Absolutely BANANAS, Banana Ice Cream!

This week, Bon Appégeechee is going Bananas on The LaJule Chronicles' Beauty from the Inside Out!!

Black Hair Media described concisely the health benefits of this ubiquitous tropical fruit.  Bananas contain potassium, iron, and B Vitamins (including B6 and B12).  Bananas have a great deal of health benefits for such ailments as anemia, depression, cramping, constipation and diarrhea.  Bananas also promote healthy bones, teeth, regulation of blood pressure, kidney health, improved nerve function, and stress relief. 

Further, a good banana mask for your hair works wonders on frizz.  Consider.

Today, we’re making Banana Ice Cream!  Don’t say, “Well, I don’t have an ice cream maker”, because you don’t need one!  I don’t think that calling this an ice cream is at all a misnomer, though this recipe contains no dairy.  A creaminess of the fruit’s texture takes place when blending frozen bananas.  Completely vegan, this recipe is one more reason to keep and freeze over ripened bananas.

The world of food blogging is very much in line with fashion blogging when it comes to developing trends, “hotness vs. hot mess” systematically applies across these two worlds.  The minute The Kitchn published this ‘how to’, headlines and post titles across the food blogosphere were amazed by the tale.  Everyonemade One Ingredient Banana Ice Cream!  Google it, you’ll see. However, you won’t have to; this recipe is as easy as it gets.  All you need are frozen bananas and either a food processor or a high powered blender. That’s it! I added toasted pecans and a tablespoon of peanut butter just to complicate things a little, but neither is necessary to make this recipe work.

Imagine making this for kids, or kids at heart, they’ll go Bananas!  Just make sure you make enough for sharing.  You’ll love it to!

THIS is absolutely the cleverest recipe I’ve ever made!  It’s like magic!

Absolutely BANANAS, Banana (& Peanut Butter) Ice Cream!

                Yield:  2 Servings.  Feel free to multiply this recipe out. It’s as flexible as they come.

The Method: The Ingredients

4 frozen ripe bananas, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon of creamy peanut butter (optional)
1/3 cup of toasted pecans (optional)

The Madness: Assembly

To toast the pecans:  Place your pecans in a small dry pan on the stove under medium high heat. Stir or shake the pan occasionally for 4 minutes. The nuts will become toasted and fragrant.   Set aside to cool. 

On to the magic; I keep an arsenal of frozen bananas as thickeners and flavoring for smoothies; therefore, my bananas were frozen whole. Peel and slice the bananas into rounds.  You can use unfrozen bananas; however, make sure to slice and freeze them until completely frozen. About 2 hours. 

Place the banana slices into your food processor. BLEND the bananas, be sure to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally.  As the frozen mixture starts to blend, you’ll see the ice cream start to take shape.

The mix goes from a bowl of frozen bananas to banana ice cream in NO TIME!

Just as the mixture starts to resemble thick ice cream add the peanut butter.

Continue to blend to desired consistency.  

Garnish with toasted pecans, or enjoy immediately.  If your mixture is a little thin, feel free to place into the airtight freezer container to firm up just a bit.  Frozen leftovers keep well too; but, don’t worry, you won’t have any!

Let me know what you think, right here or at The LaJule Chronicles what you think of this recipe!

Remember, where beauty starts from the inside out!

xo, Bon Appégeechee