Caramelized Banana Ice Cream
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From David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop, this banana ice cream is one of the best homemade ice creams I’ve ever made.
The first time I tried true banana ice cream, made from real bananas, was at Berthillon, the renowned ice cream shop on Île St-Louis in Paris. This version, adapted from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop and made with caramelized roasted bananas, is rich and creamy, and brings back all those delicious taste memories. What’s great about banana ice cream is its naturally low fat content. The pureed bananas give it a thick, creamy texture without any eggs or heavy cream—making it a lighter yet utterly satisfying treat.
What You’ll Need To Make Caramelized Banana Ice Cream
- Overripe Bananas: Provide intense banana flavor and natural sweetness to the ice cream, further enhanced by caramelization during cooking.
- Light Brown Sugar: Adds a rich caramel-like sweetness to the ice cream, complementing the flavor of the bananas.
- Butter: Combined with the brown sugar, it forms a rich caramel sauce that coats the bananas, infusing them with deep flavor and adding complexity to the ice cream.
- Whole Milk: Contributes to the creamy texture of the ice cream, ensuring a smooth, indulgent consistency. If you have them on hand, you can substitute 1 cup of low-fat or skim milk plus 1/2 cup of heavy cream for the milk.
- Granulated Sugar: Sweetens the ice cream base and helps to balance the flavors.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds depth and enhances the overall flavor profile of the ice cream.
- Lemon Juice: Brightens the flavors and provides a subtle tangy contrast to the sweetness of the bananas and caramel.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Slice the bananas into 1/2-inch pieces and combine them with the brown sugar and butter in a 2-quart baking dish.
Stir until the sugar dissolves into a wet caramel-colored coating.
Bake for about 40 minutes, stirring once during baking, until the bananas are soft and golden brown.
Immediately transfer the caramelized bananas to a blender or food processor (if you wait too long, the caramel will start to harden).
Add the milk, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt.
Process until the mixture is completely smooth.
Chill the mixture in the refrigerator, then freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
As with most homemade ice creams, the mixture will not get completely firm in the machine. It’s best to transfer the creamy ice cream to a container and freeze it for a few hours until firm enough to scoop.
Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
To make the most flavorful banana ice cream, it’s important to use very ripe bananas. To ripen bananas quickly, store them in a loosely sealed brown paper bag. If you have other fruit on hand (an apple works well) put it in the bag with the bananas. The ethylene gas the fruit gives off will circulate in the bag and ripen the bananas within 24 to 36 hours. Just check them periodically to see how they’re coming along.
Unfortunately not—to achieve the wonderful creamy texture, an ice cream machine is required. If you don’t have one yet, it’s worth considering, as homemade ice creams, yogurts, and sorbets are a joy to make. That said, if you’re not ready to buy an ice cream machine, you can still enjoy homemade no-churn ice creams, including key lime pie ice cream, Vietnamese coffee ice cream, and Oreo cheesecake ice cream.
Yep, the ice cream will keep, tightly covered, for up to 1 week. Before serving, let it sit out on the countertop for a bit to soften enough to scoop.
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Caramelized Banana Ice Cream
From David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop, this banana ice cream is one of the best homemade ice creams I’ve ever made.
Ingredients
- 3 medium-sized overripe bananas, peeled
- ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
- 1½ cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Slice the bananas into ½-inch pieces and toss them with the brown sugar and butter in a 2-quart baking dish until the sugar dissolves into a wet caramel-colored coating. Bake for about 40 minutes, stirring once during baking, until the bananas are soft and golden brown.
- Immediately transfer the bananas and caramel syrup into a blender or food processor (if you wait too long, the caramel will begin to harden). Add the milk, granulated sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and salt, and purée until smooth. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.
- Give the mixture a quick whisk, then freeze in ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer soft ice cream to plastic container and chill for a few hours until firm. Scoop and serve.
- Note: My only issue with this recipe is that it makes a rather small quantity of ice cream. If you double it, it makes 6 cups of ice cream base, which is too much for most standard ice cream machines. I have two bowls for my ice cream maker so I typically double the recipe and freeze it in two batches. If you only have one bowl and want to double the recipe, you can save half the base in the refrigerator overnight, then re-freeze your bowl for the second batch.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Serving size: 1/2 cup
- Calories: 169
- Fat: 4 g
- Saturated fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 32 g
- Sugar: 26 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 79 mg
- Cholesterol: 11 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Comments
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This is great ice cream. I add a little whiskey after it starts to freeze it still freezes solid. Delicious.
