Frozen Cookie Dough Wrapped Banana Pops

Please check out a great bake sale hosted on Pass the Sushi today benefiting Lil Miss Muffin, a neglected and abused dog. She was rescued and it currently with Response-A-Bull rescue for her treatment and long road to recovery. Muffin is a beautiful, sweet dog despite everything she has been through. Through this bake sale we are hoping to help raise awareness on the abuse of animals and help with the cost of the increasing medical expense for Muffin. I have donated my Big, Fat, Chewy Multichip cookies as they are my favorite chocolate chip cookie.

The bake sale begins at 8am EST July 17th (today) on PasstheSushi.com and ends at 8pm EST. A list of all donated baked goods and cook books will be shows with information next to them. To bid on an item, send an email to kita {at} passthesushi.com with the item you are bidding on in the subject line. Minimum bids will start at $15 and all bids after must be $5 higher. Bids will be updated next the item throughout the day, so check back if there is something you are really hoping to win! At the end of bidding, Kita will email the winning bidders to confirm instructions for payment, and also to retrieve mailing addresses. Payment will be made via Paypal within 24 hours of confirmation. Baked goods will be mailed to winners within one week unless other special arrangements are made or noted.

As a bonus, there is also a Le Creuset Round French Oven Raffle. For every $5 donated with the Paypal button set up just for Muffins for Muffins on July 17th, you will be given one raffle entry. This includes all winning bids as well as donations for the day of the bake sale. At the end of the bake sale, one random winner will be selected via Random.org and the Le Creuset cookware will be mailed within one week.

If instead you would like to donate directly to Muffins medical fund, go to http://response-a-bull.org/donate and scroll down the page. There is a button to donate just for Muffin. Thank you!

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Let’s talk about frozen bananas. They are great for smoothies and fun to dip in chocolate for a healthier frozen treat. But how about wrapping them in cookie dough after they are frozen and then dipped in chocolate? Maybe some chopped peanuts on the outside while we’re at it. Oh look, that’s what I did and here they are for your pleasure. Before eating, you will have to let them thaw for a few minutes because biting into a solid chunk of frozen banana isn’t the easiest task.

One year ago: Vegetable Fried Rice for One

FROZEN COOKIE DOUGH WRAPPED BANANA POPS

Makes 16 pops

Ingredients:

BANANAS

4 firm but ripe banana, peeled and cut into fourths

16 popsicle sticks or popsticks

COOKIE DOUGH

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 Tbsp  sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 Tbsp heavy cream or milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

COATING

2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup coconut oil

Chopped peanuts for coating the outside

Directions:

1. Carefully insert a wooden popsicle stick into each banana, then place on a wax paper-lined baking sheet and freeze until firm.
2. For the cookie dough, using a hand mixer, in a large bowl cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla then mix in flour and salt on low speed until fully incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside at room temperature.
3. When the bananas are frozen, press a small amount of cookie dough around each banana. Remove only a couple of bananas at a time from the freezer because they will start to soften. Place back on baking tray and freeze until firm.
4. Place the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a double boiler (or melt in microwave). Stir until melted and smooth.  Spoon the chocolate over each frozen banana, letting the excess drip off, then dip ends into chopped peanuts immediately after coating in chocolate. Place back on baking tray and freeze until firm.
5. Allow to thaw for a couple minutes before serving.

Source: Adapted from Mississippi Kitchen. Cookie Dough halved from The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook.