bananas. Maybe because they're sort of gun shaped, so the Doctor can amuse himself by replacing people's guns with bananas. That's what Nine did to Captain Jack Harkness when they first met, you know. And to be fair, the Doctor also replaced the factory that produced Jack's gun with a banana grove. (He's a bit like MacGyver. He doesn't like guns.) Nine being Nine, he does this with an extra helping of sass, and this was one of the moments that made me fall in love with him.
 
And Ten accidentally invented the banana daiquiri a few centuries early, declaring one of the top Whovian rules: Always bring a banana to a party. Bananas are good.
Eleven's not been as vocal about bananas, but he did pull the gun/banana switch on River.
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Clearly, potassium is essential to a Time Lord's health. And Nutella? Well, that's just universally essential.

Every time I've ever been to a Ren Faire, I've always seen frozen chocolate covered bananas. And with the weather getting warmer, and the banana being one of the Doctor's favorite foods, it seemed appropriate to try it out. But, I didn't really feel like melting chocolate. So I decided on Nutella, because bananas + Nutella= awesome. Then I sprinkled on some TARDIS blue sanding sugar (chopped hazelnuts would also be good) and I stuck it in the freezer. Really, it's so simple, I feel partly ashamed even calling it a recipe.

Then enjoy it in the comforts of your own home or spaceship, or increase the recipe to bring to a party. Because, let's face it. If you show up to a party with a bunch of bananas, you're weird. But if you show up to a party with a bunch of Nutella-covered frozen bananas, you are totally cool.

Frozen Nutella-Covered Bananas
Yield: 4 pops

Ingredients
Heaping 1/3 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
2 tbsp. coconut oil
2 bananas, ripe but firm
Sprinkles or chopped hazelnuts, for garnish

Directions
Heat the Nutella and oil together in the microwave on low power for a few seconds, until runny. Mix well.

Chop the bananas in half and insert lollipop or popsicle sticks. Line a dish or pan with waxed paper. Dip the bananas in the Nutella, roll in sprinkles or nuts, and place on the waxed paper in a single layer. Freeze minimum 2 hours, or until firm. Store in the freezer in an airtight container.

Recipe by Kim