Here’s a fun throwback Thursday fact about me. My first after-school job was pumping out soft serve at Dairy Queen. Employees were allowed to eat unlimited ice cream during their shifts. I worked there for three summers and often pounded ice cream all day long. After that I moved on to Friendly’s, scooping out cones. The ice cream pounding continued. I’ve eaten a lot of ice cream. Sometimes for three meals a day during my late teens. While my metabolism and my sanity no longer allow that kind of behavior to go on, I still get a hankering for the creamy sweet stuff on occasion. Who doesn’t?
So as you can imagine, when I heard that frozen bananas can be turned into a realistic vegan and raw ice cream-like treat, I was (1) intrigued, ice cream lover that I am, and (2) skeptical, ice cream expert that I once was.
I knew bananas could make some killer smoothies, so I suppose it only makes sense, but the simplicity is almost unbelievable. One ingredient, two steps, at a cost of about $0.20 a serving. I had to give this a shot.
I was trying to decide on a flavor when my boyfriend pointed out that he loves to get ginger ice cream at Asian restaurants. That sounded quite delicious, and it went along with the whole raw, simplicity thing I was going for. The result? Holy cow, you guys! No, not holy cow…this stuff is dairy free. Holy fruit! It really is delicious, and the transformation you see in the blender is amazing. One minute you’ve got hard chunks of banana floating around. The next minute you start to see some creamy white streaks…they expand…they take over, and….woo hoo! Magical vegan ice cream.
From now on I’m keeping a stash of frozen bananas in my freezer all the time!
Ginger Banana Whips
Ingredients
- 2 bananas broken into 2" chunks and frozen overnight
- 1 " piece of ginger peeled
Instructions
-
Optional step: Grate the ginger. I didn't do this, and I ended up with a few little chunks. I like this, but it might be a bit intense for some.
-
If you didn't grate the ginger, place it in your blender or food processor, and blend for a few seconds, just to get it broken up before you add the banana.
-
Add banana and blend until smooth, scraping bowl every so often.
-
Spoon into dishes and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
Add another banana and 1/2" of ginger for every additional serving. I don't suggest making fewer than two servings at a time, as this small an amount might be tough to blend completely.
This is truly amazing! What a creamy, wonderful consistency. My (poor quality) food processor failed with the frozen bananas but my (good quality) hand blender managed to produce this creamy deliciousness. I tried it without the ginger, maybe next time. Have you tried other flavours yet? Thank you for this great recipe for a healthy, easy, cheap and most importantly, delicious treat! :)
Thanks Julia! So glad you enjoyed this. It really is tasty, even without any additional flavoring. Last weekend I tried another, more decadent, variation with cocoa powder and peanut butter – it was unbelievably good!
It sounds heavenly :) Would you be willing to share the quantities of cocoa and peanut butter you used?
I’d have to guess, but for a two banana batch I’d say about 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. I’m sure I’ll be making it again soon, so I’ll keep an eye on the amounts next time and leave another reply comment to let you know :)
Thank you, that’s so nice! :)
Okay! I made another batch and my guesses were correct – 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, 3 tablespoons of cocoa, and it was absolutely delicious :)
Alissa,
Do you remember where you got those bowls? They are EXACTLY what I’ve been looking for. SO cute!
I wish! They were a hand me down from my mom, who received them as a Christmas gift years ago. They’re out there though – I’ve seen them at stores like Marshalls and department stores. Mine came as part of an ice cream serving set, if that helps. Good luck and I hope you find them!!