Banana Boat Dessert (Campfire, Grill, or Oven!)
May contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy.
This Banana Boat Dessert is one of the easiest desserts to add to your cookouts or campfires! Full of ooey gooey marshmallow, chocolate, and banana, you can cook them on the BBQ, campfire, oven, or air fryer for a fun and versatile dessert.
Easy Summer Dessert: Banana Boats
Table of Contents
Let’s clear something up right now. Just because you’re camping doesn’t mean you have to eat bad food. Camping does not equal eating cold beans straight from a can for dinner.
In fact, some of the most memorable meals I’ve eaten have been made over a campfire. From hobo dinner hamburgers to smookies (possibly the best dessert ever invented) to good old hot dogs grilled over an open flame, nothing beats the taste and flavor of campfire cooking.
But you don’t have to have a campfire to get that great smoky flavor. You can use your charcoal or gas grill just as easily.
These S’more Banana Boats are one of my favorite summer dessert recipes. They’re a gooey, melty, totally unrefined mess of banana and chocolate and marshmallow.
Think of it as a fruit-forward, treat form of a Fluffernutter Sandwich. Is it any wonder I love them?
More Reasons to Love Grilled Bananas:
- Super easy and NO MESS– Cooking in foil means no dishes and no clean up!
- Very versatile– You can add so many different toppings to this. There’s a banana boat for everyone’s tastes.
- Allergy friendly– These are naturally gluten free and vegetarian, and if you swap some dairy free chocolate chips, they’re dairy free too!
These desserts are perfect for campfire cooking, but you can also make them in your grill, oven, or air fryer. I’ve included instructions for all four cooking methods, plus plenty of fun stuffing ideas so you can create your own perfect Banana Boat Dessert!
How to Make Campfire Banana Boats
- Gather your bananas. You can make just one or as many as your fire (or BBQ) will fit.
- Slice the bananas about a ¼ inch deep down the middle. Use your fingers to pull the peel back slightly so there’s some space between the peel and the banana.
- Stuff the boats with your choice of toppings. I love a mix of milk and dark chocolate chips and mini marshmallows.
- Wrap. Place each banana on a square (approximately 12 inches) of aluminum foil topped with a slightly smaller square of parchment paper. Wrap the bananas up from the bottom to the top, crimping the top so there’s a little space between the banana and the foil.
- Cook. Place the bananas directly on warm coals that no longer have an active flame. Cook for about 5 minutes, then remove with tongs, and enjoy. The bananas can be eaten directly out of the peel, or scooped out into a bowl.
Note: If your fire still has a lot of active flames, place the banana boats on a grill on top of the fire instead of directly on the coals.
Banana Smores in the Oven
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the foil wrapped bananas on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes.
Bananas on the Grill
Preheat the grill to high heat (about 500 degrees). Place the foil banana smores directly on the grill grates and grill for 5-7 minutes.
Banana Smores in the Air Fryer
Air fry the foil wrapped banana boats at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
Tips:
- Choose bananas that are ripe and lightly speckled. Bananas that are very ripe and speckled will get too mushy when grilled.
- The banana boats are done when the banana feels a tad squishy when prodded with the tongs or a fork. They can go from uncooked to mushy pretty quick (especially over a campfire!), so check often after five minutes.
- Using parchment to line the aluminum foil keeps the marshmallows from sticking to the foil. However, you can go without the parchment if you don’t have it.
Banana Boats Toppings + Serving Ideas:
This is a GREAT dessert to clean out your candy bowl or pantry. While you can’t go wrong with chocolate and marshmallow, there are plenty of other fun combos you can try!
I recommend putting whatever odds and ends you have in several bowls, and letting your guests or kids create their own dessert masterpiece. Here are some of our favorites:
- Golden Graham or Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal- These are great cooked with the banana or sprinkled on top after it’s done. I don’t recommend adding graham crackers to the bananas as they get too soggy, but they’re great for dipping after!
- Any kind of chip- milk, white, semi sweet, butterscotch, caramel, peanut butter- they can all be great.
