Banana Ice Cream

I'm not sure when I first heard of it or where really for that matter, but lately I have found myself very intrigued with the Yonana. The idea that you could take a banana that has been frozen and turn it into soft serve ice cream just sounded really good to me. Of course, it is another kitchen appliance that I am not sure that I really need. After all, I seem to be challenged with space to store things and talk about a specialty item - it makes banana ice cream (okay, they have other recipes, but still).

I had a free day on Labor Day, so I decided to try an experiment. I took two soft bananas, mostly brown skin and sliced them and put them into the freezer. I wasn't sure whether to try blender or food processor, but since I only had two bananas the food processor made more sense to me. I put the bananas into the bowl and started to swirl them around. At first, it seemed to be a failed experiment. The bananas were breaking apart, but they weren't really pureeing. I used a spatula and scraped and turned and returned to processing. Still, wasn't quite getting there - maybe I needed to let them soften a little from their frozen state? I wasn't patient enough to allow for that, so I added a tablespoon of milk and tried again. Now, they were becoming smooth and whipped.

I grabbed two spoons out of the drawer and handed a spoonful to my husband that had just arrived home and to my daughter who was anxious to try it. They both liked it. My husband couldn't believe that it was just bananas. I gave my daughter a small bowl with a bit of chocolate drizzle.

I put the rest in a bowl and put on a lid and stuck it in the freezer for part two of my experiment. My son came home a little while later and after dinner, I let him try the ice cream too. Much to my delight, when I pulled it back out of the freezer, it was still a soft, scoopable texture.

Banana Ice Cream
2 - Bananas, sliced and frozen

Add frozen bananas to food processor. Process until bananas puree and whip.

Add 1 Tbsp Milk if needed to help the puree process. Serve.

The two bananas made enough ice cream to let us all taste it and each of my kids to have a bowl of ice cream. It was reasonably quick to prepare - I had only put the bananas in the refrigerator this morning, it doesn't take long to freeze them. With it just being bananas, it isn't too bad for you either, even with a little chocolate syrup drizzled on top.

I probably won't clutter my kitchen with another gadget, but will certainly enjoy banana ice cream again. I might even try adding to it - maybe some strawberries, or peanut butter, or chocolate chips.
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