When I very first became vegan, I was completely raw vegan. (real raw, ya know?)
One of my staple meals was banana ice cream and I loved it.
It’s so easy to make and can come with so many different toppings.
Banana nice cream, I called it. It was like a banana soft serve that I would mix with berries.
Now, I’ve given this classic vegan ice cream made of ripe bananas an upgrade. And no, you don’t need an ice cream maker.
A food processor, blender, or immersion blender will do just fine.
If you’re ready to start making this frozen banana ice cream, then jump ahead. I’ll hang out up here and list out all of my favorite ways to dress up this super customizable homemade ice cream.
My 5 favorite nice cream recipes
- Cherry Garcia. Add frozen cherries to the blended bananas. After the second blend, fold in dark chocolate chips and chopped cherries. Drizzle with melted chocolate, then sprinkle with chocolate chips and freeze dried cherries.
- Nice cream with berries. The OG banana ice cream recipe was just ripe frozen banana and coconut water blended together. Then, scoop it into a bowl and mix with fresh berries. When I’m really into it, I add a big scoop of almond butter or peanut butter. Top with rawnola for an extra delicious treat.
- Triple chocolate banana ice cream. Follow the regular recipe list below, then add cacao/cocoa powder into the blender the first time you blend the ripe bananas. After the second blend, fold in chopped dark chocolate. Drizzle melted dark chocolate over the top and return to the freezer for 3 hours before serving.
- Super strawberry banana ice cream. Add frozen strawberries to the food processor when you’re first blending the ripe bananas. After the second immersion, fold in chopped frozen strawberries. Sprinkle chopped frozen strawberries and chopped walnuts over the top. Drizzle with melted dark chocolate. Oh yeah.
- Peanut butter chocolate nice cream. Add creamy peanut butter (or almond butter!) to the ripe bananas in the blender. After the second blend, fold in chopped dark chocolate. Sprinkle with dark chocolate chips, crushed peanuts, and flaked sea salt. Drizzle with melted chocolate (or cacao/cocoa powder mixed with maple syrup and coconut oil).
Chop ripe bananas
Add to food processor with coconut cream.
Blend until smooth.
Transfer to bread pan and freeze for 1 hour.
Use a hand blender to make smooth, return to freezer.
Freeze for 3 hours before serving.
Ingredient swaps
While I love this version that I’ve created, you could really make this your own by swapping out your favorite ingredients. Here are a few ideas:
- Use coconut milk, almond milk, or soy milk for a lighter and less coconutty version.
- Go wild with the chocolate chips. And peanut butter chips and, in fact, mini peanut butter chocolate cups they sell at Trader Joe’s. There are so many little chip-type sweets that you can sprinkle on top and throughout.
- Virtually any nut butter can be added to this simple 2-ingredient banana ice cream recipe. My favorite is peanut butter and almond butter, but I also recently used walnut butter and I really liked the earthy flavor.
- You can add your favorite frozen fruit to this recipe any time. I like making a strawberry and cream version, but I’ve also added mango, blueberry, and cherries.
2-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream
Equipment
- parchment paper optional
Ingredients
- 1 can coconut cream
- 3 large ripe bananas
Optional
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp cacao powder
- dark chocolate
Instructions
- Cut the bananas, puree in a food processer or blender.
- Add cold coconut cream to the processor with the bananas. You can add sweetener in this step.
- Pour into a lined bread pan and place into the freezer for an hour.
- Take it out after an hour and blend with your hand blender. This will disperse the ice crystals and keep it smooth.
- Return to freezer and leave it for 3 more hours.
- Take it out of the freezer 15 minutes before serving.
Is banana ice cream healthy?
A lot of people like to worry about the sugar intake of such a sweet frozen fruit dessert. Others will worry about the saturated fat in the coconut cream. If you’re worried about these things, then make whatever swaps you need to until you find something that you like. As for me, the sugar doesn’t bother me so much because I don’t eat lots of sugar otherwise. Besides, this type of sugar is still wrapped up in the fiber of the fruits, so it is released at a digestible rate.
What’s the best banana ice cream blender?
I’ve always liked using Vitamix because it’s strong and has a great design. Food processors are great as well because they’re easier to scrape out. The immersion blender won’t work as well if you start with frozen bananas.
