Grilled Banana Splits With Vanilla Ice Cream

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Start to finish: 15 minutes
Impresses: 4

Ingredients

4 medium bananas
½ cup chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
½ cup chopped nuts, such as walnuts or pecans
2 cups vanilla ice cream
4–8 maraschino cherries in syrup
½ cup fresh berries, such as sliced strawberries, raspberries, blueberries or blackberries

Method

Slice each banana lengthwise through the peel, opening a pocket in each banana. Stuff with 2 tablespoons each of chocolate chips and nuts. 

Wrap each banana in aluminum foil and seal to create a pouch for grilling. Don’t seal too tightly, but wrap enough to fully encase the stuffed banana. If unable to balance sliced-side up without tipping, place on a grilling rack for support. 

Grill on medium to medium-high heat for 8–10 minutes. Remove from the grill and transfer one foil pack to each plate or serving bowl.

Carefully unwrap each banana, then top with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream. Garnish with fresh berries, additional nuts and chocolate chips, and top with 1–2 maraschino cherries. Serve immediately.

Note: As an alternative, top with caramel sauce, mini marshmallows, sprinkles, crushed sandwich cookies or your favorite ice cream toppings. 

Cheddar-Apple Slabble Pie

When it comes to apple pie, many of us have memories of the way our grandmother used to make it. Whether she used a mixture of butter and shortening, added vinegar or used her hands instead of a pastry cutter, the crust served as the bookends of a delicious tradition. By jazzing up a traditional, all-butter crust recipe with Borden® Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, this American classic is elevated into a slightly savory dessert, perfect for using up all those fresh-picked apples.

Crust
We opted for an all-butter crust, but this can be made by adding 1 ½ cups of shredded Cheddar cheese to your favorite pie crust recipe.
2 ½ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 ½ cups Borden® Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated
½ cup ice water

Filling
4 sweet apples, peeled and sliced (like Pink Lady or Gala)
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
½ cup sugar, or more to taste
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Egg wash
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon water

In the bowl of your food processor, pulse together the cold butter, flour and salt until a course texture is formed, where the butter is a similar size to peas.
Slowly add in the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition until a dough comes together. You may need more or less water.
Once the dough has come together, pulse in the grated Borden Cheddar Cheese.
Turn dough onto a floured countertop and gently knead into one solid mound. Separate the dough into two and form into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or for up to two days if making in advance.
While dough is chilling, heat the oven to 375 F.
Prepare the filling by tossing together the peeled and sliced apples, flour, cinnamon, sugar and lemon juice.
Once the dough is chilled, unwrap one disk and roll out on a floured surface in a rectangle large enough to hang over the edges of a small sheet pan.
Transfer the dough to the pan, pressing gently into the corners. Top with apple mixture and spread out evenly.
Unwrap and roll out the other disk on a floured surface into a rectangle. Using a pizza cutter, cut ½-inch strips lengthwise from the dough to make a lattice top.
To make the lattice, start by laying half the strips diagonally across the pan. Then, begin weaving the remaining strips to make the lattice design. This is done in an over-under pattern.
Once all the strips are successfully weaved, trim and crimp the edges with the edges of the bottom crust.
Mix together the egg and water and use a pastry brush to apply the egg wash to the top of the crust.
Bake 35–40 minutes, or until filling is bubbly and crust is golden. Cool completely before serving.