The Kitchn's One-Ingredient Ice Cream

This is just frozen mushed bananas. Save yourself some time and just eat your banana instead.

I wonder - Could I add a little rum or vodka to keep it from getting too frozen when stored?

Maybe this is a silly question but here goes, how many bananas are in a bunch, 6 or 7?

an excellent mixin-cookie butter YUM

Where can I find a serving dish like this? It looks like an aluminum pudding mold. Any help?

DELICIOUS, especially with some dark chocolate peanut butter or rum :)
This and gin + tonics have been my go-to summer dinners...probably not the most nourishing but refreshing, yes!

Here is a three ingredient wonder that does not require freezing the banana: A bag of frozen raspberries or blackberries, a banana, and some vanilla. Put the raspberries into the food processor and make sure there are no large frozen chunks. Start the motor and drop in the banana in two inch pieces. Blend until creamy and add a splash of vanilla. I often eat this for breakfast in the summer.

Adding peanut butter also makes this amazing...!

Oh my goodness, this is so wonderful! I froze my chopped banana for 1.5 hours and put it right in my ninja blender. (Too excited to wait for defrosting!) It has the texture of a soft ice cream but it's filling like a banana. I ate It right out of the blender. :) Can't wait to try variations.

I just don't understand how anyone can call frozen bananas "ice cream"? It doesn't remotely taste like ice cream. It is akin to calling sliced zucchini "steak".

I made this yesterday and couldn't believe how good it was!
I added some toasted walnuts on top for some crunch and it was perfect!!
If you’ve never toasted nuts before, toasting nuts releases their essential oils. This causes the nuts to become more fragrant and flavorful than in their raw state. To toast the walnuts heat a frying pan on the stove top and turn on medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add a single layer of the nuts. You do not need to add any oil or cooking spray - the nuts have enough oils on their own to cook. Stir frequently with a spatula until the nuts turn golden brown and smell amazing (about 10-15 minutes) then remove from heat, and if necessary, from pan, as they will continue to cook after being removed from the heat.

This with cardamom is to-die-for. You could probably add some cinnamon and ginger to make it more chai-ey. Or some mint to make it brighter.

1 frozen bananna + 1 cup milk + 1 tbsp honey = awesome kid-aproved smoothie...

I read about this through Pinterest a few days ago.
Today I had a ripe banana that got warm in the car while I was shopping a flea market. When I got home I put the banana in the freezer (still in it's peel) to cool it down. I forgot about it and 30 minutes later pulled it out.
It didn't look that great to eat as is.
I remembered this recipe. I peeled the banana and put it in my Magic Bullet. Seconds later I had ice cream!!
Next time I'm going to try this and add some chocolate! =)
Thanks for this recipe!! =)

I had heard about this, but didn't try it until tonight. It was delicious. Observations: banana chunks needed to thaw a while after being frozen for 2-3 hours (and they still caused my food processor quite a workout - maybe a Vitamix would be better?), it went very well with the "magic shell" recipe on this site (only three ingredients in the final dish!), and next time I plan to try this with cardamom.

I'm happy for the comment from MrsBeeton. I don't really like ripe banana taste, so have unripe banana slices freezing now. Hopefully, it will turn out well. Plan to make the chocolate peanut butter version, but with crunchy peanut butter, not smooth.

This is a staple of the raw food community, but ripe bananas are KEY.

Can't beat this! Sooooo good. Thanks

Oh my goodness, you guys are SO innovative. I am never going back to regular ice cream again- this is DELICIOUS! And so healthy!

This + salted macadamias = simple dessert heaven!!

Thanks for the reminder about this super simple and so delicious dessert!

Oh, I do this all the time with bananas! The ice cream gets even deeper (sweeter) in taste when you use overripe bananas (I only freeze them once speckled). It doesn't sound appealing, but it's worth it.
I've always been a banana lover, but ever since I discovered this recipe I've only eaten them in the form of ice cream, ha!

I use my blender as well, but first I definitely have to let my frozen bananas thaw for 20 to 30 minutes. Otherwise it's so hard that the blender gets stuck.

