Correcting The World's Wrongs With Campfire Bananas
"What are you doing?" my husband asked. He was staring at me as if I had eighteen heads, each with 20 piercings and Mike Tyson-esque tattoos.
"Making Campfire Bananas," I said. In my head, his question was quite possibly the dumbest one I had ever heard him ask.
"What are those?" he asked.
::blink::blink::blink::
::blinkblinkblinkblinkblink::
"Are you serious?" I asked.
"Yeah, what are they?" he responded.
"You are a victim of child abuse," I told him in a bewildered tone.
I turned to Twitter to report this crime against humanity. AND OH MY GAWD. People. PEOPLE! How are so many people oblivious to wonder and majesty that is Campfire Bananas? I weep for the childhood memories you don't have. WEEP.
My memories of Campfire Bananas are wrapped in Girl Scout camp and fires by the lake and all sorts of . . . . hell, who really cares? We're talking about bananas, chocolate, and marshmallows here. The details are pointless.
Anyway, let me share with you how joy can be packaged in a banana peel.
Campfire Bananas
You'll need some bananas, chocolate chips, marshmallows, and I am a fan of throwing some peanut butter into the mix as well. Of course, Nutella could also be thrown in there, but only if you are awesome enough to understand the majesty of Nutella.
Peel one strip from the banana and then cut a groove in the banana, kind of like how the Sandwich Artists at Subway used to cut the bread "boat style."
Stuff that strip full of good stuff.
Put the peel back in place. (You can eat the little bit of banana that you cut out--I won't tell anyone.)
Wrap it in foil.
Throw the banana in your fire pit, fireplace, fire bowl, or whatever form of pyromania you participate in. Hot coals work better than actual flame-age.
Let it sit on the fire long enough for the chocolate chips to melt. How long it will take depends on how hot your fire is.
Once it's done, unwrap it, pull the peel all the way off, and eat.
A whole herd of neighborhood kids declared them, "Soooooooo nuuummmmmy!" Best part, now they won't grow up deprived like anyone who has never had a Campfire Banana.
Recipe
Reader Comments (111)
How have I never had, let alone HEARD of these!?!?!?!
!!!!!
!!!!!!!111111
ONEONEONEONEONEONEONE
We made these at Girl Scout camp back in the day and yes, they are so yummy!
Totally making some of these. Holy crap they look amazing!
Sorg is now drooling.
YES. Count me in on the Girl Scout camp alums.
Oh my lord! I was a girlscout like forever! And my mom was the leader. I did day camp, Sleepover camp, everything, and still I never heard of this. Thank you thank you thank you. I am now my son's cub scout leader and I will be bringing this delicacy to these boys!!! :)
Whoa mother of pearl....how did I NOT KNOW about these? My husband was an Eagle Scout for crying out loud and he had never heard of them. I am totally deprived but will ensure my children are not. We will be making these at our next fire! THANK YOU :)
Man. My girl scout leaders were slackers - they stuck to smores.
never heard of them, sounds yummy. Of course I didn't camp much either...
I was a Girl Scout for a long time and I'd never heard of these. Unfortunately, I had a very bad banana split experience when I was about 5 years old and as a result I've never again eaten bananas (funny how it was the banana I never again wanted but the ice cream, chocolate, nuts, cherries, and sprinkles were all consumed again the next day - but in my mind the banana was to blame for my tummy ailments that day). I know lots of people who would drool over these and I am glad to now know what they are!
Hmmm. Count me among the oblivious. I don't know if it's because I'm really full right now or if I'm just neurotic (who, me?!), but all I can think about is how gooey and sticky those probably are with the melty marshmallow and chocolate. And it's making me twitchy. Those gooey bananas on a sandy beach might make me spontaneously combust. They do sound tasty though.
I was a Girl Scout, so I remember them fondly. I vaguely remember something else, made with some sort of sandwich type iron thing? What was that?
Um, YUM! Next time we have a fire at my parents' I'm taking along the bananas!!! :)
I just introduced my husband to the joy last weekend, but was similarly shocked by his reaction. We called them Banana Boats, but otherwise they are identical. So happy to learn that I'm not the only grown up Girl Scout who still throws bananas in the fire.
As soon as you tweeted about this, I googled and realized that you are sooo right. I'm a victim of heinous child abuse and will be looking into contacting the authorities in the morning.
But right after all that realization stuff happened, I sent R to the grocery store with clear instructions to buy lots of bananas, chocolate chips and marshmallows. He asked why and I said, "Because I'm going to make you something sweet and delicious." and that was all it took.
We made them slightly differently but the end result was the same. UH. MAZE. ING.
We rant among the deprived. And ironically, Becky was *just* going to make those last night while grilling, but we were distracted by the awesomeness of rhubarb crisp instead.
I KNEW I was deprived as a child, but I was a girl scout, for cryin' out loud! I should have had these! I'll be remedying that situation this afternoon. Thanks!
