Last updated on March 3rd, 2023

We love baking gluten-free banana bread and making flourless banana pancakes, but as the weather warms we’re looking for other creative ways to work with ripe bananas. This recipe transforms two simple ingredients into nice cream that has the flavor and texture of actual ice cream! Use this as a base to have some fun mixing in other ingredients to come up with new flavors.

The best bananas for making this frozen treat are ripe, rather than overripe. Remove any black or brown spots before freezing.

The first time we made this treat, we cut the bananas into 1-inch chunks and froze them overnight. They turned out so hard they broke the food processor’s built-in bowl scraper! I recommend freezing bananas in strips for about 1 to 2 hours, until frozen solid.

Serve immediately and the texture will be similar to soft-serve ice cream. For the consistency of hard-pack ice cream, refreeze the mixture after processing and serve later. If it is too hard to scoop, let it sit on the counter for a few minutes before serving.

Banana Nice Cream Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

Peel bananas, remove any bruises, and break in half or into thirds. Pull apart these pieces lengthwise into strips. Arrange banana strips on a baking pan in a single layer; freeze for 1 to 2 hours, until frozen solid.

Place frozen bananas in a food processor prepared with an S-blade. Purée, scraping down sides periodically with a spatula. When frozen puree becomes smooth, add vanilla and pulse to combine.

Serve immediately or transfer to a container and return to the freezer to serve later.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Let’s get creative!

We have the basic recipe down, so now we’re thinking up new flavors. The sky is the limit here!

Get the recipe for Deep Chocolate Banana Blackout Nice Cream when you sign up for the newsletter!