Our Favorite Campfire Dessert – Banana Boats

Banana boats are a campfire recipe from my childhood! Warm fire-roasted bananas topped with marshmallows and chocolate chips with the whole family sitting around the campfire laughing and making memories. It just doesn’t get much better than that!

Discover the simple steps to creating delicious and decadent campfire banana boats, filled with your choice of toppings. We are sharing photos of all our favorite creations to inspire your minds and tastebuds. We can’t wait for you to enjoy this tasty summer dessert!

Saved By Banana Boats

Childhood is really hard.

It’s wonderful for sure and if you’re like me you have a little inner ache to climb your way back to it. But there’s a lot of growing pains, literally and figuratively to endure. Thankfully we had our camping trips and lake visits that smoothed out any roughness of life.

And banana boats.

We had many banana boats.

Who thought up such a magical creation and let children’s hearts fly free with the unwrapping of a simple piece of aluminum foil and charred banana?

Growing up we only did chocolate chips and marshmallows, but all these years later we’ve got a plethora of talented kids to lead us to new adventures, even with this classic camping dessert.

What is a Banana Boat?

A banana boat is like a s’more and a banana split fell in love and had a baby. It takes a few things from each parent and is perfect! Banana boats consist of bananas sliced down the middle, stuffed with yummy toppings like marshmallows, chocolate chips, nuts, m&m’s, caramel, etc. and then wrapped in foil and cooked over the campfire. It is a favorite campfire recipe of ours!

What is the Difference Between Banana Boat and a Banana Split?

A banana boat does not have any ice cream in it and is cooked over campfire or on a grill. It does have many of the same flavors and joy that a banana split brings though! In fact, we even made a banana split inspired banana boat for this photo shoot which can be seen below. Banana boats are a fun alternative for a campfire dessert rather than s’mores.

Ingredients for Banana Boats

The ingredients list for banana boats are simple…bananas and whatever toppings you want to put on them. I will share a section below for all the toppings we’ve tried. You can really let your imagination and taste buds run wild on this one!

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Welcome to the weekend, my friends! The start of our summer has been a whirlwind of visits with family and friends. I’ve enjoyed it so much. Sunny days, rainy days, and everything in between, Ohio never fails to make me smile. 

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Jammy hard boiled eggs are fantastic on their own with just a bit of salt or when added to salads, sandwiches, and pasta. These are perfectly set boiled eggs with firm whites and “jammy,” slightly runny yolks. They’re egg heaven!

Creamy deviled egg filling creates the dressing that coats each bite of this deviled egg potato salad. Chunks of potato and hard-boiled eggs are tossed with the dressing to make the ultimate potato salad for anyone who loves deviled eggs.

This bacon asparagus frittata makes everyone at my table so happy. It’s so easy to throw together and get this meal to the table, whether for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Eggs serve as such a versatile backdrop, against which the crispy bacon crumbles, fresh asparagus, and parmesan cheese really shine. Even if you’re not a big fan of asparagus, I recommend trying this.

Creamed peas and potatoes is a delicious side dish that is wonderfully simple to make. The tender pop of English peas adds a wonderful texture to the softness of baby potatoes in this recipe.

Glazed cherry pie bars are an easy treat you can make with canned cherry pie filling or with a batch of homemade pie filling. These bars transport nicely and are perfect for any summer picnic, potluck, or party.

This strawberry and Oreo icebox cake highlights your favorite summer flavors with a simple four-ingredient recipe that you can make in about 15 minutes! If you enjoy classic strawberry shortcake and maybe don’t love turning on the oven to make scones or biscuits in the middle of summer, this dessert is likely to thrill you.

Creamy and rich with an abundance of chocolate chunks that melt in your mouth, Black Raspberry Ice Cream is as iconic a flavor in Ohio as the chocolate and peanut butter “Buckeye” flavors that are also popular in every ice cream shop here.

What I’m CRAVING: Salads! So many recipes have caught my eye recently, I have a long list of new salads to try. This Read more

Creamy and rich with an abundance of chocolate chunks that melt in your mouth, Black Raspberry Ice Cream is as iconic a flavor in Ohio as the chocolate and peanut butter “Buckeye” flavors that are also popular in every ice cream shop here.