- Nuts– toasted pecans, walnuts, pistachios, or almond slices.
- Chopped up candy bars
- Reese’s pieces or mini Reese’s cups
- Peanut butter, Nutella, Biscoff, or Amish peanut butter– Spread any of these down the center of your banana before adding the other toppings.
- Strawberries, blueberries, or maraschino cherries-I love this in combination with the chocolate. It’s like a banana split!
- Cinnamon and brown sugar– You can also ditch the chocolate and just sprinkle your banana with a little brown sugar and cinnamon before grilling. Delish!
- Ice cream– Top your warm banana boats with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an extra special dessert.
Campfire Banana Boats Dessert
Ingredients
- 1 banana
- Handful of semi sweet chocolate chips
- Handful of mini marshmallows
Other topping options:
- Peanut butter
- Biscoff
- Cut up candy bars
- Chopped nuts
- Honey Grahams or Cinnamon Toast Crunch
- Graham Crackers (for dipping)
Instructions
- Gather your bananas. You can make just one or as many as your fire (or BBQ) will fit.
- Slice the bananas about a ¼ inch deep down the middle. Use your fingers to pull the peel back slightly so there’s some space between the peel and the banana.
- Stuff the boats with your choice of toppings. I love a mix of milk and dark chocolate chips and mini marshmallows.
- Wrap. Place each banana on a square (approximately 12 inches) of aluminum foil topped with a slightly smaller square of parchment paper. Wrap the bananas up from the bottom to the top, crimping the top so there’s a little space between the banana and the foil.
- Cook. Place the bananas directly on warm coals that no longer have an active flame. Cook for about 5 minutes, then remove with tongs, and enjoy. The bananas can be eaten directly out of the peel, or scooped out into a bowl.
Notes
- If your fire still has active flames, place the bananas on a grill over top of the fire.
- To grill: Preheat to high heat (500 degrees). Place wrapped bananas on the grill and grill 5-7 minutes.
- To make in the oven: Preheat to 400 degrees. Place wrapped bananas on a baking sheet and then bake for 13-15 minutes.
- To air fry: Air fry wrapped bananas at 400 degrees for 6-7 minutes.
- Nutrition will depend on chosen toppings.
Nutrition
More Great Camping and Grilling Recipes
Make your whole dinner in foil with this Grilled Tilapia in Foil, Grilled Salmon with Mango Salsa, or Foil Packet Garlic Shrimp.
We also love a good grilled burger! Learn how to cook burgers on the grill, and try our Pimento Cheeseburgers, Ranch Burgers, and Avocado Burgers.
Marinate chicken and pack it in a cooler for your next camping trip. We recommend this Mexican Chicken Marinade or Spicy Chicken Marinade.
These Cowboy Baked Beans with Ground Beef are great for making ahead of time and serving alongside grilled meats, as are these Balsamic Grilled Vegetables.
More Gooey Marshmallows
If that sweet stretchy marshmallow is calling your name, don’t miss our Baked S’mores Casserole, our Easter Resurrection Rolls, these peanut buttery Fluffernutter Cookies, or these colorful Fruity Pebbles Treats!
These are banana boats. I learned how to make them in Girl Scouts. And there’s no need to fire up the grill. Just pop them in the oven for a few minutes. And we never put graham crackers in them. I’ll have to try that.
I turn the banana so the curve is its side, as if you are looking down on an arc, instead of a boat. That way is easier to stuff as the banana is flat and not rocking. So don’t rock the boat! Put on its side and even the grilling is easier, and so is the eating! You can always use oven or even the microwave as long as you don’t wrap it in foil as there is no need to because the stuffing won’t fall out when it’s on its side.
looks awesome can’t wait to try it
No. Way. Thic looks so delicious and just in time for grilling season. YUMM!
Thanks!
This is so perfect for my mood lately. I actually posted a picture on Instagram today of me roasting marshmallows with a blow torch because I don’t have anything else and I was craving them! (sad I know).
xo Jackie
Haha! I love that! Desperate times call for desperate measures!