A traditional banana split consists of three scoops each of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream, a chopped banana, and various syrups, whipped toppings, and dried fruit. The ice cream is placed in between two halves of a banana, hence the name. You may make this dish your own by swapping up the ice cream flavours and toppings from the original recipe to ones that better suit your palate.
Ingredients
- 1 banana
- 1 scoop vanilla ice cream
- 1 scoop chocolate ice cream
- 1 scoop strawberry ice cream
- Chocolate syrup, garnish
- Marshmallow creme, garnish
- Whipped cream, garnish
- Chopped lightly toasted nuts, garnish
- 3 maraschino cherries
Steps to Make It
- Gather the ingredients.
- Peel the banana and slice it in half lengthwise. Place the banana slices against the sides of a long, narrow, shallow dish.
- Place the scoops of ice cream in a row between the banana slices.
- Squirt the chocolate syrup on the vanilla and strawberry ice cream.
- Spoon the marshmallow creme over the chocolate ice cream.
- Top everything with the whipped cream. Sprinkle it all with nuts and top each mound of ice cream with a cherry.
Recipe Variations
- Swap one or more of the ice cream flavors for any of your favorites, like pistachio, cookies and cream, or cherry ice cream.
- Try different syrups like butterscotch, caramel, or strawberry sauce.
- A variety of chopped, toasted nuts like peanuts, pecans, almonds, or pistachios are delicious sprinkled on top.
- Add other toppings like toasted coconut or sprinkles.
Tips
- The long, narrow banana dishes can be found in your local grocery or home goods store, but if you don’t have this specific shaped dish, you can use a large bowl and cut the bananas as needed to fit. It will not be the traditional presentation but will be just as delicious.
- If you’d like to set up a banana split bar, arrange all of the ingredients on a table or buffet in the order they are used, starting with the dishes and ending with the spoons. Let everyone make their own banana split for a fun, interactive dessert.