Too Good to Be True Banana Ice Ceam

I'm constantly stuck between a rock and a hard place, where my health-nut side battles it out with my sweet tooth's love of ice cream. There are many sweets I could do without, but when it comes to ice cream, I'm hopeless. Something about the cool, creamy goodness draws me in, no matter the season. But even low-fat and reduced-sugar varieties of ice cream can hardly be considered healthy, so alas, ice cream remains a treat rather than a dietary staple. Until now.....


For those of you in the same boat as me, I give you reason to rejoice and eat ice cream without guilt. I can't begin to claim any part in the discovery of this brilliant idea, the credit goes to Kath of Kath Eats Real Food, who found it from yet another blogger. When I first read about this Banana Ice Cream, I thought there was no way it actually worked. The idea seemed so simple, and I was too curious not to give it a try. If I could make ice cream out of only bananas and nothing else, it was worth the risk of a kitchen disaster just to find out!


The ingredient list isn't even worth writing down it's so simple. Freeze 2-4 bananas for at least 1 day before you plan on making this ice cream; however, if you want to keep bananas on hand in the freezer for a couple weeks at a time, that's fine too and a great way to take advantage of leftover bananas before they go bad.

Chop the bananas into large pieces, and place in a food processor for 4 minutes. About half way through, scrape down the sides, then let the processor do its magic. The bananas go from being, well, bananas to sweet, creamy goodness in just 4 minutes. I added just a touch of vanilla extract to mine, but it's by no means necessary.

That's it! I can hardly believe that frozen bananas in a food processor turn into soft-serve ice cream in four minutes with no added ingredients. Since my first experiment with this banana soft serve, I've topped it with a bit of caramel for a dessert, and also eaten a bit for breakfast with a quarter cup of low-fat granola. It's a perfect way to satisfy your sweet-tooth in one of the healthiest ways possible. Funny thing is, I'm not a huge banana person, and you don't need to be to enjoy this dessert. Banana flavor is present, without being overwhelming, and the vanilla extract takes away a bit of the banana flavor.

Got to run! Off to class. Happy food-processing!

Madison