Strawberry Banana Ice Cream
Just bumping this up from the archives, in case you've got some bananas that need to be used up!
Back in our teen years, my sister and I used to freezer bananas and blend them up with milk to make a faux ice cream-ish sort of dessert.
It's surprisingly delicious for something that's just fruit and dairy.
For some reason, I've been on a long hiatus from banana ice cream making, and lately, I've noticed that it's becoming quite popular.
In fact, for $50, you can buy a Yonanas machine that makes banana ice cream.
However, if you own a blender or food processor, you can save yourself $50 and some kitchen space. Use what you've got!
Now, if you wanted to make ice cream the usual way, with cream and sugar and no bananas, you'll need an ice cream maker. You won't be able to take a regular ice cream recipe and just throw it into your food processor.
However, you can make a deliciously fruity, creamy treat this way, and it's got no added sugar.
Which is awesome.
I originally made banana ice cream in the 90's, when we were all fairly sure fat was of the devil.
Fortunately, we've figured out that's not the case, so I've now upgraded from milk to heavy cream for the liquid addition.
Heavy cream is my favorite.
Recently I checked out the Nom Nom Paleo cookbook from the library and I saw that Michelle adds vanilla extract when she makes this.
Brilliant! It really ups the ice cream flavor.
To make this, you'll obviously need bananas. Your ice cream will be sweeter if you use bananas that are on the soft, ripe end of things.
I don't really like the flavor of brown, spotted bananas for this, though, so I try to catch them when they're just past the really good eating stage but not at the banana bread stage.
I spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray, slice the bananas, and freeze them right on the sheet.
If you have fresh strawberries, you'll want to freeze those too.
It is totally ok to use frozen strawberries from the store...it'll be cheaper than out-of-season berries and it'll save you work too!
If you're making your ice cream in the next day or two, it's totally fine to leave the fruit uncovered on the baking sheet.
For longer storage, put the fruit in a plastic bag once the individual pieces are frozen.
To make the ice cream, simply blend the frozen fruit with heavy cream and vanilla.
You can do this in a food processor or in a blender. Be forewarned: all that frozen fruit makes a pretty big racket.
I always have to stop the machine to rearrange the fruit several times and I find this to be simpler in a food processor. However, a good blender also can do the trick.
At first, your mixture will look kind of like this:
And then like this (see the chunks of un-blended fruit that need to be rearranged?):
And eventually, it'll be all smooth like this:
At first, it's tempting to pour in tons of cream to help the fruit process better, but if you add too much, your finished product will be soupy. I usually use between ½ and ¾ cup of heavy cream.
This stuff melts more quickly than regular ice cream, so I like to serve it right away in cold bowls.
(Just put the bowls into the freezer before you start blending up the ice cream.)
You could do a lot of variations on this by using other berries or fruit. Actually, it just occurred to me that frozen mango would probably be outstanding. Must try that.
The bananas are really important for the creamy texture, though, so I wouldn't recommend leaving them out.
Oh, and if you can't do dairy, feel free to substitute something like coconut cream or nut milk.
Strawberry Banana Ice Cream
2 cups sliced frozen bananas
1 cup frozen strawberries
½-3/4 cup heavy cream (can use non-dairy cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor, and process until completely smooth, stopping frequently to rearrange the fruit so that it blends evenly. Serve immediately in chilled bowls.
Strawberry Banana Ice Cream
4 ingredients, no sugar, and no ice cream maker required!
Ingredients
- 2 cups sliced frozen bananas
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- ½ cup heavy cream (can use non-dairy cream)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor, and process until completely smooth, stopping frequently to rearrange the fruit so that it blends evenly.
Serve immediately in chilled bowls.
Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 204Total Fat 11gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 34mgSodium 10mgCarbohydrates 27gFiber 3gSugar 15gProtein 2g
Looks delish! More importantly it's healthier and cheaper than store bought ice cream. We're are definitely going to try this recipe this coming weekend. Thanks for sharing. Cheers to frugal living! AFFJ
I use pine-apple. We really like it, but it is rather liquid.
