So just in case, you were wondering about where the banana split originated from, here it is! In 1904, a gentleman by the name of David Strickler, a 23-year-old pharmacist from Latrobe, Pennsylvania who enjoyed making sundaes at the store’s soda fountain, thought it would be a good idea to add a banana to his sundaes. The charge for a sundae back then was a whole 10 cents! News spread quickly and a few years later a popular recipe was published that called for a split banana, a couple scoops of ice cream, whipped cream and topped with a maraschino cherry and chopped nuts. Latrobe, Pennsylvania now celebrates its 111th year of the banana split and this delicious treat certainly has stood the test of time. Who doesn’t enjoy a good banana split?
This recipe started out with fried plantains because I was looking for something just a little different, but I ended up with caramelized bananas because they’re a bit sweeter than plantains. If you’ve ever made plantains sweet rather than savory, they have to be super ripe, meaning they need to turn black which can take at least 2 weeks or they won’t be soft and sweet enough. I kept getting impatient and cutting into them too soon. If you do decide to try this recipe and use plantains, make sure you plan ahead and let them get black before making your split. Either way, I think you’ll enjoy this tropical twist on an American favorite. You can add a couple scoops of your favorite vanilla ice-cream while it’s still warm, so it starts to get a little melty along with some tart mango sauce, macadamias, and coconut chips. So awesome for a cool summertime treat! Please leave a comment below if you too, love banana splits.
- 2 bananas
- ¼ coconut sugar
- 1 Tbl ghee, butter, or coconut oil
- 4 scoops vanilla ice-cream (vegan or dairy)
- 1 mango
- 2 Tbls lime juice (or use 1 Tbls lime and 1 Tbls rum)
- ½ c whipped cream or coconut cream (omit cocoa)
- Macadamia nuts, coconut chips, cherries
- Wash, peel, and chop the mango and transfer to a high-speed blender with the lime juice and/or rum until smooth, then set aside.
- Slice the bananas in half lengthwise and coat each side with coconut sugar.
- Heat a small pan with the ghee/butter/oil on medium heat and cook the bananas for a few minutes on each side.
- Transfer to an oval bowl and let them slightly cool.
- Top with ice-cream, then mango sauce, whipped cream, followed by the garnishes.
- *If you use the coconut cream recipe, omit the cocoa.
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