Banana-Rum Splits

By minicoopercraig

The banana split has never been mistaken for health food, but at least there used to be a certain honesty to it: a sliced banana topped with ice cream, nuts and whipped cream. Now, a banana split is more science experiment than real food. Take the most popular split in the country, the one from Baskin-Robbins. It has no fewer than 50 ingredients, including food dyes, locust gum and polysorbate 80. It also has as many calories as you should consume in two full meals. This split, on the other hand, boasts a third of the calories, a hit of booze and an honesty that harkens to the food days of yore.

Ingredients

• 1/2 Tbsp butter
• 2 bananas
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp dark rum or bourbon (optional)
• 4 large scoops vanilla ice cream (preferably Breyers All Natural)
• 1/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
• 4 Tbsp dark chocolate syrup or hot fudge sauce
• Light Whipped Topping

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Slice the bananas in half crosswise, then lengthwise. Place the banana quarters in the hot pan with the brown sugar and cook on one side until deeply caramelized, about 2 minutes. Turn the bananas over and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and add the rum. Be careful - even when the pan is removed from the heat, the alcohol can still ignite.
Place 2 banana quarters and any accumulated liquid in each of 4 bowls. Top with the ice cream, nuts, chocolate and whipped topping.