I am a bit jealous your summer holidays started allready. We have 2 1/2 more very busy schoolweeks. But luckily the weather is dry, yet not too hot.
This sounds delicious and easy! Must try soon! I mean, it has no additional sugar. Might as well eat it for dinner, right?
If you have a high powered blender, you can also leave out the liquid all together. We have done it with just frozen strawberries, bananas, and a little vanilla. It turned out nice and creamy and thick!
Just an FYI -- you can make regular ice cream without an ice cream maker. Old cookbooks often have directions to do so. My mom used to freeze the custard in a small tray, then break up into chunks with a table knife, and use her mixer to make creamy, then return to the tray to refreeze.
I've been doing something similar--I think I got the recipe from Mark Bittman--and calling it sorbet. I usually use just berries, about half a pound of berries to a quarter cup Greek yogurt and a little milk or almond milk to make two servings. I put the leftovers back in the freezer. They come out hard as a rock, but if you start it in the microwave on low power and are patient, it will eventually be something you can eat.
I've been adding sugar, but I'll have to try that vanilla trick instead! And the frozen bowls!
By the way, it looks like you have used parchment paper for other things in your kitchen. I've used it on a pan for freezing greens (so you don't have to spray the pan and get oil on your frozen food) and would expect that it should work for bananas too! I LOOOVE parchment paper! 🙂
I appreciate a lot of what parchment paper does, but I don't like to buy it. It just gets thrown away 🙁
I'm a HUGE fan of silpat mats. And I have a handful of old ones that I got for free off an online garage sale site. I use those for freezer jobs or things that can get super gross. Cannot speak highly enough of silpat mats! Totally a green option too 🙂
Thank you so much for this fantastic recipe!
YUM !
Like a Thicker Smoothie 🙂
& how Funny My Daughter (22) & I just went Garage sale-n about 2weeks ago & she got a YONANAN's Machine for $7.00 !
She was soooo Excited about it 😉 & I had just seen for the 1st Time the Yonanna's advertised.
Yum! This sounds awesome. I can't wait to try this. We found frozen strawberries at the dollar store. So not only is this recipe cheaper than ice cream, but healthier too.
I have been making this for weeks and love it! My favorite is to add chocolate chips! My daughter is lactose intolerant, so this is a great alternative.
We love banana ice cream! It's also delish with Nutella added in!
You can make banana 'ice cream' using nothing but bananas. No milk or cream required at all. It's been a while since I've done it but as I recall at first you think 'what have I done this looks like a mess?' but then after a few minutes it just magically turns into 'ice cream'!
I've done this too......so simple with frozen bananas in the food processor and that's it! Yummy cool treat!
Try CANTALOUPE !
It's Sooooooo Good !
Especially if U get a Tiny chunk of it in a Bite !
What a Refreshing Treat . This is too.
Loverly recipe thanks for the how to. One aside: While science is revisiting the saturated fat issue ( the kind in cream) it is by no means conclusive that it's OK for you. The Paleo people like it, but many heart and cancer experts still think it's a huge negative. Like in everything else, probably moderation is best.
Peanut butter and banana ice cream. Mmmmmmm.
Thank you for sharing this recipe, looks like very easy to make and cheap too. I'll try to make this on my daughter's birthday next week!
Could I make this in my Vita-Mix?
@Rebekah, I do. The temper is a big help. It's a workout. And I watch the time not to let it get hot. No more than 1 minute at a shot. Also I only fill halfway in my 5200 container. Oh and we've never added liquid as that was the original recipe I found. We usually do all bananas and 1/2-1 cup peanuts for peanut butter banana.
@Rebekah, HA! I just saw your comment is from 2014! oops.
This makes me wish I had a blender or a food processor...
So I've been doing this with strawberries, bananas, low-fat yogurt and milk. My 2-year-old will always eat half a yogurt carton, and then we put it back in the fridge and she never wants to eat the second half, so now it's going into my frozen treat. I tend not to blend it the whole way. I want my strawberries totally blended, but I like to get a chunk of frozen bananas. This is a surprisingly difficult thing to pull off -- I put the bananas in first in the Magic Bullet blender and then watch it closely -- but I am rewarded when I make it work. Yum.
