Delicious One Ingredient Ice Cream

I have a distinct memory from when I was about 12 years old of being in my neighbors third floor apartment, a large white heavy-duty juicer on the counter, frozen bananas going in one end and the most amazing soft-serve "ice cream" coming out the other. I have always thought of that moment as pure magic.  I wondered for years if my brain had tricked me, that it wasn't just frozen bananas and a juicer that produced that amazing creamy dessert; there must have been some other ingredient or trick involved.  A few years ago at the Brooklyn Flea Smorgasburg food market, I came across a tent with nothing but frozen banana ice cream, and I stood transfixed as my memory was played out in front of me exactly as I remembered, bananas and a juicer = banana soft-serve. I bought a cup full, and the cool, silky, yet almost fluffy ice cream was as delicious and thrilling as I remembered. 

Now the type of juicer you need to create a flowing stream of banana soft-serve is a Champion Juicer, which is one costly piece of equipment I do not happen to own. A quick search online will uncover lots of folks making banana ice cream with a food processor, so I tried it and it worked great.  This involved a little more bowl scraping to help the banana's blend, but once it got going, I was left with an incredibly creamy delicious treat.  Scooped into some ice cream cones, it was a delectable memory come to life...and a great first ice cream of the season.

Banana Ice Cream
This one ingredient ice cream is a great base for any flavors combinations you love. Try adding some ground cardamom or ginger, a little cocoa, peanut butter, frozen raspberries or Khalua.  

One Ingredient Banana Ice Cream
Serves 6

6 Bananas

Food Processor

1. Peel and slice bananas into 1 inch pieces. 
2. Place bananas on a tray or plate to freeze in a single layer for at least 2 hours,
3. Put frozen sliced bananas into a food processor, plus and then blend until the mixture is very creamy, scraping down the sides as needed to get the mixture going round. This may take a few minutes and a lot of scraping, but it will eventually become smooth and creamy. 
4. Scoop and eat immediately.

Below is a version we made recently: Burnt Sugar Banana Spice Ice Cream... (banana, coconut milk, burnt sugar caramel, cocoa, cinnamon and nutmeg).

Do you have any favorite unusual summer treats? Please share below!