I was given some fudge which I don't really like (too sweet) so I put a chunk of it in here. Very yummy but I've got a lot more fudge to go through!

Outrageously easy and so delicious. Thank you!

Love that ice cream spoon. Where did you get it?

This works- wife said to me- ok promise there is nothing else in here?

Read this made it 5 min later (had some frozen bananas) added dash of salt & some vanilla, the salt kind of have it some more dimension, stirred in a few dark chocolate chips for good measure. Yum! May heat some peanut butter later to make it over the top. Also thinking it would be amazing with a drizzle of maple syrup & a few toasted walnuts

Can I just use a blender? I also have a NutraBullet.. this smaller blender is very powerful and fast..

This sounds soo good. I'm going to try it when I get home tonight!

Made it. Loved it. Can't wait to make it again!

sooo good. no need to add anything although melted peanut butter on top and/or drizzle of honey - very good!

Tried it and blogged it with pictures. Truly a miracle but as Alain B commented, it goes through a very scary grainy stage. http://gillwatsonlifebites.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/miracle-banana-ice-cream.html

thanks to mrs. beeton for her experience with ripe vs. superripe bananas. to gustus who doesn't want to reprocess leftover "ice cream" -- what if you tried adding a dash of alcohol? because alcohol doesn't freeze, this is a common solution for keeping philadelphia-style (eggless) ice cream soft -- it works. Maybe banana rum?

Great ice cream! My daughter loves banana ice cream, so she was begging me to make this all week-end. I finally threw some cut-up bananas in the freezer, waited a few hours, then threw them in my food processor. Well, it was chunking around and didn't look right, so I ran to the iPad to check the recipe, I thought I did something wrong. Looked simple enough, so I went back to the food processor (which I left running) and voila! Ice cream! I missed the turning point, but I have more bananas in the freezer already!

I've discovered that you can really vary this terrific treat with the ripeness of the bananas. A ripe banana will be unmistakably banana-ish. Which is fine, if you really love banana. But a not-so-ripe banana is a great launching ground for other flavors, as the banana flavor is quite a bit less apparent, and the other ingredients can shine: chocolate (we melted down some great chocolate and added it when it had come to room temp), or fruit, or . . . anything. YUM--different every time.

Is there something you can add to eliminate the need to process the leftovers again?

I keep blackened bananas in the freezer to add to my dad's ice cream protein shakes (how to hide the nasty liquid supplement? ice cream + frozen banana + protein drink + cocoa powder + emulsion blender = super thick shake). But your photos here show yellow bananas -- preferable? has anyone experimented with degrees of ripeness? I am curious if 1) the pectin breaks down with age; 2) the extra sugar freezes less; 3) the color of the overripe is too unappealing?

I made this last night, using a blender. It was as creamy as ice cream and loved by my whole family, even the non-vegans.

My mom used to make this for me when I was a kid. (A very long time ago!)
Try adding a bit of cinnamon.
Or rum.
Frozen pineapple (preferably fresh, but even from a can if packed in juice not syrup) also makes up nicely, though I don't know if it does the pectin thing. It surely is delicious. (Yes, with cinnamon and rum too!)

I would love to try!

Can I use a blender instead of food processor?

I added a little bit of Trader Joe's frozen yogurt that I had in my freezer. It was delicious.

Ooooh, yummy! wil be making this VERY soon (like tonight?). It makes my Quick Strawberry Sherbet http://www.food52.com/recipes/371_quick_strawberry_sherbet look difficult!

(How do they do that?)

Wondering if it would work to add a little bit of avocado to this to amp up the creamy texture?

When freezing leftovers do you you break it down into smaller amounts for easier processing later?

did you use a food processor to blend them or an ice cream maker?

How cool is this! I need to try the banana/pectin hint for strawberry jam too. Right now I use Pomona's Universal Pectin, which allows me to make really low sugar jams. Try peach/strawberry or cherry/strawberry. Use 1 cup of sugar to 4 cups of fruit. Plenty sweet and only 1/4 the normal amount of sugar. I wonder how adding other fruits to bananas in this recipe would work?

Can you over blend?