This looks amazing. I don't have any heavy cream but regular milk should work the same right.
Oooo just imagine, with this you could have ice cream for breakfast. =)
sounds yummy! I'd probably have a tough time with my mixer though- it balks at smoothies sometimes.
I just tried a new to me recipe idea last night- refrigerator oatmeal! simple and I did modify a few ingredients(namely nonfat vanilla greek yogurt in place of sweetening plain and adding vanilla extract) and I used frozen fruit.
I think some banana yogurt would hit the spot! love finding simple but really good recipes!
I wonder how chocolate chips would taste? I thought of that when I saw bananas because Dole sells those expensive chocolate dipped banana pieces..good but too pricey for something I can do myself!
YES!! I'm so excited to try this. Thank you so, so much for sharing 🙂 Shared and pinned!
WOAH. This I must try. And actually - this seems like a perfectly healthy (well not literally, but pretty close) snack on a hot summer day!
Our Aldi circular is advertising a Kitchen Living Frozen Treat Maker (generic Yonanas machine) for $29.99 this week. I'm not sure where these will be available, but thought I'd throw that out there as a cheaper option to try.
I make mine without dairy, because that's the recipe that I found first. You can also toss in some peanut butter and/or cocoa powder. I probably wouldn't mix peanut butter in with the strawberries though. But the best tip that I have for this is that you don't really need to slice the bananas before freezing them. Peel them, put them in a freezer bag or on a tray, then freeze. Even frozen, bananas don't need more than a butter knife and a firm push to slice them, and they take up much less space in the freezer than a tray of sliced bananas.
@Amy, yes this is what I do with my bananas, just slice and pop them in a zip lock bag
Thanks for the wonderful recipe for"Ice Cream"--it was
delicious but I made it with two cups of frozen mango
chunks instead of the bananas.It's a great recipe for
someone who is diabetic(like my husband). I just added
a little granulated splenda to make it a little sweeter as the
fruits were unsweetened.Have a great summer!
Hi there! I just whipped this up for dessert tonight, and we loved it! It helped satisfy that cold dessert craving on a hot night!
I love how easy this recipe is! So pretty too!
We made this this morning and it was fantastic! We don't eat refined sugar, so I'm always on the hunt for fruit-sweetened recipes. Because my daughter does not believe in making ice cream without using our ice cream maker, I threw it in the ice cream maker after food processing. It firmed up very nicely. We ate some straight from the processor too, and that was yummy.
This is great! I have made it many times. I am a type 1 diabetic and it makes such a good "ice cream dessert". Sometimes I make it just with bananas and add a table spoon of unsweetened cocoa for a chocolate version. So good!
Looks yummy! If you leave out the strawberries and add cocoa powder it tastes just like a frosty from Wendy's.
@Elaine N, yes! I do some cocoa and a spoonful of peanut butter with the frozen banana... Mmm!!
I make a soft serve strawberry nice cream with just ripe bananas, frozen strawberries, and a touch of vanilla or almond extract. I'll have to look for the exact proportions but it is dairy free.
I make mine with just frozen bananas and strawberries, and it turns out perfect! (So no worries to dairy free friends out there 🙂 )
I love this! i got a ninja Creami for my birthday and it’s fun but a lot of the recipes call for canned or random things. I bet I could do this in the Creami and it would be good! Thanks for the idea! I bet mango would be so yummy too!
Frozen blueberries with the frozen bananas!
My one comment is to trust the process! I really did not think this was going to come together and it finally did. It looked like rice for a while. I did take some of it out of the processor and that seemed to help. I just had too much in there. I used 32 ounces of strawberries frozen, 1 banana frozen, 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream (1/4 cup increments), 1 tsp of vanilla and a tablespoon or so of honey. I think it honestly took about 10 minutes to process, so patience is a must! Turned out very good and I will try it with other fruit. Thank you!!