Grilled S'mores-stuffed Bananas

For The Associated Press

Here's a grilled dessert that is as much fun to make as it is to eat. Chocolate chips, marshmallows and graham crackers are jammed into a banana, then the whole thing gets grilled. The result is a warm, gooey dessert. If you like, you can fill the banana with chopped candy bars for an equally festive treat.

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GRILLED S'MORES-STUFFED BANANAS

Start to finish: 20 minutes

Servings: 4

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

2 graham cracker squares, finely crumbled

4 unpeeled bananas, ripe but still slightly firm (entirely yellow with a few brown spots)

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.