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I’ve mentioned banana ice cream in a post before, but just in case someone missed it I thought it was important enough to dedicate an entire post to it today. This recipe somehow magically turns regular old bananas into delicious, creamy, cold, banana flavored ice cream without using any cream or an ice cream maker.
I love it because it is good, good for you, incredibly simple to make, and (my new favorite reason) cheap!! I would venture to say that bananas are the cheapest fruit available in any grocery store…so bring it on!
There are also many different variations to this recipe. Feel free to play around and try adding in peanut butter, homemade chocolate sauce, a shot of chilled espresso, or even another type of frozen fruit.
You can also top the ice cream with some granola sprinkles from the same yummy granola recipe that I made on the Charlotte Today Show this morning! No matter what extras you add in though, if you like bananas I guarantee you will be happy with the outcome of this recipe. So have fun with it and enjoy!
Banana Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 4 bananas (frozen)
- ½ cup milk ((or less))
Variations:
- peanut butter
- chocolate sauce
- espresso (chilled)
- frozen fruit
Instructions
- Peel the bananas, break them into thirds, enclose them into a Tupperware container, and stick them in the freezer overnight (or longer). I usually throw bananas in the freezer whenever they are about to go bad, and I’ve left them in there for weeks before so there is no rush.
- When you are ready for the ice cream just put the bananas in a blender with 1/4 cup or 1/3 cup milk. I don’t have a fancy, expensive VitaMix so I have to shake my little cheapo Target blender around a bit to get it all to blend properly. Just keep adding small amounts of milk until the consistency resembles ice cream.
It is that easy!
This banana icecream is really cool my kids love it and enjoy it every weekend. Thanks
I was so excited to try this…unfortunately my kids didn’t like it. I can see this being a base for a more complex dessert though. At the very least I learned how to properly freeze bananas.
I slice the banana before freezing, and use my food processor. For a different flavor, I add pumpkin pie spice.
I made banana ice cream this week. I used cream instead of milk and added frozen berry mix (blueberries and blackberries). My blender wasn’t doing a good job of mixing every thing so I transferred everything to my food processor. Perfect! This turned out SO good. I’ll make it again soon.
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I added malt powder and it was delicious!
Your banana ice cream reminds me of our favorite ice cream my dad made. We thought it was the best ice cream we had ever tasted and called it Best Ever. I use the Cuisinart ice cream maker. Ingredients are one mashed banana, juice of one lemon and juice of one orange. Refrigerate so it will be cold when added to milk. Put 1 cup half/half and 1 cup whole milk (I have never made it this way, I usually use 2 cups of 2%) and 1 cup of sugar. Ugh, I’m sure you could find a healthier substitute for the sugar. While Cuisinart is running, pour in milk and dissolved sugar and run for 10 minutes. Without stopping, pour in fruit mixture. Run for 15-20 minutes, longer if necessary. Ice cream will be soft until you put it in the freezer, but this is the best way to eat it. Hope you find that you can improve on the recipe.
I love the mug/bowl in the banana ice cream recipe. Ordering info?
Hello Chris. Pier 1 and World Market have very similar styles.
If you don’t use all the ice cream, cam you put it back into the freezer for later?
Hello. You can, though it does freeze pretty solid.
I have to say, I was skeptical also. I froze bananas many weeks ago to do this…finally got around to it last night. OMGOODNESS!!! it was incredible! I couldn’t believe it was exactly like ice cream!!! I added peanut butter to mine. So tasty! I can’t wait to try other variations. Kid and Husband approved also!!!
P.S. I used my Cuisinart Food Processor and it made the “ice cream” very smooth!
This is actually a comment for your mint chocolate chip recipe that is in your wonderful cook book~ Have you ever been introduced to doTerra’s brand of essential oils? The peppermint oil can be used to replace the extract and is SOOOO amazingly yummy and gives it an even better flavor, I feel like anyway. Plus then you are getting all the health benefits of using peppermint essential oil while eating your ice cream which is fun. Just thought I would mention it if you ever want to try it. Just as there are different levels of purity in our food, there are different levels with extracts and essential oils and I love doTerra’s because they are Certified pure theraputic grade essential oils and you can cook with them and really taste the difference! If you have been introduced to them- awesome! If not, I think you could really appreciate the level of ”whole-ness” and quality of them.
I’m not trying to be a crazy follower pushing you into something super out there, I just think you could enjoy cooking with eo’s AND they are fascinating to learn about health wise, just like nutrition. They are beginning to do quite a bit more research with their oils so anyway, just wanted to mention them. We love your recipes!!!
Omg! Delish.
I add some coffee ice cubes,a tbl spoon of raw fusion vanilla protein and a little raw organic cacao powder too!
We were skeptical, but, WOW! Tried this last night and it was a big hit! We mixed it with peanut butter and topped it with the two-ingredient chocolate sauce…yum! Can’t wait to try other variations.
Add a teaspoon of vanilla to this recipe. HEAVEN! :-) Thanks for sharing. My daughter likes this better than ice cream!
Hi, I always make this in summer. I have to say that I make it with ‘just’ frozen bananas. Absolutely nothing else added at all. Sometimes maybe a little real vanilla. If you keep mixing until it turns white it is absolutely delicious. You can also add (frozen) strawberries which makes it pink and kids love it. :)
Add some milk of choice (I like almond milk), 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract, and some chocolate chips for a healthy mint chocolate chip shake! You can also throw some spinach in there to make it green and even healthier…and you can’t even taste it.
Absolutely delicious! Made the chocolate sauce as well and topped with sliced almonds. I can’t wait to try it again with some variations, i.e. frozen berries, some cashews, etc.
Okay, I will be trying this. I will either use coconut or homemade almond milk. I may add some cocoa powder.
This is great! Being someone who doesn’t eat dairy, I substitute with vanilla almond milk & also add half an avocado for creaminess, no one ever guesses that!! they think it’s sugar & dairy, so delish! Sometimes add frozen berries for variety…
I don’t have a blender, so I mashed my bananas in a plastic baggie, then slopped it into a bowl, mixed in one-ingredient chunky peanut butter, wrapped some saran wrap around the top and tossed it in the freezer…Once it was frozen, about 5 hours later, I had a frozen block of banana mush. I started scraping the top, alternately putting splashes of vanilla coconut milk on the top to help soften it. In the end I had a very nice ice cream consistency, scooped it into bowls, and topped with sliced strawberries. My fiance absolutely loved it! He kept asking what I used to make it! (Hot chocolate powder? Butter? Sugar?) When I informed him that it was only 4 bananas and a scoop of peanut butter (and the splash of milk), he begged me to make it every single day, but with 12 bananas instead.
Wonderful recipe, thank you for the share. I will be making it multiple times a week, I am sure! Next time, with some more healthy mix-ins! I’m thinking some of your homemade granola!
I recommend cutting the banana pieces smaller…. Just ruined my blender
There’s a Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood episode where they make this and call it Banana Swirl. My 2-year-old loves it… but calls it Banana Squirrel. I add a spoonful of yogurt also.
almond or peanut butter and cocoa powder…. My favorite additions :):)