This Ten-Minute Vegan Banana Ice Cream Will Delight the Whole Family

July 13th, 2020

Vegan banana ice cream

(In the voice of Sophia Petrillo) Picture this: you spent an hour making dinner for the family. All food groups were represented. You barely even spilled anything on the counter! You are PROUD. And then, you hear those four little words: Mom, what’s for dessert?

Well, shit. You tell them to grab an apple and are met with the eye-roll of a century. But wait! You remember you threw a bunch of bananas in the freezer before they went brown. “How about some homemade ice cream?” you say. And again, you are winning. Best part? It all only takes ten minutes. Check out this recipe for vegan banana ice cream, plus some fun alterations for flavors from peanut butter cup to classic bread pudding.

 

Yield: 4 servings

Prep: Overnight

Active Time: 10 minutes

Sliced bananas

Ingredients

  • 6 bananas
  • ½ tsp. vanilla extract
  • Dash of cinnamon
  • 1 Tbsp. Agave nectar
  • 2 Tbsp. of your favorite dairy-free milk alternative (we used Silk Almond)

 

Method

  1. Freeze bananas overnight (or up to 12 hours).
  2. Using a serrated knife, cut bananas in half across the equator (lengthwise), and then half widthwise.
  3. Peel the bananas.
  4. Break the bananas into chunks about the size of a nickel.
  5. Add all ingredients into a KitchenAid bowl or food processor.
  6. If using a KitchenAid, start on low speed until all ingredients are combined and then crank it up to high. Blend on high for 30 seconds. If using a food processor, blend until smooth.
  7. If the ice cream is too sweet for your taste, add a small pinch of salt.
  8. Enjoy immediately. If there are leftovers, you can freeze and then throw them back into your KitchenAid or food processor again.

 

Variants

For these versions, simply add the extra ingredients before blending.

Banana Daiquiri Ice Cream

  • For your dairy-free milk, use coconut milk
  • 1 tsp. lime juice plus the zest of one lime
  • ¼ cup dried coconut (sweetened or unsweetened, up to your preference)

 

Vegan Not-So-Chunky Monkey

  • 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

 

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream 

  • 2 Tbsp. peanut butter
  • 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips
  • Optional: 1/3 vegan peanut butter chips

 

Mom’s Bread Pudding

  • Instead of ½ tsp. vanilla extract, add 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/3 vegan white chocolate chips
  • 2 Tbsp. Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter
  • Crumble your favorite vegan vanilla cookie on top (Trader Joe’s carries a vegan vanilla wafer cookie that would be perfect)

 

Written by: Katherine Barner and Jeffrey Whittaker