These campfire banana boats take ripe bananas, fill them with classic s’mores ingredients and pop them into the oven, grill or campfire. They’re quick and delicious with minimal clean-up!
Campfire banana boats are the ideal summer (or wishing it was summer) dessert. They’re quick and easy to make, simple but delicious, and you can customize and play with the flavors as much as you want. And the best part: they make you really feel like you’re by a cozy, crackling campfire, whether or not you actually are.
I started making banana boats during summer camp in the Catskill mountains in NY. We would let them cook at the edge of the campfire and I was always shocked by the caramelized flavor of the banana and how well it worked with rich chocolate and perfectly gooey marshmallows. Now I make them at home in the oven (and hopefully at least once by a campfire) every summer and it always feels like a nostalgic camp night.
These are easy and delicious campfire banana boats.
Campfire Banana Boats
What is a campfire banana boat?
Campfire banana boats aren’t the most commonly known dessert, and I think that is frankly a shame. Campfire banana boats are an easy, delicious way to turn a banana into a full-blown dessert. Keeping the banana in its peel, you slice it lengthwise, add in classic s’mores ingredients or any other ingredients you’d like, wrap it in foil and bake.
What you get is a delicious caramelized banana reminiscent of bananas fosters, plus melty chocolate, gooey marsmallow and graham crackers. It is basically summer in a dessert.
Is a banana boat the same thing as a banana split?
It is not! A banana split is an ice cream sundae that has an uncooked banana and ice cream on top. Banana splits are usually served in a dish called a “boat,” hence the confusion. But a campfire banana boat is a completely different dish. I mean if you wanted to combine the two and add ice cream to your campfire banana boat, I would support you 100%.
What do I need to make Campfire Banana Boats?
- Ripe bananas (duh)
- Chocolate bars or chocolate chips – Hershey’s milk chocolate bar takes the prize for nostalgia
- Mini marshmallows – mini is preferable so that you can fit the marshmallows into the banana boat, but you can also cut up larger marshmallows and squeeze them in
- Graham crackers
- Any other mix-ins you’d like
- Aluminum foil to wrap the bananas
Campfire Banana Boats FAQs
- Do I need a campfire? No you heckin’ don’t. You can also make banana boats on a grill or in the oven.
- What ripeness should my bananas be? As long as the banana isn’t green, you’re good to go. I like to use bananas that are yellow with some brown specks, because they have ripe sweetness but aren’t yet mushy. Really you can go with whatever floats your boat.
Tips for the best campfire banana boats
- Use a ripe banana (yellow or slightly brown speckled). As I said above, a green banana isn’t going to give you as much sweet flavor and won’t be as soft when you take a bite.
- Play around with flavors and add-ins! Traditionally campfire banana boats use s’mores ingredients, but you can opt for anything you’d like! Peanut butter drizzle or peanut butter chocolate chips would be great. Nilla wafers would add a banana cream pie flair. Crushed pretzels add a nice salty flavor. For a more adult version, you can also add a half teaspoon of rum. Basically, treat these boats as your own blank flavor canvas!
- Seal your foil well. Some banana juice or other melty ingredients might come out of the foil if you don’t seal it well and make sure there are no holes in your foil. If you’re making the banana boats in the oven, place them on a baking sheet or in a baking dish to keep from anything dropping to the bottom of your oven.
Looking for other quick and easy dessert recipes? Try edible peanut butter cookie dough or a single serve raspberry-filled brownie skillet.
If you bake these campfire banana boats, be sure to tag me on Instagram or TikTok at @loaves.and.such and please leave a review below!
Enjoy that campfire,
Maddie
Campfire Banana Boats
4
servings5
minutes15
minutes20
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
4 unpeeled ripe bananas
2 bars of chocolate, or 1/2 cup of chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet or dark all work!). I prefer Hershey’s for max nostalgia.
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
4 graham crackers
Directions
- Get your heat source roaring. If you’re making these in an oven, preheat to 350°F. If you’re making these on a grill, turn the burners to medium low. If you’re making these in a campfire, get that campfire going!
- Take the unpeeled bananas and slice them lengthwise, bringing your knife three-quarters of the way through the edible part of the banana.
- Fan open the banana and stuff marshmallows, small broken-up pieces of chocolate and hand-crushed graham crackers inside the slice and between the banana and peel. Use half of a full-length graham cracker for each banana, saving the other half for when they come out of the oven.
Place some fully intact pieces of chocolate and marshmallows right on top, so these really shine once the campfire banana boat is baked. - Wrap each individual banana in foil, making sure the seam of the foil is on the side we sliced open. If you’re making these in an oven, place the bananas seam side up in a casserole dish or baking tray (they stand up better in a casserole dish).
- To make in an oven: Place on a rack in the middle of the oven bake for 12-15 minutes, until the chocolate and marshmallow are melty and the peel has started to turn a little brown (this helps us know the banana is caramelized). The more ripe your banana is, the less time it’ll take. This part is optional, but you can turn the oven to broil at the end and let your marshmallows get a little toasted, but make sure not to broil too long and burn your chocolate.
To make over the grill: Place on the medium-low heated grill and close the lid. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the chocolate and marshmallow are melty and the peel has started to turn a little brown (this helps us know the banana is caramelized).
To make by the campfire: Place next to the hot coals of the campfire and let sit for 10-15 minutes, depending on the intensity of your fire. You’ll want the chocolate and marshmallows to get melty and the peel to be a little brown (this helps us know the banana is caramelized). - Crush extra graham crackers on top for some crunch and enjoy!