S'mores-Stuff Bananas great for Fourth

(Stuff a banana with a s'mores filling for a festive grilled dessert/Associated Press photo)

The Fourth of July holiday conjures up meals from the grill, fresh summer produce and — s'mores at the campfire.

Today's Busy Cook in the Poughkeepsie Journal features recipes using summer fruit in desserts that are likely to shine at your Fourth of July cookout.
Here's another recipe from The Associated Press that is a twist on the classic s'mores. The ingredients are used as a stuffing in a fresh banana that is grilled, resulting in a gooey dessert that is fun to eat as you sit around the campfire. Notch it up by topping it off with vanilla ice cream.

Grilled S'Mores-Stuffed Bananas

Start to finish: 20 minutes
Servings: 4

1. 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
2. 2 graham cracker squares, finely crumbled
3. 4 unpeeled bananas, ripe but still slightly firm (entirely yellow with a few brown spots)
4. 1/4 cup mini marshmallows
   

• Heat a gas grill to medium-high or prepare a charcoal fire.
• In a bowl, stir together the chocolate chips and graham cracker crumbs.
• Lay the bananas on their side on a flat surface. Cut a 3/4-inch-deep slit from tip to tip along what is now the top side of the banana. Pry open each slit just enough to push in one quarter of the chocolate chip mixture into the banana. Stuff marshmallows into each slit.
• Wrap each banana snugly in foil, making a seam above the filled opening.
• Turn off one side of the grill. Place the bananas, seam up, over the cooler side.
• Cover and grill for 15 minutes, or until the banana feels very soft when squeezed with an oven mitt.
• Serve immediately with a spoon for scooping the mixture out of the peel.

Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 169 calories; 33 calories from fat; 4 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 37 g carbohydrate; 2 g protein; 4 g fiber; 10 mg sodium.