By Genevieve
Valentine's Day is one week away, and even though I don't particularly care for the holiday itself one way or another, I still wanted to make some kind of dessert recipe for my blog in honour of the spirit of love that Valentine's Day celebrates!
The inspiration for this recipe came from Oh My Veggies, who posted these baked banana wontons a while ago. I loved the idea of filling wonton wrappers with fruit and baking them in the oven for a healthier option than frying. I also thought they made a fancy looking dessert that would be fun to serve for Valentine's Day, so I decided to make my own version.
I liked the idea of using banana in the filling, but I also wanted to incorporate more traditional Valentine's themed ingredients so I added chocolate and red strawberries to both the filling and the topping for the wontons.
Stuffed inside each wonton is a mixture of mashed banana with strawberry jam, along with a piece of milk chocolate. Once you've assembled all of your wontons, they go into the oven to bake and when they come out, the filling is warm and gooey so that you taste chocolate melted together with banana and jam with each bite. For a non-chocolate lover like myself, these have a nice balance of light fruit and rich chocolate, without any of the ingredients being too dominant.
Since the wontons would have looked a little plain on their own, I made an easy strawberry sauce by simmering fresh strawberries on the stovetop with a bit of agave, vinegar and vanilla extract for more flavour. Finally, a drizzle of melted chocolate and a light dusting of powdered sugar turns this into a fancier looking dessert that you can serve to your loved ones or treat yourself with on Valentine's Day.
I ended up eating most of these myself immediately after I made them (telling myself that wontons can count as dinner), so you don't need a holiday to enjoy them either!
Feel free to play around a bit with the ingredients too - I liked the combination of strawberries with banana, but I think raspberries would also make a delicious sauce, and a sprinkle of toasted almonds or pistachios would add a nice crunch. You can also try baking them at a higher temperature if you want the wontons to be more crispy, but I personally preferred the way these came out with a soft middle and chewy edges.
Baked Banana, Chocolate & Strawberry Wontons
Inspired by Oh My Veggies and Weight Watchers
Note: My version of this dessert was not vegan, but if you can find eggless wonton wrappers and vegan chocolate, you can make a vegan version!
Ingredients:
Strawberry Sauce
- 1 cup chopped strawberries, tops removed
- 2 tbsp agave nectar
- 1/2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Wontons
- 12-15 square wonton wrappers
- 1 medium banana, mashed
- 2-3 tbsp strawberry jam
- Half of a Hershey’s milk chocolate bar (or another chocolate bar)
- 1 ¼ tsp melted coconut oil, divided
- ~1 oz dark chocolate
- Icing sugar for serving
- More chopped strawberries for serving (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
First, make the sauce: Place strawberries, agave, and balsamic in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the mixture starts bubbling, reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Mash the strawberries up a bit to get a smoother sauce. Keep warm on low heat while you make the wontons.
For the wontons, lay out one wrapper and place one heaping teaspoon of banana in the middle. Top with ½ tsp of strawberry jam and half of a rectangle of Hershey’s chocolate (or an equivalent amount of another chocolate if you use a different kind).
Wet the edges of the wrapper with water, then gently fold over one half so that it forms a triangle. Seal the edges together with your fingers tightly, being careful not to let the filling squeeze out.
Keep a small bowl with 1 tsp melted coconut oil aside. Brush both sides of the wonton with melted coconut oil and lay on the prepared baking sheet.
Repeat with remaining ingredients until the banana mixture is used up – I got 12 wontons.
Place baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the outside is starting to brown on the edges.
Meanwhile, melt the dark chocolate in the microwave. Heat on high for 30 seconds, then add ¼ tsp coconut oil and microwave again in 15 second intervals, stirring each time, until the chocolate is smooth and melted.
To serve, lay wontons on a plate and top with a few spoonfuls of the strawberry sauce. Drizzle some of the chocolate sauce over top and use a sieve to add a dusting of icing sugar. Add some chopped fresh strawberries as a garnish if desired. Serve warm.
Makes about 12 wontons, or 3-4 servings.
Note: These are best eaten fresh as the edges will get chewier the longer they sit out, but if you have leftovers, you can store them in the fridge and reheat briefly (only 10-20 seconds) in the microwave.
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