Want homemade ice cream ready in 5 minutes? This easy 5-ingredient "nice cream" recipe is the perfect healthy frozen dessert to satisfy those sweet tooth cravings in a light, fruity, and refreshing way.
Jump to:
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Homemade banana ice cream, also known as "nice cream", is one of my favourite frozen desserts for how easy, simple and healthy they are to make. What else makes it so popular?
- No ice cream maker needed - all you need is a blender or food processor! It's super easy to make.
- Natural and nutritious - made with whole foods, and without the high calories, refined sugars, trans-fats, and artificial additives that traditional ice cream has.
- Dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan - unlike traditional ice cream, this nice cream accommodates many common dietary restrictions so many people can enjoy it.
- Easily customizable - this berry flavour is just one of several different flavours you can easily create and customize with just a few simple ingredients.
- Satisfies sweet-tooth cravings - I've got a big sweet tooth, and this saves me from reaching for unhealthy alternatives like brownies, cakes, pies, sundaes, etc.
The Magic of Frozen Bananas
Frozen bananas are truly a marvel. When blended, they produce a thick, creamy, velvety smooth texture that closely resembles soft-serve ice cream. And due to their natural sweetness when ripened, they often don't require much (or any) added sweeteners. Combine them with your favourite ingredients to create all sorts of fun and delicious flavours, like Berry Banana!
Ingredients
Please see recipe card below for exact measurements.
- Frozen bananas - the base of our recipe. Make sure to use frozen, ripened bananas - the browner and more spotted they are, the sweeter they'll be!
- Almond milk - I like using unsweetened almond milk because it's creamy, lower in calories with no added sugar, but you can use whatever kind of milk you like. A splash of milk will help our frozen ingredients blend a bit more easily.
- Vanilla extract - for a nice pop of vanilla flavour.
- Frozen berries - berries are full of antioxidants and nutrients, and give the banana a nice light, bright and refreshing taste. You can use whatever berries you like!
- Maple syrup - you can use any sweetener you like (such as honey, agave nectar, or liquid stevia)
Instructions
STEP 1: Prepare the frozen bananas. Peel ripened bananas, and slice them so they're easier to blend.
STEP 2: Throw banana slices into the freezer (in an air-tight container or freezer bag) until solid, for 3+ hours or overnight for best results.
STEP 3: In a high-speed blender or food processor, pour in frozen bananas, milk, frozen berries, vanilla extract, and maple syrup.
STEP 4: Blend until the ingredients turn into a smooth puree. Periodically stop to stir and scrape down the sides to keep things moving.
STEP 5: Once it's fully blended, scoop it out and enjoy it right away as a smooth and creamy soft-serve, or freeze it for later as a scoopable hard-serve ice cream!
Equipment
You'll need a high-powered blender or food processor to make this recipe. A high-powered blender will have the strength and speed needed to crush through frozen fruits with ease. I'm a huge fan of Vitamix blenders (such as the A3500 that I own and use everyday) - they come with a handy tamper that I use to manually stir the ice cream while it's blending in case it gets stuck. A good food processor can also work well, but you may just need to stir and scrape it a bit more frequently during blending.
Enjoy as Soft-Serve or Hard-Serve
You can enjoy this as either a soft-serve or hard-serve ice cream. For a soft-serve, just eat your ice cream as soon as you finish blending! For a scoopable hard-serve, you can freeze it for a few hours to let the blended banana harden; when you take it out, let it sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes to soften enough to scoop out, and then enjoy! (or leave it out for longer to get a soft-serve again)
Soft-serve
Hard-serve
Storage
You can store this in the freezer for up to a month (I've even frozen mine for close to 2 months before with no issues!). Make sure to use a sealable lid in an air-tight container to prevent freezer burn. Then, just thaw it for 15-20 minutes when you're ready to enjoy it!
For storage, I'm a huge fan of these 16-ounce (473 ml) wide-mouth mason jars. They're a perfect size for storing one pint of ice cream (which is what this recipe makes), with a sealable lid and a wide-mouth opening that makes it easy to scoop out of, and easy to clean.
Toasty's Tips
- Mix in other ingredients to create your own unique flavours - be creative!
- If using a blender, start at a slow speed and then slowly move up to higher speeds once the frozen bananas have started breaking down. If using a food processor, give it a few pulses first before blending.
- Keep frozen bananas in the freezer handy - this makes it easy to whip up a fresh batch of banana ice cream whenever you like! They're also great for thickening smoothies.
- To prevent sticking, you can freeze your banana slices using a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- While you can slice and freeze bananas yourself, I often like the convenience of store-bought bagged frozen banana slices. They're already pre-ripened and frozen, so they're ready to use anytime!
FAQ
My blender is struggling to blend the bananas smoothly. What am I doing wrong?
If your blender is struggling to blend the ingredients, there are a few things you can do. Try adding a splash of milk to help things move. Periodically pause blending to stir and scrape the banana, then blend again to keep things moving. And use either a high-speed blender or food processor - slower blenders often struggle with crushing and blending frozen bananas due to lack of power.
Do I have to use milk?
If you have a strong enough blender or food processor, you can try making this with only frozen bananas (and no milk added), although it will likely require a bit more elbow grease to scrape and stir the banana. The splash of milk helps it blend more easily, but you can try blending without it to start, and then only adding small amounts as needed.
Is this banana ice cream healthy?
Yes! Bananas are packed with essential nutrients, fibre, and are naturally sweet. You won't find the high amounts of added sugar, trans fats, and other additives of traditional ice cream - plus it's much lower in calories! You can even mix in your favourite superfoods for an even more nutrient-dense frozen dessert.
Try These Other Ice Cream Flavours
📖 Recipe
Berry Banana Ice Cream
Suggested Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 small/medium bananas (or 3 large bananas) - frozen and ripened
- 2 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 cup mixed berries - frozen
Instructions
- Prepare the frozen bananas. Peel ripened bananas, and slice them so they're easier to blend.
- Throw banana slices into the freezer (in an air-tight container or freezer bag) until solid, for 3+ hours or overnight for best results.
- In a high-speed blender or food processor, pour in frozen bananas, milk, frozen berries, vanilla extract, and maple syrup.
- Blend until the ingredients turn into a smooth puree. Periodically stop to stir and scrape down the sides to keep things moving.
- Once it's fully blended, scoop it out and enjoy it right away as a smooth and creamy soft-serve, or freeze it for later as a scoopable hard-serve ice cream!
Notes
- Video: Watch the step-by-step video tutorial here.
- If using a blender, start at a slow speed and then slowly move up to higher speeds once the frozen bananas have started breaking down.
- If using a food processor, give it a few pulses first before blending.
- If your blender is struggling to blend the ingredients, try adding a splash of milk. Stop the blender or food processor periodically to stir and scrape the bananas, and then continue blending. And use either a high-speed blender or food processor - lower-powered blenders often struggle with crushing and blending frozen bananas into a smooth puree.
- Use a parchment paper-lined baking tray to freeze the banana slices on in order to prevent them from sticking together.
- Instead of slicing and freezing bananas myself, I often like the convenience of pre-packaged frozen banana slices. They're already ripened and ready to use!
STEP-BY-STEP VIDEO
You can find step-by-step video tutorials for all of my recipes on my YouTube Channel. There you'll find many more tips and tricks to help you along!
Nutrition
Note: Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Comments
No Comments