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Banana Split is such an easy and fun dessert – an old school classic that looks impressive, tastes delicious, but you can make in minutes!

A classic Banana Split with cherries and chocolate sauce in a boat dish.

I‘m always a fan of making an event out of, well, anything. Everyone grumpy on a week night evening? Let’s serve a Banana Split!

Yes it’s a banana and ice-cream (basic) BUT the winning combination with flakes of toasted almonds for a little crunch, and chocolate sauce (of course) makes it something special.

Simple as it might be, served like this, in my house, it never nails to make everyone smile. Hope your family will love it too!


Why you’ll love this Easy Banana Split recipe

⭐️ Quick and easy dessert

⭐️ Customisable with your choice of toppings

⭐️ Fun to make with kids


Banana Split Ingredients

The ingredients for making a classic Banana Split laid out on a counter.
  • Bananas – You don’t want these to be too overripe as you need them to peel and slice nicely, but ripe is fine!
  • Ice cream – The flavour of your choice. See below for a good trick for keeping the ice cream intact as you make your Banana Split.
  • Toasted flaked almonds – These give a lovely crunchy topping.
  • Glace cherries – These are the traditional garnish, but leave them out if you prefer.
  • For the cream – Beat together double cream (or heavy cream if you’re outside of the UK), icing sugar and vanilla extract. Alternatively you could use squirty cream from a can if you’d like a shortcut.
  • Chocolate sauce – Make this as per the recipe below or alternatively you could use shop-bought chocolate sauce.

Storing

Banana Split sundaes are designed to be made up and eaten immediately, before they melt. 

If you’d like to prep them ahead, you could make all of the ingredients ahead of time, keeping the ice cream balls in the freezer, then simply assemble the dessert when you’re ready to serve.

top Tips

Prepare the ice cream

To make sure your ice cream doesn’t melt before your Banana Split is properly assembled (especially if you’re drizzling over your own chocolate sauce), I recommend making up your ice cream balls, using a scoop, beforehand. 

Simply make them up from your ice cream tub, sit them on a plate lined with baking paper, then put them in the freezer again on the plate until you’re ready to serve.

Quantities

Please note the ingredient quantities in this recipe are for 4 servings, so adjust yours according to how many people you’re making this for.

FAQs

Is Banana Split a British dessert?

No, it is a recipe adopted from the US, sometime over the last century, when imported bananas became more readily available.

Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.

Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).

5 from 1 vote

Banana Split {Easy Family Dessert!}

This classic Banana Split recipe is quick, easy and fun! It looks impressive, tastes delicious and is an all-out treat which you can choose your favourite toppings for.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients 

  • 4 Bananas, See notes
  • 450 ml Ice cream, About 8-12 scoops
  • 50 g Toasted flaked almonds
  • 12 Glace cherries

For the cream:

  • 500 ml Double cream
  • 2 tsp Icing sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract

For the chocolate sauce:

  • 100 ml Double cream
  • 150 g Dark chocolate , About 50% cocoa solids

Instructions 

  • Beat 500ml of the double cream with the icing sugar and vanilla until it forms soft peaks. Set aside.
  • Make your chocolate sauce by putting the remaining 100ml cream and chocolate into a bowl over a pan of simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water). Stir gently until the chocolate is melted into the sauce. (Alternatively, microwave in 30 second bursts stirring very well in between each.)
  • Now put together your banana splits. Peel and slice each banana split lengthways and sit in your dish.
  • Put scoops of ice cream between each pair of banana half. Top with the whipped double cream (spoon it or pipe it on).
  • Drizzle with the chocolate sauce, sprinkle over almonds and add the cherries before serving.

Notes

Banana ripeness: Try to use bananas that are just the right amount of ripeness – not green still but still firm and not black or mushy. Overripe bananas won’t peel and slice as well and the flavour might be a little overpowering
Shortcut ingredients: To make this dessert even quicker to make, you could use squirty cream instead of the cream mixture, and you could also drizzle over shop-bought chocolate sauce, instead of making your own
Banana Split toppings: You can really adapt this to what you like or what you have in. Different fruits, nuts and sauces work really well too
Quantities: Please note the ingredient quantities in this recipe are for 4 servings, so adjust yours according to how many people you’re making this for
Prepare ahead of time: You could make all of the ingredients ahead of time, keeping the ice cream balls in the freezer, mixing the cream ingredients together and melting the chocolate sauce, then simply assemble the dessert when you’re ready to serve

Nutrition

Calories: 1225kcalCarbohydrates: 103gProtein: 16gFat: 87gSaturated Fat: 47gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 26gTrans Fat: 0.02gCholesterol: 195mgSodium: 195mgPotassium: 1056mgFiber: 9gSugar: 56gVitamin A: 2590IUVitamin C: 11mgCalcium: 257mgIron: 6mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Family Food
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