Tiger Butter Frozen Banana Bites

Have you heard of tiger butter? It is a glorious mixture of white chocolate and peanut butter swirled with milk chocolate. I used to eat tiger butter bark from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory as a kid when hanging out at the mall was an extracurricular activity. Did you do the mall-hang thing? I can’t believe I was so entertained by walking around the mall for upwards of 8 hours. Of course buying tiger butter added something tasty to the whole mall experience.

Why stop at tiger butter bark when you can use the stuff to coat frozen banana bites?! Every late night snacker knows that bananas and PB are bffs. What you may or may not know is banana slices turn delightfully creamy – just like ice cream – when they are coated in chocolate and then frozen. These tiger butter frozen banana bites have a nice banana flavor and velvety texture with a crisp coating. They are salty and full of nuttiness from the PB, richness and a bit of bitterness from the dark chocolate, and milky white chocolate gives a vanilla flavor. Basically they are banging and I am sure you’ll love em’!

A lot of people are afraid of white chocolate because it can be very sweet. In the case of tiger butter, the sweetness is cut by the peanut butter. In my recipe, I use an unsweetened PB to further slash the sugar content. Traditional tiger butter is made with milk chocolate, but here I dark chocolate that is low in sugar and sports a 70% cacao content. The other thing I added to tame the tiger [butter] – salt! I used a coarse variety that adds distinct bits of crunch. I put the salt right in the chocolate (you can see it if you look close) but you could put it on top as well.

Also they are so pretty! I love the marbling. Through experimentation, I learned that you need to fit as many bananas in the chocolate as you can in the first go. Pile in as many as you can (flat side down) then go one by one and flip them gently using two forks to coat both sides. Use the forks to remove them one by one, skimming any tiger butter drips and then place them on some parchment paper. The parchment keeps them from sticking so do not skip it.

Full disclosure: as you go the chocolate will mix more and more until it ends up a light brown shade (like the one at the very bottom of the image above). The flavor is EXACTLY the same, but if you are focused on presentation, I suggest halving the recipe below – the first two rounds of dipping produces the most marbling so halving it is the way to go to keep them all marbled.

Tiger Butter Frozen Banana Bites

Servings: makes about 50 frozen banana slices

Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

4 medium/3 large ripe bananas
1/2 cup of white chocolate chips
scant 1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips
1.5 tsp. coconut oil
1/4 cup of peanut butter, unsweetened and unsalted
1/2-1 tsp. of salt (see note)

How-to:

Slice bananas into half inch thick rounds. Set aside.
Set up a double boiler: heat water in the bottom pan on medium. Select one pan (or heat proof bowl) for white chocolate and another for the dark chocolate. Pour the white chocolate chips into one and the dark chocolate into the other.
To the white chocolate chips, add the peanut butter, coconut oil, and salt.
Melt the white chocolate mixture over the double boiler until smooth. Set aside.
Heat the dark chocolate until melted.
Place the white chocolate PB mix back over the double boiler. Pour the dark chocolate over it in a zig-zag fashion. Gently mix [only] once with a fork, drawing vertical lines to help the dark chocolate reach the bottom of the pan.
Add as many banana slices as will fit (flat side down). It is okay if they are touching. Using two forks, flip each slice to coat, giving a marbled effect.
Pull each slice, one by one, from the chocolate, skimming the extra chocolate from the bottom with one of the forks.
Place each slice onto a sheet of parchment paper on a sheet pan.
Repeat steps 7-9 until all banana slices are coated and placed on the parchment paper.
Place the sheet pan in the freezer until slices are frozen, about 4 hours.

Notes:

White chocolate varies a lot in quality. Try to pick one without added ingredients and with a higher cocoa butter content. Sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, vanilla, and emulsifiers (like soy lecithin) are all that’s needed to make white chocolate.
Concerning the salt: if you use a coarse or flaked salt, you will need more because there is more space between grains versus finely ground salt which has closely packed together grains. I used a scant tsp. of coarse and loved the salt level, but if you are more sensitive to salt go for half a tsp. or you can eliminate it if you like.
As you flip the slices, the chocolate will mix, reducing the marbled appearance as you go. See suggestion above for halving the recipe if you really want to keep them all perfectly marbled.
For best results, after your tiger butter banana slices are frozen put them in a sealed plastic baggie. If they stay out in the freezer for more than a couple days unsealed they take on a chalkier (versus creamy) texture.
From my experience this amount of tiger butter is just about enough for 3 large or 4 medium bananas. However it will vary by banana size and thickness. If you have tiger butter left over, you can pour it on some parchment paper and put it in the fridge or freezer – it is delicious sans bananas too! If you run out of chocolate, simply make a bit more using the same ratio as above.
As they thaw the banana inside gets mushier, so eat them within 10 minutes once pulled out of the freezer. You can always pull a few and go back for more!