Banana-Pineapple Rolls

I am not a big dessert eater for the most part, except for popcorn, but when we have company over, I always make desserts. I love to bake and I love making desserts, but I am also desperately trying to loose weight, so having company gives me a good excuse to indulge a bit. The other day when Elizabeth, Mike and Lauren were over for our Southern Mediterranean/North African dinner, I stuck with the theme and Elizabeth and I made some banana-pineapple rolls for dessert for everyone. She must have really loved them, because she kept going back for more. 🙂

Fruit fritters are popular desserts in West Africa. Deep frying in oil is one of the major cooking techniques in Africa. Everything is deep fried in Africa, from savory dishes to sweets.

Fritters are filled dough pastries that are deep fried. They can be filled with meats, vegetables, fish, fruit or sweet fillings. Fritters are popular all over the world, and have been around since the days of the early Romans. The term fritter has many different origins – from Middle English fryture, from Middle French friture, from Old French friture, from Late Latin *frīctūra, from Latin frīgō (“to fry”).

Banana-Pineapple Rolls

Of course I made my own version. I had a recipe that I used as a guide, then expanded upon it. Rather than making my own dough, this time I used some wonton wrappers I had. They were the larger egg roll sized wrappers, so my “fritters” became rolls. Whether they were fritters or rolls, who cares? They were delicious no matter what they’re called. 🙂

2 bananas, diced

1/2 pineapple, diced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup sugar

2 TBSP key lime juice

1/2 cup toasted coconut

eggroll wrappers

egg wash

hot vegetable or canola oil for frying

whipped cream, optional

chocolate, optional

Combine all the ingredients together and toss well. Reserve some of the toasted coconut to top the rolls with just before serving.

Add about 2 TBSP of the fruit mixture to the center of the egg roll. With your finger or brush add the egg wash around the edges of the egg roll wrapper. Then fold in the edges and roll firmly.

Place the rolls in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before frying in hot vegetable or canola oil that is 350* F or 190* C. Fry the rolls for about 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown. These need to be eaten immediately after frying. I topped mine with whipped cream, toasted coconut and then drizzled them with melted chocolate. They were a huge hit. 🙂

There is always room for dessert and something sweet. Sweeten up all your days. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.