The first time we flew out to Ohio to look at houses, our realtor and now friend, Stratton Alt (highly recommend him for anyone house hunting in the Columbus area!) took us to Graeter’s Ice Cream.

Oh. My. Word. Their most popular flavor is Black Raspberry and it was love at first taste for this girl. I’ve been obsessed with it ever since.

You may notice that this is a more complicated ice cream recipe than I typically share with you. Please do not let that stop you from making this, my friends.

I’m telling you right now that this recipe, this custard-style ice cream recipe, is everything you love about Graeter’s Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream in a homemade ice cream recipe that you can make whenever you’re craving it.

No matter where you live, whether you’re lucky enough to have Graeter’s ice cream in a shop around the corner or at the grocery store, you too can enjoy and fall in love with the most popular Graeter’s ice cream flavor.

I typically make Philadelphia-style ice cream without eggs. So, naturally, I tested this recipe using our favorite easy vanilla ice cream

Weekly Menu Plan – Jun. 10 to Jun. 16

You are going to love all the recipe on our weekly menu plan this week! We have an easy slow cooker meal to ease into the week followed by several quick and easy meals. Then we finish the week with a spectacular steak marinade to celebrate all the dads in our life! Happy Father’s Day to all those men who make our world go round!

Monday: Slow Cooker Garlic Chicken

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Tuesday: Easy Homemade Fish Tacos Recipe [+Video]

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Wednesday: Teriyaki Pina Colada Burger [+ Video]

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Thursday: 20 Minute Sausage and Peppers Gnocchi

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Friday: Copycat PF Changs Chicken Lettuce Wraps

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Saturday: How to Make the BEST BLT

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Sunday: The BEST Steak Marinade (and which steak to buy) [+Video]

READ: Weekly Menu Plan – Jun. 10 to Jun. 16

Easy No Knead Artisan Bread

How do you make a loaf of No-Knead Artisan Bread and have it turn out just like the local bakery? It all starts a day ahead, but don’t worry, it’s a simple process.

Looking for a simple and delicious bread recipe? This easy no knead artisan bread is perfect for beginners and seasoned bakers alike. The outside of the bread is golden brown and crusty in texture and the inside is soft and pillowy. It’s ideal for dipping in your favorite soup or sopping up all the leftover sauce from your plate of lasagna. Follow our step-by-step instructions for a crusty and flavorful loaf.

When we were visiting San Francisco many, many years ago we took a walk down the boardwalk and the smell of fresh, hot bread was completely intoxicating. How can something as simple as bread be so wonderful? That beautiful, golden, crispy crust, the soft pillowy inside and the smell that makes you feel such peace no matter what.

You can’t deny it, fresh bread baking is one of the greatest smells of all time. And fresh cut grass. Oh, and the rain, I love the smell of the rain. Growing up in Washington state will do that to you.

We love to make homemade bread, and Cade’s dad happens to be a fantastic bread maker, but the truth is, sometimes you don’t just want a sandwich bread — no, you want artisan bread. But can you really do it from home? Here’s how to make this no knead bread recipe in 5 minutes.

What is Artisan Bread?

If you’ve never made artisan bread before, you may be wondering what makes it so special. In truth, there’s no single definition for “artisan bread.” To us, artisan bread is a type of bread that’s been made with real ingredients (i.e. no preservatives or flavorings) and left to ferment overnight to create a slightly nutty flavor and easier-to-digest loaf. 

No-Knead Artisan Bread Ingredients

To make this dutch oven no-knead bread, you only need flour, sugar, salt, yeast and water. That’s it. 5 ingredients!

• Flour: just regular all-purpose flour is all you knead
• Sugar: The sugar helps to activate or feed the yeast just a little, which I’ve noticed helps to yield and fluffier inside, but in a pinch you can skip it.
• Salt: enhances all the flavors
• Yeast: gives the bread its rise and fluffiness
• Water: helps binds all the ingredients together and helps activate the yeast