What if I told you that you could make your own ice cream right now with only one ingredient...frozen banana? You'd think I was a little nuts...or at least forgotten what real ice cream actually tastes like! And you might be right; but I do know this stuff is AMAZING! I'd seen this technique all over the blogs for a while and I'm not sure why it took me so long to try it at home, but when I finally made it I was truely blown away! This stuff tastes and lookes just like soft serve ice cream! And it's so easy to make it's almost criminal...
I've provided a few extra pictures to give you some context for what to expect when you try this at home.
First, as seen below, peel two frozen bananas and chop them into approximately 1 inch chuncks; then throw them into your food processor.
(Note: I think a food processor is probably key for this recipe, if you're trying with a blender, I'd suggest cutting the banana into smaller chunks to start...that may help.)
Next, blend the banana for 2-3 minutes until you see it getting nice and creamy, like below. Scrape down the bowl to incorporate any escaped banana chunks.
This is where it gets fun, at this point, add any flavours or additions you'd like to personalize your ice cream. My favorite is a touch of salt and about 1 1/2 tablespoons of cocoa powder (as pictured above). You could also add other frozen fruit or just plain vanilla. Continue blending for another 1-3 minutes until it reaches a desired consistency. Sometimes at the end I like to drop in a big spoonful of creamy peanut butter and just pulse it through until it's just barely incorporated...Oh my! Heaven!
Just keep in mind that the more ripe that banana, the sweeter the ice cream - so save those really spotty and soft fellas for a special (and very guilt free) treat!
Enjoy!
