Creamy Banana Ice Cream

Making ice cream at home was never so easy, I promise! Long time ago I read about this kind of recipe but was kinda sceptical because just ONE ingredient sounded way too easy and simple to me.

They say 'you have to see it to believe it'...well, in this case you have to taste it to believe it.

This creamy faux ice cream is made like I said with one natural, healthy ingredient: bananas! It tastes surprisingly delicious and creamy au naturel but obviously I wanted to make it more complete and added a few extra ingredients to take this dessert to the next level.

Days are certainly getting warmer, though here in Barcelona April is the craziest month of the week (weather-wise) cause it can turn from sunny and hot to windy and rainy in just one day, and I don't know about you guys, but am already craving for ice creams and refreshing treats.

So now, on weekends, I like to prepare this ice cream and play with different combinations of ingredients; every time I make it I come up with new ideas and so far the cinnamon and chocolate peanut butter are my favorite flavors.

Try with different spices like ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, and cinnamon like the one below. Add a small handful of frozen berries (strawberries, blueberries...), throw in a spoonful of your favorite nut butter and whatever your taste buds desire as long as half the amount of the ice cream is frozen banana.

Here are a couple of tips:

· You must use very ripe bananas in order to make this ice cream naturally sweet but I don't recommend overripe bananas because it'll have a not so nice color and the texture will most probably be different.

· When frozen, you might notice that the ice cream is less sweet so I always add 1 to 2 tablespoons of agave syrup for extra sweetness.

Receta en español disponible en la web de El Granero Integral!

Creamy Banana Ice Cream
(2 servings approx.)

Ingredients
- For the cinnamon banana ice cream:
2 medium ripe bananas, frozen.
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon.
1 to 2 tbsp agave syrup.
- For the chocolate PB ice cream:
2 medium ripe bananas, frozen.
1 tbsp pure cocoa powder.
1 tbsp homemade peanut butter, unsalted.
2 tbsp agave syrup.
- Toppings:
A drizzle of chocolate sauce or chocolate-flavored agave syrup.
Chopped hazelnuts (or your favorite nuts).

Directions

To get a really creamy ice cream is very important to make sure your bananas are completely frozen, that's why I always freeze them overnight.

I used 4 medium ripe bananas to make the two flavors: two bananas for the basic cinnamon ice cream and two more for the chocolate-PB flavor.

Chop bananas in small chunks and store them in separated airtight containers: one container for each flavor; so there's no confusion of how many chunks you need for each ice cream.

- For the cinnamon banana ice cream:

Blend the frozen banana chunks in your food processor (I used this one). At first it will look like a crumbled dough but don't worry, just keep pulsing.

Don't forget to stop the food processor several times and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula.

Keep blending until it looks soft, pale and there are no small chunks of banana. Add in one tablespoon of agave syrup and 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Blend for a few more seconds to aerate the ice cream and you'll see that suddenly it looks like soft ice cream: super creamy and with a nice vanilla color. Pour the mixture into an airtight container and freeze until solid.

- For the chocolate & peanut butter ice cream:

Follow the same method as above and right when the ice cream looks quite soft and only a few small chunks of banana remain, add in cocoa powder, peanut butter and chocolate-flavored agave syrup. Blend for 1 more minute until all the ingredients are well combined.

Pour mixture into an airtight container and freeze until solid.

- Toppings:

Decorate with chocolate sauce, a drizzle of chocolate-flavored agave syrup or maple syrup.

Top with chopped hazelnuts (or your favorite nut) and for an extra tropical touch add some shredded coconut too!