Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Cake Pops
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 24+
 
Using banana bread as the cake and peanut butter as the frosting you can have all the fun of a cake pop with a little less guilt.
Ingredients
Banana Bread
  • ½ cup shortening {or peanut butter}
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup mashed banana (approximately 2-3 ripe bananas)
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ⅓ cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar (or ⅓ cup + 1 tsp buttermilk)
Cake Pops
  • Banana bread, crumbled
  • Creamy peanut butter, to taste
  • Chocolate bark or chocolate chips (dark, semi-sweet or milk)
  • Peanut butter chips, optional
  • Sprinkles or other decorations
  • Lollipop sticks
Instructions
Banana Bread
  1. Cream the shortening {or peanut butter} and the sugar.
  2. Add the eggs and the mashed bananas.
  3. Alternate between adding the remaining dry and wet ingredients.
  4. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.
  5. Bake the bread at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
  6. Let the loaf cool in the pan for ten minutes.
  7. Gently slide a knife around the edges of the loaf to loosen it from the pan.
  8. Invert the pan onto a plate and gently shake and tap the pan until the bread falls out.
  9. Let the banana bread cool completely on a wire rack.
Cake Pops
  1. Once your banana bread has cooled, crumble it into pea-sized or smaller pieces.
  2. Mix in the peanut butter a spoonful or two at a time, adding just enough so that when rolled the cake mixture stays in balls without crumbling apart.
  3. Roll the dough into balls and place them on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet.
  4. Refrigerate them for 15-30 minutes.
  5. Melt a small portion of chocolate and dip the ends of each lollipop stick into the chocolate.
  6. *Either microwave the chocolate chips in a mug or warm them over a double boiler on the stove. The key is to not cook the chocolate. Once the chocolate is just beginning to melt, remove them from the heat and stir the chocolate until it has all melted. You can keep it warm and runny by placing it on the warmer on your stovetop.
  7. Immediately insert a chocolate-dipped lollipop stick into each cake ball so that it is inserted about half way through the cake ball.
  8. Place the cake pops back onto the waxed paper and freeze them for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  9. Melt the remaining chocolate in deep glasses or bowls.
  10. Working with one cake pop at a time, dunk it in the chocolate and swirl it around until the chocolate covers the cake pop up past the point where the chocolate-dipped stick is inserted into the cake.
  11. Swirl it and tap off any excess chocolate.
  12. If desired, decorate them with sprinkles or drizzle them with melted peanut butter chips.
  13. Place them in a short glass or in styrofoam with holes poked in it to allow them to dry completely.
Recipe by Itsy Bitsy Foodies at http://itsybitsyfoodies.com/peanut-butter-chocolate-banana-cake-pops/