So I’m loving this warm weather. The birds are singing. The trees are budding and the flowers blooming. The sun is shining. The . . . wait . . . what’s that? Bzzzzzzzz . . . That’s right. The bees and all their flying counterparts have arrived.
There’s no period of pure enjoyment and relaxation between cold and snow and warmth and sun that’s bug free. Nope. The moment it’s nice out, there they all are: inside, outside, flying, crawling, threatening. It’s quite literally the only thing about summer I don’t like.
I know they do a lot of good, and I’m a huge fan of honey (did you know it’s the only food that doesn’t expire?) but I struggle with bugs. Fireflies are cute and dragonflies and butterflies are exempt from my fear, assuming they keep their distance.
It’s bees and other stinging specimens that send me screaming and running in fear at the drop of a hat. I was stung once when I was four or five. The truth is, I probably don’t remember much about it other than what I’ve been told. I was playing in my kiddie pool and bam. Stinger in my finger. My panicked baby-sitter called Mom and Dad who both rushed home from work and applied some crazy home remedy suggested by the doctor to get the stinger out. I don’t remember if it came out or if it was even still in there for the paste to get it out. I just remember being stung.
It was always torture when windows were opened at school and bees would without fail wander into the room. Why don’t schools have screens in their windows? I would lose all focus, watching them fly around the ceiling before swooping down and attacking us. Ah, the good old days. And yesterday when Mom and I walked to get the paper there was the biggest, meanest, ugliest bee I’ve ever seen chillin’ on it. I ran and screamed like a little girl, leaving brave Mom to swat it off. Yuck! Enough about bugs, let’s talk ice cream, another perk of summer.
I made Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream. I’ve heard about making banana soft serve for years and have always wanted to try it. I finally got around to it. It is pretty magical how a frozen banana turns into silky smooth ice cream. I added some peanut butter and vanilla to spice it up a bit. I have to admit, it tasted a little more banana-y than I hoped, but it’s still a super creamy, refreshing, and healthy frozen treat perfect for every hot summer day that won’t ruin your diet or bikini season. Plus, you can always add a little more peanut butter to intensify that flavor. Or some honey . . . might as well put those bees to work.
Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 2 scoops 1x
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas (a few speckles, not overripe, black ones)
- 1–2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy Natural)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Cut bananas into about 1 inch thick chunks. Place on a freezer safe plate in the freezer for 1-2 hours. No longer or they will be way too hard to process.
- Place frozen banana pieces into the bowl of a food processor and process until completely smooth. This takes a few minutes and you may need to scrape down the bowl or break up large chunks.
- Once the banana is creamy, add the peanut butter and vanilla and process until combined. Eat immediately for a soft serve like treat or place in a freezer safe container and freeze until firm or up to 1 day.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
Love LOVe love! This is fabulous and perfect for summertime/spring time! It already feels like summer where I live! 90+ today! AHHH
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70s and 80s here – doesn’t get better than this!
Can´t beat bananas and pb this way Laura! So easy and such great flavors together.
Banana soft serve is my fav! I started laughing when I saw this because I literally just made some 😉 It’s sitting in my freezer right now to firm up. Yumm!
Great minds think alike 😉
OMG yes those stupid schools! I was always soooo distracted (once in 2nd grade a bee got stuck in one of my pigtails. I stayed very still and my teacher got it out)–my fear has thus far protected me from being stung. But this has led to a distressing fact: I don’t know if I’m allergic to bees. My dad and his sister and my grandpa and others are all allergic to bees. And I don’t know since I’ve never been stung. eeeeee
And I’m a big fan of making the banana soft serve stuff. PB helps a lot, for sure 😀
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A bee stuck in my hair is still one of my worst nightmares. It happened once at school and the other kids got it out, so now whenever I’m outside, I always keep my hair in the front where I can protect it! Oh, that is super scary to possibly be allergic. My dad is allergic, but his doctor seemed super chill about it which I didn’t really understand. You’ll just have to make sure you never get stung!
Beautiful ice cream! Unbelievable that it only has, basically, 2 ingredients: bananas and peanut butter! It looks like 100% ice cream! I love those 2 flavors and would have to try this sometime!
