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Chocolate banana bark, but make it better—with a few luscious swipes of jam to dial up the indulgence! Just 5 ingredients and under an hour stand between you and a chilled, sweet treat that’s equal parts smart and satisfying.
Chocolate banana bark had its viral moment on TikTok—and honestly, it earned it. But here’s the twist: I’m taking it up a notch with a swipe of jam for some extra gooey, fruit-forward punch. It’s sweet, satisfying, and just indulgent enough without tipping into sugar overload. Think of it as dessert with a little common sense. The best part? No oven to preheat and nothing to cook!
Looking for more treats? I don’t bake much, but I do love these whole wheat dark chocolate chip muffins and these yummy raisin bran muffins. I also highly recommend healthy peanut butter cups, gluten-free chocolate pumpkin pie, and this olive oil banana bread.
Table of Contents
Recipe Modification
- Nut butters—You can use any type of nut or seed butter for this recipe, like almond butter or Sunbutter.
- Toppings—I like to top my chocolate with flaky sea salt, but you could also use toasted shredded coconut, crushed freeze-dried strawberries, chopped nuts, toasted oats, or broken pretzel pieces.
- Chocolate chips—If dark chocolate isn’t your vibe, you can use milk chocolate. Heck, you can use any chocolate chip variety! Get creative and try this recipe with flavorful butterscotch, white chocolate, or cinnamon chips.
Ingredient Notes
A full ingredient list with exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
- Coconut oil—Adding this to the chocolate before melting it thins it out, making the chocolate easier to spread.
- Peanut butter—I use natural peanut butters, and those can be tough to spread. Especially once they’ve been sitting in the fridge. To soften it up, transfer the measured amount to a microwave-safe bowl and heat it in 25-second increments until it’s smooth and easy to stir and spread.
- Jam—I’ve tried this recipe with store-bought jam (Bonne Maman is my favorite, and there’s an interesting alleged World War II story attached to their name) and with homemade freezer jam. Both work beautifully. I love using strawberry, cherry, or grape jams, but apricot, peach, and others would work just as well.
How to Make PB & J Chocolate Banana Bark
Prep the bananas—Cover a small sheet pan with parchment paper. (I use this pan from Nordic Ware that measures 12.88″L x 9.5″W.) Slice the bananas into 1/2-inch thick rounds and place them over the sheet pan in rows. Make sure the banana slices are touching.
Prep your toppings—If your peanut butter is thick and doesn’t seem like it would be easy to spread (this applies mostly to natural peanut butters), pop it in the microwave! Heat it up in increments of 30 seconds, stirring, until it’s smooth and spreadable. In a separate bowl, melt the chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon of coconut oil in 30-second increments, stirring in between, until melted.
Bring it all together—With a spatula, spread the peanut butter over the bananas. Drop 3 heaping tablespoons of jam over the peanut butter and spread it around. Add more if you’d like. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the peanut butter and jam, spreading it around into an even layer with the spatula. Sprinkle the top with flaky sea salt or your choice of topping. Pop the sheet pan into the freezer for at least 45 minutes. Once the chocolate has set, you can take it out, break the bark apart, and enjoy! See storage details below.
Frequently Asked Questions
Banana bark is a (healthier) frozen dessert that starts with a layer of sliced bananas. It’s then smothered in creamy peanut butter, then drizzled with melted chocolate. It’s then frozen until firm, and broken into snappy, shareable pieces—if you feel like sharing, that is.
Yes, banana bark must be frozen before it’s enjoyed so the layers can fuse and become breakable pieces of bark.
Storage
Once the chocolate banana bark is frozen solid, it can be broken into pieces and kept in a freezer-friendly airtight container, in a single layer, for about a month. If you have to stack layers, place parchment paper between the layers so the piece of banana bark don’t stick to one another.
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PB & J Chocolate Banana Bark
Ingredients
- 2 bananas, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 3 TBSP jam of your choice, I use heaping tablespoons when measuring them out.
- 1 tsp coconut oil or coconut butter
- Flaky sea salt, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Cover a small sheet pan (mine measures 12.88″L x 9.5″W) with parchment paper. Slice the bananas into 1/2-inch thick rounds, then place them over the sheet pan in rows, making sure that the banana slices are touching.
- Spread the peanut butter evenly over the banana slices using a spatula. (See notes if you're using a natural peanut butter that doesn't seem spreadable.)
- Drop several dollops of jam over the peanut butter and spread it around.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in 30-second increments, stirring in between, until melted. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the peanut butter and jam, spreading it around into an even layer with a spatula.
- To finish it off, if you wish, sprinkle some flaky sea salt over the chocolate and pop the sheet pan into the freezer for about 45 minutes. Once the chocolate has set, break the bark apart and enjoy! (See notes for storage recommendations.)
This is such an awesome easy recipe to make. I can’t wait to make it for neighbor gifts!