I never knew any Girl Scouts so I've never heard of these. And if I had, I'd have probably wanted to join up.
I was in Girl Scouts for like 8 years and we never had these! We'll have to try them when we go camping this fall.
I was in the Blue Birds (low rent version of the Girl Scouts.) We did not have campfire bananas. I am however going to make up for lost time starting tonight!!!
Oh my! Thank you, thank you, thank you for this! We have fires nightly, and this sounds much better than smores!
I can't wait to try these with my kids! Rhubarb is hard to find this far south, so I'll have to wait until we are back in the Burgh later this summer to try the crisp recipe.
Totally trying these! I haven't used our fire pit all summer!
OMG YOU ARE MAKING ME FLASHBACK TO MY GIRL SCOUT DAYS! NOW IM GONNA HAVE TO BE A PYROMANIC AND MAKE SOME OF THESE WITH NUTELLA GOODNESS! :-D
sorry for the caps locks...got a bit over excited with the sight of this yummy goodness!
Every last one of you is making me laugh, but Leslie? With the caps locks? HILARIOUS.
We called them banana boats at church camp. We used Hershey bars instead of chocolate chips!
Our girl scout troop never left the church basement. We grew up in the City. Maybe that's why???? Will have to try these this weekend.
i am gonna need a picture of that mess when you open it. (obviously i am in the "never heard of it" camp.)
@hello haha narf--I swear they aren't nearly as messy as they sound. The marshmallows aren't cooked until they burn like s'mores, so they don't get all gooey and sticky.
I'll work on a photo, though. The heathens descended too quickly when we made them the other night.
I have never heard of this so I have passed this on to my family members that have young children or that go camping so the world will be right again... just for you!
I had these at Girl Scout camp. Loved them but haven't had them in ages. Now I think I have to try them with Nutella.........
I have always made these in the oven - the campfire never occurred to me. I love them! I also do them with a little butter, brown sugar and a sprinkle of lemon powder. SOOOO good!
Those sound even tastier than wickywackywalkaways! (Which we were not allowed to eat until we could pronounce.)
I have to say, the thought of this makes me gag, just a little bit.
Not a banana fan. *ducks*
But I'll take the chips and marshmallows! :)
Soooo I have lived in and around pittsburgh almost my whole life and had never heard of these... of course i ask the boyfriend if he had and he looked at me like i was nuts and was like year who hasn't... hahaha... i informed him that a fire must be made this weekend so that i can experiment with some mixtures!
@ Jen
re: "I vaguely remember something else, made with some sort of sandwich type iron thing? What was that?"
Two slices of white bread + your choice of pie filling or jelly = homemade fruit pies, toasted over the campfire
I've never heard of these bananas before either, but plan to bust 'em out for the 4th of July! Every one of your recipes that I have been brave enough to try has been a big hit wherever we go. Thanks for sharing!
@Jen & @Lisa--Mountain Pies, right?
We LOVED these at the camp I went to as a kid, but we called them banana boats as well.
Another delicious "healthy" treat? Baked apples...carve out the core of the apple and stuff it with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, whatever. Wrap in foil, throw in the fire. Delicious.
Any idea how long I would leave those apples in a fire / on hot coals for? I don't cook, but need to try them!
I was a girl scout and I never heard of these. Bookmarked to make with our kiddos )
I haven't had one of these for YEARS.
And it looks like it will be quite a while before I do again.
We call them billion dollar bananas here in Australia now. After all the natural disasters they are around 20 bucks a kilo. Cheaper to drink wine.
I had these in 4-H several years ago. They are so delicious! I don't know how so many people grew up without having tasted these wonderful culinary creations!
aaaahhhh memories!
YES, campfire bananas ROCK. Thanks for the reminder xoxoxox
Neither had, nor heard of these, but I sure do want one now!!
For someone who grew up throwing things in fires to cook them, I'm not quite sure how I missed these. Potatoes with butter? Who needs them when you have BANANAS.
Yum.
But, what to do with the cut out banana?
SEE! I'M NOT INSANE!
Sorry, my friends looked at me like I turned into a monster or something when I mentioned this like 3 years ago. There was literally no information about them on the internet so I really felt like I was the only person in the world who knew about these.
ON THAT SAME NOTE: I've had Fire Banana's... but I didn't have my first Smor 'till last year...(always knew what they were.. just never made them)
@Jen- they are called 'Toas-Tites "for drip-proof sandwiches sealed in golden toast" I have an original booklet and an iron that was post WWII. The iron pressed the edges of the bread together, and made a sort-of 'hot pocket'. ;)
Boy Scouts, 1970s...we never went camping without these or 'smores, or both. The best thing was smooshing the banana/chocolate/marshmallow concoction between two graham crackers and then trying to eat it without getting it all over yourself. And usually failing.
I haven't had one of these since...since...well, I can't remember the last time. I'm gonna have to break down and rediscover them. Thanks for the memory.