Tinfoil bananas

From Brooke for Cooking Challenge "Fireside Warmth"

Fireside warmth makes me go tinfoil bananas!

I had completely forgotten about this treat, discovered years ago with friends while camping, until I read this month's challenge and remembered we had some over-ripe bananas.  I thought my old campfire pals invented tinfoil bananas, but it must be a fireside favorite.  Online I found this recipe from a book called Campfire Cuisine:

Cinnamon-Baked Banana
Serves 1

Ensure banana is slightly over-ripe.  Tabitha approves.

Ingredients:
1 banana
1/2 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cut peel lengthwise and make small crosswise incisions.

Directions:
With the banana still in its peel, make an incision lengthwise through the length of the peel and the fruit, leaving the underside of the peel intact. Pull the sides of the banana apart and dot with the pieces of butter inside. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over the top. Wrap in aluminum foil and bake over high heat, 10 to 15 minutes, until the fruit is hot and soft. Remove and discard the foil; serve hot.

Lower-cal ingredients

Advice:  Use a slightly over-ripe banana.  Do the banana prep work on top of the tinfoil, to minimize mess.  After opening the peel, make some small crosswise incisions (on the banana only, not the peel) to allow the cinnamon and sugar to penetrate.  Once wrapped in foil, the banana can be packed for a campfire later, cooked at the edge of a fireplace (right in the coals!), or baked in a glass dish in the oven.

For a lower-calorie option, which is shown in my photos:  Use Splenda and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (total calories per tinfoil banana:  about 100) instead of sugar and butter (total calories:  about 190).

Results:  Warm, buttery, cinnamon-y, banana-y deliciousness!

Banana in foil, in glass dish, ready for the oven

She looks surprised that it's good.