I tried this “banana ice cream” trick years ago, and it turned out NOTHING like this 🙁 I don’t think the “recipe” I used called for peanut butter though – it was JUST the frozen bananas. It didn’t work at all. But, my blender kind of stinks to, so that’s probably why. haha.
Hiya
I’ve tried this recipe millions of times, ( it was shown on TV by this chef called Gino D’campo Do you guyz know him?? ) well I too decided to give the banana magic ice-cream a go and on my first attempt it was just a gooey mash of nana’s. I made it the second time round but this time I froze the banana’s over night when i whizzed them up in the afternoon it was “magical” to see the banana’s transform……….Tho I haven’t tried it with peanut butter new foodie adventure to try………. 😉
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I do not know who that is. I first saw it made by Wolfgang Puck. It really is cool to watch the bananas become ice cream.
It should be ice cream before adding the pb – that doesn’t make it freeze more. Unless you have a Vitamix or super powerful blender, I don’t think it has the power to make it ice cream. If you have a food processor that should do the job. That’s usually how I’ve seen it done.
Well said Laura ya need a really powerful blender too……I got my nana’s in the freezer whizzing them up tomorrow morning…….. 😉
Guess it’s another reason I need to finally get that Vitamix 🙂
I kinda want a Vitamix but know I wouldn’t really use it that much. If you don’t have a good food processor, I’d invest in that. I bought my Cuisinart on sale at Macy’s years ago and I use it all the time. Pie crust, pb, etc.
Great looking ice cream even without the milk. Nice post and thanks for sharing!
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Thanks, Jerry, and thanks for visiting 🙂
Yum looks divine! And healthy too! My favourite type of ice cream 🙂
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Looks delicious! 🙂 I have the same thing with bees! Healthy ice cream perfect!
It looks delicious!
Thanks, DB, and thanks for visiting!
Great idea! I’m so ready to sit on the deck and slurp ice cream! Thanks for getting me in the mood!
I love this ice cream made with frozen bananas. It’s amazing and there’s no ice cream maker needed!! But this sounds so much better with the peanut butter added!
Bugs…ugh It’s so unfortunate that they also enjoy this weather. When I was little a wasp landed on my head. I was not smart… I tried to yank it off my head with my hand and it stung my finger! That hurt so bad!
At least it didn’t sting your head . . . that would have been a lot worse.
you know I still haven’t tried this frozen banana route yet.
i must get on this.
everyone is doing it and it does sound so good (and easy)
This recipe looks so easy and the result… oh my!! Amazingly creamy, luscious and HEALTHY ice-cream!! I have to make this recipe. In fact, I think I need to go out and buy a new blender, just so I can make this ice-cream (my little one is on its last legs at present). Thanks for the idea. Yum! I am actually quite excited!
Thanks, Laura! A food processor will work too.
Hi Laura,
Wow! Kudos to the ice cream recipe. It looks really delicious and enticing. I love bananas mixed with Peanut butter it’s a perfect match!
However, I’m just wondering how this recipe become healthy? It should not be just because of the bananas nor the peanut butter. Kindly enlighten me regarding this because I’m thinking of letting my nephews have some doze of this ice cream next weekend and I don’t want to train them for unhealthy food.
Thanks a lot Laura!
Jessica 🙂
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This recipe is healthy because of the pb and bananas. Both are very healthy foods. There is no added sugar in this recipe, and it is vegan, gluten free, and dairy free. I hope this helps, Jessica!
I have wanted to try something like this for a few years now & thisis the first time I noticed a recipe with more than just bananas. Well I made your recipe today & my 2 year old daughter & I LOVED it!! I added a little more PB than you stated as we both love PB. I will absolutely make this again very soon. Think I’ll be buying bananas just to make this. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
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I am so glad you liked the recipe, Na Tasha! It is such a great, healthy summer treat. I don’t blame you for adding more pb, it’s so yummy 🙂
I really want to try this but I don’t have a food processor, a blender is the best I got. will it still work?
If you have a very powerful blender, it should. If you wouldn’t usually blend things like frozen fruit or ice in your blender, I wouldn’t try it or it could break. Hope this helps!
Buy a yonanas and you have instant ice cream. You can get it at walmart.