Banana Nut Ice Cream is our all time favourite homemade cold dessert.
Our quick & easy recipe is made using an automatic Cuisinart Ice Cream & Gelato Maker.
This decadent gourmet dessert features roasted banana ice cream, salted peanuts, dark chocolate chips and caramel drizzle.
Enjoy as a cool scoop on a hot summer day or serve as a special dessert like an ice cream banana split sundae.
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My Family Loves Banana Nut Ice Cream
What family doesn’t love ice cream?
I spent months researching Toronto’s best ice cream & gelato. In search of the city’s most drool-worthy frozen desserts, I found endless inspiring flavour combinations.
As a kid my parents used to take me to local ice cream parlours all the time in Toronto, Markham, Oakville and Muskoka.
Over the years each family member has developed a penchant for a particular flavour. I love Chocolate Peanut Butter, Dad hearts Jamoca Almond Fudge, Mom adores Mint Chocolate Chip and my sister raves for Pralines & Cream.
Since everyone in my family loves chocolate and nuts, I thought why not mimic Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey by creating my own unique homemade recipe?
What Is Ice Cream?
Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from dairy milk or cream and is flavoured with sweetener such as sugar, and flavourings such as cocoa or vanilla.
The mixture is stirred to incorporate air and is cooled below the freezing point of water to prevent undesirable ice crystals from forming. The result is a smooth, semi-solid foam that is stored at very low temperatures.
The meaning of the name “ice cream” varies from one country to another. Terms such as frozen custard, frozen yogurt, sorbet and gelato are used to distinguish different varieties and styles.
Ice cream may also be served in dishes, for eating with a spoon, or licked from edible cones. Ice cream may be served with other desserts, such as pie, or as an ingredient in ice cream floats, sundaes, milkshakes, ice cream cakes and eye-popping Baked Alaska.
History Of Ice Cream
The origins of frozen desserts are unknown, though there are several often repeated legends dated as early as the 3rd millenium in ancient China. According to one legendary origin myth, the Roman Emperor Nero had ice collected from the Apennine Mountains to produce the first sorbet mixed with honey and wine. Other legends say ice cream originated in the Mongolian empire and first spread to China during its expansion.
Its spread throughout Europe is sometimes attributed to Arab traders, but more often to Marco Polo. Though it’s not mentioned in any of his writings, Polo is often credited with introducing sorbet-style desserts to Italy after learning of it during his travels to China.
The Italian duchess Catherine de’ Medici is said to have introduced flavoured sorbet ices to France when she brought some Italian chefs with her to France upon marrying the Duke of Orléans in 1533. One hundred years later, Charles I of England was reportedly so impressed by the “frozen snow” that he offered his own ice cream maker a lifetime pension in return for keeping the formula secret, so that ice cream could be a royals only treat.
Snow was used to cool drinks in Greece around 500 BC and Hippocrates is known to have criticized chilled drinks for causing “fluxes of the stomach”. Snow collected from the lower slopes of mountains was unsanitary and iced drinks were believed to cause convulsions, colic and a host of other ailments. Seneca criticized the extravagant costs associated with iced desserts in an era without refrigeration.
Ice cream was made possible only by the discovery of the endothermic effect. Prior to this, cream could only be chilled but not frozen. It was the addition of salt, that lowered the melting point of ice, which had the effect of drawing heat from the cream and allowing it to freeze. The first known record of this comes from the Indian poem Pancatantra, dating to the 4th century AD.
Best Ice Cream Maker
Looking for the best ice cream maker to make homemade gelato, granita, sorbet and sherbet?
You don’t have to own a gelato shop or ice cream parlour to enjoy decadent gourmet ice cream scoops or soft serve at home.
Affordable ice cream makers typically sell for under $100 dollars and include a main base with on/off switch, frozen bowl, paddle attachment and lid. The box usually includes instructions on how to use the ice cream maker and a few easy recipes to get you started.
- Hamilton Beach Ice Cream Maker: 1.5 quart ice cream maker is fully automatic and features a compact bowl that freezes in less than 4 hours. Available in white and red.
- Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker: 2 quart ice cream maker features brushed stainless steel exterior and handy spout for adding mixins.
- Whynter Ice Cream Maker: splurge on this premium professional quality product that has a capacity of 2.1 quarts.
How To Roast Bananas
The average Banana Nut Ice Cream recipe simply features mashed ripe banana. Our gourmet recipe takes the process one step further by roasting bananas in the oven.
By slowly roasting bananas in the oven you dehydrate the fruit and allow the natural sugars to caramelize. This transforms the banana flavour so it is uniquely sweet and more pronounced.
Roasting bananas is easy, you simply need to peel them and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
You’ll know the roasted bananas are finished baking once they turn dark brown, deflate from moisture loss and have the consistency of fruit leather.
We add the roasted banana to the ice cream custard base by whisking it in and then passing the mixture through a fine sieve.
Best Caramel for Banana Nut Ice Cream
Ribbons of frozen caramel offer a perfectly chewy addition to the best Banana Nut Ice Cream. Its sweetness pairs nicely with the saltiness of roasted peanuts.
You can use store-bought caramel from Smuckers or a gourmet Irish variety often sold in jars. If you love making desserts from scratch try making this homemade Salted Caramel recipe.
