Blackstone Bananas Foster (10-Minute Griddle Version)
Bananas Foster is the showpiece dessert of New Orleans — bananas cooked in a butter-brown-sugar caramel with dark rum, spooned hot over vanilla ice cream. The restaurant version comes with a tableside flambé; the griddle version skips the fireball and keeps everything that matters. In fact, the flat top is better suited to it than a kitchen pan: you can caramelize a full batch of bananas in one layer with total control of the sauce, instead of crowding them into a skillet.
Ten minutes, five ingredients, and it converts banana skeptics on the spot.
Ingredients
- 4 ripe bananas, halved lengthwise
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup dark rum (see the no-alcohol swap in the tips)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Instructions
Step 1: Preheat the griddle
Heat the Blackstone to medium — 350–375°F. Caramel wants steady, moderate heat: hot enough to melt and bubble the sugar, cool enough not to scorch it.
Step 2: Build the caramel
Melt the butter on the griddle, then add the brown sugar directly into it. Stir and fold with your spatula for about 2 minutes until it comes together into a bubbling caramel sauce. Keep it moving — sugar left sitting will burn.
Step 3: Caramelize the bananas
Lay the banana halves cut-side down into the caramel. Cook 2 minutes until the cut sides turn deep golden and glossy.
Step 4: Flip and finish with rum
Flip the bananas, drizzle the rum over them, and sprinkle with cinnamon. Cook 1 more minute, folding the sauce over the bananas as the rum cooks down into it. Stay at the griddle for this step — rum vapors can ignite over any open heat source. Keep a basting dome within reach to smother a flare-up, and never pour rum straight from the bottle over the hot surface; measure it into a cup first.
Step 5: Serve immediately
Scoop vanilla ice cream into bowls, lay the bananas over the top, and spoon every bit of the griddle caramel over them. The hot-sauce-on-cold-ice-cream moment is the whole point.
Tips
Ripe but not spotted-brown bananas. You want full banana flavor with enough structure to survive the flip. Overripe bananas dissolve into the sauce.
Measure the rum away from the griddle. Pour it into a measuring cup at the prep table, then drizzle from the cup. This is the single most important safety habit for this recipe.
No-alcohol version: swap the rum for 2 tablespoons of apple juice plus ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract. Different, still excellent, zero flare risk — the better call at a campsite or around kids.
Put it on more than ice cream. The bananas and caramel are outstanding over griddled pound cake, folded into crepes, or spooned onto pancakes.
More flat-top desserts: Blackstone Dessert Recipes · Grilled Peaches · Blackstone Crepes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you make bananas Foster on a Blackstone griddle?
Yes — the flat top handles it beautifully. Build a butter and brown sugar caramel directly on the surface at 350–375°F, caramelize the banana halves in it, finish with rum and cinnamon, and serve over ice cream. Total cook time is about 6 minutes.
Do you have to flambé bananas Foster?
No. The flambé is showmanship, not chemistry — the rum’s alcohol cooks off on the hot griddle either way, leaving the same molasses-caramel depth. On a griddle, skipping the intentional flame is also the safer play; just add the rum carefully and keep a dome nearby.
Can you make bananas Foster without alcohol?
Yes. Replace the rum with 2 tablespoons of apple juice and ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract. You lose the faint rum edge but keep the caramel, cinnamon, and bananas that carry the dish.
What bananas are best for bananas Foster?
Ripe but firm — yellow with few or no brown spots. They need enough structure to hold together through caramelizing and flipping. Very ripe bananas taste great but fall apart into the sauce.