Today I will be making this for our THIRD time this month! We follow the recipe exactly and it comes out perfect every time! The kids LOVE this banana ice cream. I do think we will double it this time around as it seems to disappear in our household quite quickly. Thank you again for helping us put over ripe bananas to good use!
The instructions are a bit off. I am a professional chef and just for kicks I tried at first per your instructions. After only 10 minutes at 400 F, part of the caramel had burned black and the bananas were golden and mush. I knew this would happen. So I separated the bananas from the burnt caramel and cooked (just for fun) an additional 10 min. I would never submit to using milk in ice CREAM so I used 35 % cream instead since I don’t care for ice crystals which is what you get if you use milk. My modified version was beautiful so thanks for the idea.
I too am a pro chef and your comment is RUDE.
There is NOTHING wrong with this recipe “as is” or using MILK to make Ice CREAM and MILK does NOT produce ice crystals.
Damn. Clearly manners are not your thing, huh? Also, this turned out delicious in my non-professional kitchen with my rather basic cooking ability. Perhaps you did it wrong?
Thanks for yet another fantastic recipe, Jen. I’ve made SO many of your recipes, literally closing in on 100 between the blog and the book – you’re my first resource when planning the week’s meals!
This is an exceptional recipe! I made it exactly as written using lactose free whole milk and found the flavor and creamy texture to be perfect. Reminds me of gelato I ate in Rome. Bonus that it’s low fat.
I’ve been making ice cream for 34 years. Caramelizing the bananas removes moisture that cause ice crystals. Another factor besides fat that creates smooth texture in ice cream is sugar content as it prevents crystallization. Using very ripe bananas, high in sugar, plus the light brown sugar and granulated sugar is the reason this ice cream is creamy, smooth and tasty without using heavy cream. The issue with high fat levels is it masks flavor. My guess is your recipe was smooth but lacked taste. As does your comment.
Hello Jenn,
All your recipes have been wonderful so am wondering what we did wrong.
We followed the recipe exactly and used our new Cuisinart ice cream maker. We made a vanilla last week and it turned out {otherwise I would wonder if something wrong with machine.) However, after 20-25 minutes it remained in the same liquid consistency as when poured in ice cream maker. Do you have any ideas for me as we would like to try again. Thanks again for all of your awesome recipes!
Hi Cheryl, sorry to hear the ice cream didn’t turn out as expected! This is a softer ice cream but it should firm up significantly in the ice cream machine, and then continue to harden in the freezer. Is it possible you measured something incorrectly or that your ice cream bowl wasn’t completely frozen?
Thanks for replying Jenn. I appreciate your availability. I know we measured correctly but it is a possibility that ice cream bowl was not frozen properly as we had it in garage fridge. I’m going to try again. Again thanks for all of your wonderful recipes.
Cheryl
Hello Jenn,
Tried again with freezing in another freezer and it worked fine. Thanks for your suggestion and availability.
Cheryl
So glad it worked this time Cheryl!
Hi Jenn! Just made this in two batches and it is absolutely delicious! First time using my ice cream maker and it could not have been easier! I’ve always been a fan of bananas and this ice cream is so wonderful and decadent. Would love if your cookbook included other ice cream recipes!
This looks delicious! But do you think I could substitute coconut milk for the milk?
Hi Katherine, I’ve never tried this with coconut milk, so I’m not certain, but I suspect it should work. I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it that way!
Hi Jenn,
Wondering if it would be possible to make this without an ice cream maker? Any ideas how to proceed?
Thanks! 🙂
Hi Mary-Rose, Unfortunately, you really need an ice cream maker for this one. Sorry!
How much is a pad of butter?
Hi Mary, It’s about a teaspoon.
I was looking for something to do with 3 very ripe bananas and some leftover heavy cream (it was almost expired and I hate to throw food away). My bananas were already mashed with some lemon juice when I found this recipe, but as I’ve been craving homemade ice cream lately, I just put the mashed bananas with brown sugar and butter in the oven anyway. This is absolutely AMAZING. I ate with with Cameo cookies and I didn’t care that it was midnight or that I would gain fat. It is so delicious that I don’t even care if someone doesn’t like it (whoever doesn’t like it is just wrong). Now I wanna try other recipes from you but I’m also afraid that I will have to workout more haha just kidding. Thanks!
i am trying this caramelized banana ice cream for the first time but it does’nt say how much milk to add
Hi Gloria, It’s 1-1/2 cups — you can click on the recipe tab for all the quantities.