Anyone else being asked for ice cream now that it's nice and warm? I successfully avoid the junk in the truck that greets us at most every park, but I'm with the kids when it comes to wanting a cool treat on a hot day.
We recently gave banana ice "cream" a try, and it was a huge hit, in addition to being ridiculously easy to make. I'd heard about this simple phenomenon from friends. According to them, you simply puree bananas, freeze them, and voila! Banana ice "cream". If you'd like, you can add in other treats/flavors too to make it sweeter, chunkier, etc...
Banana Ice "Cream" (plain version)
makes 4 servings
4-5 bananas (preferably frozen, but fresh is ok too)
Cuisinart food processor
Blend the peeled bananas in a food processor for about 5 minutes, until pureed. Mixture should be light, fluffy and smooth. If you start with frozen bananas, the ice "cream" will be ready to eat. Yes, in just 5 minutes!! If you started with fresh bananas, then you'll need to freeze the banana ice "cream" for several hours, until it's the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.
Scroll down to see this recipe (if you can even call it that, because it's so simple!) in action, plus add-in ideas....
As you can see, we added mini chocolate chips to this batch. There are loads of options to stir in for different flavor combinations: vanilla, cocoa powder, cinnamon, coconut, almond butter, peanut butter, sunbutter, honey, slivered almonds, raisins, carob chips, raw cacao nibs.... lots of possibilities! Have fun with this simple recipe!!
I love it. Whenever the health food store has overripe bananas on the half-price rack, we buy them to peel and freeze for smoothies, banana bread, etc. So we will be making banana ice cream for sure. One trick we've found for cutting the sugar content of straight bananas in smoothies (without compromising the taste) is to blend in good amount of cooked, brown rice.
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