If your caramel sauce is really thick, warm it up so it’s consistency is thin and can be poured over the banana ice cream base easily.
What Chocolate To Use In Banana Nut Ice Cream
We’re so obsessed with quality chocolate that we took several trips to Switzerland to research the best Swiss Chocolate Shops.
We’ve used high quality dark chocolate chunks in this recipe but you could also use smaller chips flavoured with white chocolate, milk chocolate or butterscotch.
If you’re feeling truly decadent why not buy a few bars of your favourite Swiss Lindt Chocolate? Add the chopped chocolate bars to your homemade Banana Nut Ice Cream for an unforgettable mouth-watering dessert.
Best Nuts For Ice Cream
The classic chunky monkey flavour profile features banana, chocolate and nuts.
We’ve used salted roasted peanuts in our recipe but you could substitute for toated walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts or almonds.
If you’re feeling extra decadent why not warm up 1/2 cup of your favourite peanut butter and fold it into the ice cream before storing it in the freezer to solidify?
Banana Nut Ice Cream Tips
If it’s your first time making homemade Banana Nut Ice Cream we suggest reading our step by step recipe from top to bottom. Familiarize yourself with each step before you start cooking in the kitchen.
Here are some helpful tips and tricks for first time ice cream makers:
- Rather than using mashed banana, roast the fruit to caramelize the natural sugars and intensify flavour.
- Use organic whole milk and whipping cream if you can find it.
- Source high quality nuts, artisan chocolate and try making your own homemade caramel.
- Use a Cuisiniart Ice Cream Maker for great results!
- Serve your homemade Banana Nut Ice Cream immediately out of the machine for soft serve texture, or store in the freezer and scoop for a harder more authentic ice cream parlour experience.
- Serve ice cream simply on a cone or as a fun banana split sundae!
What To Serve With Banana Nut Ice Cream
If you’re an ice cream traditionalist you’ll likely want to lick our Chocolate Chip Caramel Banana Nut Ice Cream off a cone or scoop out of a bowl.
If you’re celebrating a special occasion, or simply live your life with the mantra YOLO, dress up your homemade ice cream by serving it as a banana split sundae or between two homemade cookies as a gourmet ice cream sandwich. We love serving this ice cream recipe smushed between Oat Flour Cookies, Dark Chocolate Lindt Lindor Cookies and Oatmeal Chocolate Toffee Walnut Cookies.
You can also scoop Roasted Banana Nut Ice Cream over muffins, cupcakes, pancakes and more! Try pairing a scoop or two with Banana Muffins, Sticky Toffee Banana and Date Muffins, Banana Carrot Muffins, Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Muffins, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins, Banana Oat Flour Pancakes, Apple Fritter Muffins, Oat Flour Cookies with Chocolate Chips or Baileys French Toast.
Storing Banana Nut Ice Cream
Once you’ve mixed the soft roasted banana ice cream base with peanuts, chocolate chips and caramel sauce, store it in the freezer overnight to harden so you can scoop it easily.
If you’re making ice cream sandwiches, form them when the ice cream is soft then immediately store them upright in the freezer in a container or freezer bag.
Our homemade Roasted Banana Chocolate Chip Peanut Caramel Ice Cream can be stored in the freezer for up to a month. But, I really doubt it will last much longer than a few days!
How To Make Banana Nut Ice Cream Recipe
Chocolate Caramel Banana Nut Ice Cream
Equipment
- Ice cream maker
- Parchment
- baking sheet
- Mixing bowls
- spatula
- whisk
- measuring spoons
- measuring cups
- Sieve
- Ice cream maker
Ingredients
- 2 cups Whipping Cream
- 1 cup Whole Milk
- 2/3 cup White Sugar
- 1/8 tsp Sea Salt
- 6 Egg Yolks
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3 Ripe Bananas
- 1/2 cup Caramel sauce
- 1/2 cup Roasted Peanuts chopped
- 1/2 cup Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Place peeled bananas on parchment-lined baking sheet and roast in a 350 degree oven until they are caramelized, approximately 1 hour. You want the bananas to shrivel and the liquid to caramelize, almost the texture of dried fruit leather.
- Remove bananas from the oven. Mash the roasted bananas and let cool.
- In a small pot, simmer cream, milk, and salt until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
- In a separate bowl, whisk yolks and vanilla extract. Whisking constantly, slowly whisk 1/3 of the hot cream into the yolks, then, whisk the yolk mixture back into the pot with the cream.
- Return pot to medium-low heat and add mashed bananas. Cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl. Remove as much of the fruit fibre as possible, otherwise the mouthfeel will be unpleasantly gritty.
- Cool mixture at room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Churn cooled banana base in an ice cream machine according to manufactures directions.
- Scoop finished roasted banana ice cream into a large mixing bowl and add caramel sauce, peanuts and chocolate chips. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to incorporate the caramel, nuts and chocolate chips into the banana ice cream base.
- Serve Chocolate Caramel Banana Nut Ice Cream directly from the bowl as soft serve, or store in the freezer until ready to eat.
- Make a delicious Chocolate Caramel Banana Nut Ice Cream Sundae by serving scoops with Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, sliced banana and chocolate or caramel drizzle.
Nutrition
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