The “Dangerously Delicious” 4-Ingredient Dessert Hack I Can’t Stop Making

Whenever I host friends or family for the weekend, it’s an unspoken tradition that I have to cook an extravagant brunch. I pride myself on doing the most with my spread. I’ll blanket the table with fluffy pancakes, cheesy soufflés, and crispy potatoes, all in an effort to nourish my loved ones. By the end of the meal, I want people stumbling out of my home, knowing they’ve been fully fed. During these moments when I’m fixing upwards of 10 dishes at a time, I tend to gravitate towards ones that require minimal ingredients and time. 

So when I stumbled upon a clip on Instagram with more than 60 million views for four-ingredient chocolate banana croissants, it caught my attention. Do you mean to tell me I can serve warm, flaky delights with only five ingredients in under 30 minutes? Sign me up! I decided to give them a try to see if they live up to the social media hype. 

Get the recipe: Chocolate Banana Croissants

First, preheat the oven to 400°F. Then prepare your store-bought puff pastry by rolling it out on a lightly floured surface until it reaches 1/8-inch thickness. Next, use a bench scraper or pizza cutter to slice the dough into long strips about 1/2 inch wide. 

Next, peel the bananas and scoop out the centers gently so that you don’t crush the fruit. In the boats, evenly sprinkle in pieces of chocolate to fill them up. Next, take the puff pastry strips — starting at one end of the banana — and wrap them until they’re completely covered. 

Place the wrapped banana on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. In a bowl, whisk an egg and then brush the wash onto the pastry. Then bake the croissants for 15 to 20 minutes — or until the puff pastry turns golden-brown and crispy. 

Once the chocolate banana croissants finish baking, remove them from the oven and cool slightly. Next, drizzle melted chocolate on top to decorate them. Serve them warm with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream if desired.

These chocolate banana croissants fused together some of my favorite foods: tropical fruits and flaky pastries. What I adored about this recipe is that you don’t have to be an all-star baker to pull these confections together. I could easily imagine putting one of my little cousins to work wrapping these without worrying about them messing it up.

I initially worried about whether or not the banana would melt in the allotted time of baking — I really didn’t want to encounter firm bites — but, to my surprise, it turned into a gooey and pretty irresistible filling. It’s important to use ripe ones; I could imagine this recipe going downhill if you didn’t use ones that are sweet enough. 

The chocolate paired deliciously with the buttery puff pastry and ripe banana, and the final touch of drizzling some on top makes them look like they came right out of a bakery. I recommend sprinkling a light pinch of sea salt on top to balance out the sweet flavors. The beautiful aspect of this croissant is it’s customizable; I’m looking forward to trying a version more central to my Haitian culture, such as replacing the banana with sweet plantain. Whichever route you take, it will be a hit at your next brunch.

• Use a hazelnut spread. Replace the chocolate in this recipe with hazelnut spread for a richer, nuttier flavor.
• Add a crunchy topping. This chocolate banana croissant is inherently soft; to add some texture, you can top it off with crushed hazelnuts, toffee, or toasted coconut flakes.
• Swap the fruit. You can really apply this croissant-making technique and add any fruit (think: ripe strawberries, mangoes, or raspberries) to the center.