How to Make Banana Ice Cream Recipe?

Banana ice cream is a sweet treat made by blending frozen bananas with spices like cinnamon and cardamom. Find out some unique ways to change up the chilled dessert and how to make your own. Banana ice cream, also called “nice cream,” is a very simple, plant-based ice cream made with just one ingredient: bananas. It’s usually made in a blender or food processor, depending on what you have on hand and its importance (total time, hands-on time, quantity, etc.). When peeling, chopped, and frozen, bananas become creamy and cold, almost identical to ice cream in texture and flavour.

How to Make Banana Ice Cream Recipe

How to Make a Banana Ice Cream Recipe?

3 Tips for Making Homemade Banana Ice Cream

If you want to make banana ice cream, keep these tips in mind:

Slice overripe bananas before freezing-

For banana ice cream, peel and cut ripe bananas into coins, then quickly freeze them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Move the frozen fruit to a plastic bag or an airtight container to save it for later.

Add mix-ins-

Banana ice cream can be made even better by adding chopped pecans, chocolate chips (you can try dark, milk, or white chocolate chips for different takes on the theme), or a swirl of dulce de leche. Use fresh fruit like mashed strawberries, diced pineapple, or peaches to add more natural sweetness.

Create an even richer mouthfeel-

Before blending, add a couple of teaspoons of almond milk, cashew milk, or coconut milk for the extra creaminess that doesn’t come from dairy.

Ingredients
  • 2–3 frozen bananas, sliced into coins beforehand or broken into a few pieces
  • One teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • Toasted shredded coconut for garnish
  • Optional: Date syrup, for serving
Instruction
  1. Put the frozen bananas in a high-speed blender or food processor bowl. In a small bowl, mix the cinnamon and cardamom.
  2. Pulse the mixture in a food processor until the bananas look loose and crumbly. Start blending, stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender when the bananas get sticky.
  3. Blend the bananas to look smooth and velvety, like soft-serve ice cream. This should take 5–7 minutes.
  4. Add the spice mix, and pulse a few more times to mix it in. Taste and adjust as needed.
  5. You can serve the ice cream with toasted coconut and date syrup on top if you want.

What is Banana Ice Cream?

Banana “ice cream” made with just one ingredient is a fruit purée made by blending frozen bananas. It has the same creamy texture as soft-serve ice cream or an old-fashioned milkshake, but it doesn’t add any sugar or sweeteners. People often say that banana ice cream was the first “nice cream,” which is now a term for any frozen fruit purée. Instead of an ice cream maker, which is often used to make regular ice cream, you can use a blender to make nice cream.

Because they have a lot of pectins, frozen bananas can be blended into a smooth, custard-like treat. This makes them a popular vegan alternative to ice cream. Some banana ice cream recipes call for a couple of tablespoons of almond milk, coconut milk, or heavy cream to make the dessert creamier. Peanut butter, maple syrup, and chocolate peanut butter are often added to the recipe (cocoa powder mixed with peanut butter).

5 Ways to Customize Banana Ice Cream

The pure banana flavour goes well with many different ingredients that go well with it. Try one or mix a few of the following for unique homemade ice cream:

Add vanilla flavouring. For a simple twist on classic ice cream flavours, add a half teaspoon of vanilla extract or vanilla seed paste to the banana at the end of the blending process.

Incorporate spices for extra dimension. Add a half teaspoon of ground cinnamon and ground cardamom to the sweet banana to give it a little warmth and depth.

Add rum for a boost of heat. For boozy popsicles, soak a quarter cup of raisins in a splash of your favourite rum for a few minutes, then stir the raisins into the finished ice cream.

Swirl in some nut butter. Bananas and nut kinds of butter have always gone well together. Before serving or storing the banana purée, mix in a tablespoon or two of almond butter or peanut butter.

