Banana Ice Cream

I just read about making ice cream with only one ingredient - bananas - in Kitchn. We love bananas. We usually have a bunch that we finish in a day or two so this should be worth a try. Now if only I had a food processor. I wonder if my hand blender would work. Maybe not.

It turns out that frozen bananas are good for more than just dipping in chocolate. If you freeze a banana until solid, then whiz it up in a blender or food processor, it gets creamy and a little gooey, just like good custard ice cream. I was surprised at this bit of kitchen wizardry; I assumed that a blended banana would be flaky or icy. But no — it makes creamy, rich ice cream.

Some bananas, depending on their ripeness, have a bit of that green aftertaste. My sister has been experimenting with adding in another ingredient or two, like a tablespoon of peanut butter and another of honey. Delicious!

Here's another tip: Saving Overly Ripe Fruit

It's rare, but every so often, not all of the bananas get eaten before they start getting too soft.

Don't spend a moment feeling guilty; the best solution is to peel them (if you don't, you'll have to shave off the peel once frozen), slice them (if you can, or just break up into mushy bits), and freeze in a plastic freezer-safe container, plastic bag, or wrapped in wax paper. Next time you have a hankering for a smoothie, you have the perfect ingredient waiting for you in your freezer: already frozen pieces of banana.

This also works well for other tropical fruits like mangoes, papaya, and pineapple, stone fruits like peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, and cherries, and also for berries.

(photo: Makeiteco.com)