Gluten Free Banana Pops

Whew… it is HOT… heat index is 99!  I thought we would be past the extreme heat but that’s Wisconsin for you.  It wouldn’t be terrible since the air conditioning is working just fine (thankfully).  The thing is, it’s the first day of kindergarten for my first baby… (where does the time go?)…  and the school does not have air-conditioning.  All classrooms full of bright eyes, excited faces, nervous teachers… and hot sweaty little bodies.

I thought a cool treat would help.

Nothing too fancy here.  It was the “what can I make without turning the oven on, with ingredients I already have” mode of thinking.  I didn’t even have popsicle sticks.  I found some unused chopsticks in our drawer and decided to cut them into thirds.  Waste not, right?  The bananas were pretty large so cutting them in a 1/3 seemed like a good size for the kiddos.  The freeze dried fruit added some nutrients and color.  If you don’t think you’ll eat the bananas later in the day, I will warn you the fruit will become soft from the humidity in the air.

Mr. Sir was very happy to finished his first full day of Kindergarten.  We each had a banana and talked about the first day and all the fun new things he did.

Ingredients

• 2 large bananas
• 2 chop sticks or 6 popsicle sticks
• 1 cup allergen chocolate chips
• 1 T canola oil
• 1/4 cup freeze dried mango
• 1/4 cup freeze dried strawberries
• 1/4 cup freeze dried blueberries
• 1/4 cup crushed rice chex cereal 

Directions

1. Cut chopsticks into 1/3’s.  File any splinted wood. Or just used real popsicle sticks 😉
2. Peel and cut bananas into 1/3’s
3. Insert stick into bananas and put in the freezer for 1hour.
4. Melt chocolate chips in double boiler or microwave on low.  Add oil and stir until smooth.
5. Dip frozen banana and sprinkle with the freeze dried fruits, cereal or anything you want.