Use cocoa powder for a chocolate twist. Try out different amounts of chocolatey taste: Use a tablespoon of cocoa powder for a treat that tastes more like banana-chocolate ice cream. Mix in a spoonful or two of chocolate hazelnut spread for a taste with more nuts.

Is Banana Ice Cream Good for Health?

Banana ice cream is a healthier alternative to traditional dairy ice cream because it has less sugar and more fibre. “Ice cream is a classic summer indulgence,” said Brittany Powelson, a registered dietician at Marshfield Clinic. “Banana ice cream is a healthy option for you and your children.

Benefits of Banana Ice Cream

1. Nutrient-rich- Bananas are one of the world’s most important food crops. They are high in nutrients like potassium, which is good for your heart health because it contains antioxidant flavonoids that help reduce the risk of heart disease; carbohydrates, which provide energy to your body; vitamin B6, which helps your body make antibodies to fight infection; vitamin C, which helps you build a strong immune system; and magnesium.

2. Helps digestion- Bananas are high in resistant starch and pectin, making them a good source of dietary fibre. Both resistant starch and pectin act as probiotics in your body, assisting in the fermentation of bacteria, the growth of beneficial gut flora, healthy intestines, and colon cleansing.

3. All natural- The components in Nice Cream are completely natural, and the fruits you choose contain just naturally occurring sugar (fructose). If you choose organic or homegrown food, you reduce your chances of consuming chemicals even more, and there are no extra artificial component nasties!

4. Lowers blood pressure-Bananas include potassium, which helps lower blood pressure by reducing the tension in your blood vessel walls, which is also beneficial to your cardiovascular health. Potassium is also believed to help your body get rid of excess sodium.

5. Helps prevent and overcome depression- Bananas include the amino acid tryptophan, which is known to be a mood-boosting carbohydrate because it converts to the mood-lifting hormone serotonin throughout the conversion process.

What are the Top 5 Banana Ice Cream Mistakes to Avoid?

1. Using Underripe Bananas

When you only have one ingredient to work within a dish, you want to make sure it’s the best it can be. The ideal bananas for one-ingredient banana ice cream are ripe — no green, starchy bananas or super-soft and sweet bananas would suffice. Look for yellow bananas with only a few little brown patches for peeling, slicing, and freezing.

2. Freezing the bananas whole

You don’t want to freeze the peeled bananas whole, which may seem self-evident. Bananas that have been sliced will process faster, requiring less mixing to make ice cream.

3. Pureeing the soft bananas and then trying to freeze them

Banana ice cream requires frozen bananas; if you purée bananas and then freeze them, you’ll have starchy, sticky icicles. Freeze the banana slices first and then process fast to make a creamy, delicious lovely cream.

4. Use a blender if you have a food processor

The best tool for producing banana ice cream is a food processor. Yes, you can use a high-powered blender (be careful to slice the bananas even thinner before freezing if you go this way! ), but if you have one, you should use it.

5. Over-processing it

Bananas have a lot of starch. Thus, over-processing will result in sticky ice cream rather than creamy ice cream. So, how do you tell whether your ice cream is ready? Blend for another 30 seconds when the last bit of banana chunk has vanished.

How Long does it Take Banana Ice Cream to Freeze?

Peel the bananas cut them into 2- to 3-inch chunks, and freeze them for at least 6 hours in a freezer bag. Remove from the heat and puree in a blender until smooth. Serve right away, or freeze for at least 2 hours in an airtight container. Ice formed in a conventional ice tray — the plastic devices with a dozen tapered cubes usually take three to four hours to freeze in your home freezer.

Conclusion

Nice cream is gaining popularity as a gluten-free, low-calorie, plant-based ice cream substitute that fulfills your sweet appetite. The best part is that you may enjoy it anytime you want! Nice cream can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even as a snack or dessert. Nice cream is produced with peeled, sliced bananas that have been frozen until ready to be combined into a soft serve. Furthermore, you may customize your taste experience by adding your favourite fruits, nuts, seeds, chocolate, spreads, flavourings, and more.