Why on Earth was I so late on the uptake with this? Bananas? Good. Ice cream? Good. Banana Ice Cream? Cheaper than other ice cream.
So apparently, you can make ice cream out of bananas. Just bananas, nothing added. They do this weird thing that when you blend them, they turn into creamy ice cream. My mind was blown. Science is amazing.
The kids and I made some with one of their dairy-free classmates, and we’ve been hooked ever since. Also, it’s so easy, a kid could do it, if you happen to let your kid play with blenders with super sharp blades, which I obviously do. NOW GET IN THERE AND MAKE ME MORE BANANA ICE CREAM, MINORS.
1. Peel and halve 1 bunch of bananas (about 6). Cutting them up before you freeze them makes blending them way easier.
2. Put them in a gallon sized ziplock bag and toss them in the freezer until hard, 6-12 hours. As a Rule, we just now always have bags of frozen bananas in our freezer. Listen to me, this step is critical, you MUST freeze your bananas first, trust me, it’s way better than trying to blend them before they are frozen.
3. Once frozen, toss the frozen banana pieces into a Ninja/Yonanas/Vitamix/Magic Bullet/Food Processor/Blender/Whatever and blend until creamy. It will have the consistency of thick soft serve ice cream.
4. This is the step where you eat it, but if there is too much, don’t worry. It keeps great in a plastic container in your fridge, just treat it like regular ice cream!
Adding in some coco, vanilla or peanut butter makes a tasty addition. I like mine all natural and topped with some fresh cut berries.
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How ripe should the bananas be when you freeze them?
As long as they aren’t green, you are good. We tried green recently and had a tiny bit of aftertaste. If they are green when I buy them, I wait a day, then do a mass peel and freeze:)
Thanks! I told my husband about this and he was not on board. I am gonna try it anyway.
What is the brown implication? When I peel fruit for my kids I pretty much hear a time bomb, because if the flesh turns at all not-the-color-I-like-to-eat they balk.
I can totally vouch for the peanut butter addition. It’s grrrreat!
Do you blend the peanut butter with the bananas in the blender or do you just simply add it to the top later?
Blend it with the bananas. It easier if you blend the frozen bananas up a few pulses, then toss in the peanut butter.
I don’t like overripe bananas, so I always peel them and freeze them when they start to turn brown. I make an absolutely delicious smoothie with a cup of milk, a frozen banana, and two tablespoons of PB 2 (peanut butter powder). It tastes decadent but it’s sensible and filling!
-sigh- I think this sounds so good and healthy. Alas, I’m allergic to bananas (and anything else containing latex protiens).
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