These banana snickers bites are the perfect easy, no-bake, healthy-ish treat to reach for when you're craving something sweet!
The weather is FINALLY getting warmer which means my mind instantly goes to all the no-bake treats. What better way to celebrate warm weather, longer days and (hopefully) more sunshine than with easy banana snickers bites. Don't worry these still have the same gooey caramel with the crunchy peanut layer all wrapped up in the perfect amount of chocolate we all know and love.... the only difference? These healthy snickers with banana have a lot less sugar and even some added fibre. Now that's a WIN-WIN in my books.
What makes these snickers bites so special?
Believe it or not but banana, peanut butter chocolate sandwich bites were one of the very first recipes I ever posted on my Instagram foodie account (@nourishedbynic) back in 2018. I basically just sliced bananas, layered them with a dollop of peanut butter, sandwiched it with another banana and coated them in chocolate. To this date they are still one of my favourite go-to snack ideas when I'm craving something sweet, but don't feel like putting all the effort in to bake something.
As Nourished by Nic has continued to grow, I want my recipes to continue to grow with me. Recently I've been seeing so many people making little date snickers bites by cutting a date in half and stuffing it with chocolate and peanut butter but I wanted to level up that idea. So I combined it with my very favourite banana bites and VOILA these little date snickers banana bites were born.
How are these vegan banana snickers bites like snickers bars?
We all know and love the good ole' classic Snickers bar. You know the one with the Ooey gooey caramel, crunchy peanuts, nougat and coated in perfectly melted chocolate? Now what gives me the right to call these snickers bites? EASY just because these may be "healthier" they still have the same layers and flavours we all love!
Let me break it down for you....
- Slicing your banana thinly you are basically replacing the typical nougat layer you will find in a real snickers bar.
- You will create the EASIEST 3 ingredient vegan caramel with just peanut butter, water and dates ( I promise it's still just as sweet, gooey and tasty as the real thing!).
- Chopped peanuts give you that perfect amount of crunch you are looking for.
- Finally the chocolate brings it all together. Now this part is totally up to you. Feel free to dip, coat or drizzle your chocolate to your hearts content.
What Ingredients do I need for Banana Snickers Bites?
Bananas- You can't have banana snickers bites without bananas! Try to find perfectly ripe bananas or even slightly green bananas. I find slightly brown bananas tend to be a bit harder to work with because they are softer (and it gives you an excuse to save them for banana bread).
Medjool Dates- These are the secret to getting that sweet caramel colour and flavour! I love making date caramel because although they still do have sugar in them they also have fibre. This means that instead of spiking your blood sugar like normal caramel, date caramel will create longer lasting energy... making them the perfect addition to any sweet treat! Just don't forget to remove the pit!
Peanut butter- Any peanut butter will do. I typically like to try to choose one with just peanuts and salt like this one but you can use whatever you have on hand! Feel free to also substitute this with almond or cashew butter.
Water- This is just to help blend up the dates and peanut butter into a nice smooth caramel. You *may* not need it but if you are finding the dates are too sticky try adding it by the tablespoon slowly.
Peanuts- I just used unsalted, roasted peanuts! Just make sure you chop them up to ensure they stick onto the date caramel.
Melted Chocolate- So I cheated here a little...TECHNICALLY these are 7- ingredient banana snickers bites... but by saying melted chocolate instead of chocolate chips and coconut oil you get 6 ingredients. Now before you yell at me you really can melt the chocolate any way you want you don't NEED to use the coconut oil and six ingredients just sounds better. If you want to make these fully vegan feel free to use these dairy-free chocolate chips!
If you like how these turned out don't forget to try my salted caramel chickpea blondies another perfectly sweet treat with hidden nutrients!
PS. I love seeing my recipes in action! If you make these date snickers bites don't forget to snap a photo if you make these banana snickers bites and tag me on Instagram @nourishedbynic or comment below how they turned out!
📖 Recipe
Freezer Banana Snickers Bites
Ingredients
- 3 medium bananas sliced
- 5 medjool dates pitted
- 2 tablespoon peanut butter
- 2 tablespoon water
- ¼ cup peanuts chopped
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Slice bananas thinly and place ½ of the slices in a single layer on a parchment paper covered baking tray.
- To make the date caramel- In a food processor, or high powered blender combine peanut butter, dates and water and blend until smooth. Add about 1 teaspoon of date caramel on each banana slice and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.
- Add another banana slice on top of the nut butter caramel and peanut to complete the sandwich. Freeze for about 2 hours.
- In a small microwave safe bowl, add coconut oil and chocolate chips. Melt the chocolate and coconut oil together in the microwave in increments of 30 seconds, stirring in between. Continue to melt chocolate, until it is a liquid consistency is reached. Make sure the mixture isn’t to thick or it will be hard to dip the sandwiches.
- Dip, drizzle or completely cover the snickers bites with chocolate. Freeze (and store frozen) and enjoy right out of the freezer!
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