Easiest Vegan Ice Cream…EVER!
I’ve read over the last month or two about a concept of 1-ingredient ice cream. I first saw it on the beauteous blog The Kitchn and I thought to myself, “Impossible!” I’ve been trying to make good, creamy vegan ice cream for awhile now. Surely I needed more ingredients, not less!
I’m also from Missouri and, much to my husband’s chagrin, I cannot be told anything. I have to see it for myself. It’s one of the reasons we’re known as the “show-me state.” So I set out on a quest to try 1-ingredient vegan ice cream for myself.
First, I need to ask you all an important question. Have you ever pondered the pronunciation of the word one? Where in the world do we get a wuh sound from an o? It has baffled me for quite some time. A trip to Dictionary.com gave me the answer I was seeking. It appears to be a natural progression that stressed vowels become dipthongs (where two vowels are pronounced with a single syllable). We have to go back to the late Middle Ages in England to see the diphthongization of one . The pronunciation went from “(ōn) to (ōōōn), with two syllables, to (wōn) to (wōōn) to (wŏŏn) and finally to (wŭn).” I don’t know about you, but I’m going to sleep much better tonight with that mystery solved.
But now on to our second mystery in this post. What’s the secret ingredient to this delicious wŭn-ingredient recipe? If you haven’t already guessed it, bananas are the miracle ingredient here. Lucky for me, a recent trip to Costco resulted in a nice little bunch of ripe ones with which to work.
Slice the bananas and freeze ’em. I put mine in a freezer bag. You don’t even need an ice cream freezer for this recipe. No cooking either. How much easier could this be?
This is Coco waiting skeptically. I’m sure he doesn’t believe I can make one-ingredient ice-cream. And he’s willing to wait patiently outside the kitchen door by his arch-enemy (the vacuum sweeper) to see what I come up with…and if I leave any crumbs on the floor he can dutifully clean up!
Once they’re frozen, put them in a food processor or blender and blend away. After a minute or two, the frozen banana chunks magically transform into very creamy, albeit rich, vegan ice cream!
Do you want to see it? You know you do!
And if you’re like me and can’t follow a recipe to save yourself, here’s changing this one-ingredient ice cream to two.
I have a life philosophy that adding chocolate can make just about anything better. Your options for adding ingredients are endless here. Peanut butter, graham crackers, berries, you name it! The flavor is definitely intense and so is the enjoyment!
One Ingredient Ice Cream
Sliced bananas (quantity depends on how much you want to make…or how many bananas you have on-hand)
Freeze sliced bananas. Place frozen bananas in a food processor or blender and blend for 1 to 2 minutes, until creamy. Voila!
Monet
Marly! I love this idea! I can only imagine how good this must taste. Maybe I could add a 1/2 cup of peanut butter before I process the bananas to add another layer of flavor. Thanks for sharing this love!
Marly
Bananas and peanut butter are one of my favorite blends of flavor. Sometimes if I have a day when I’m hungry in the morning, I eat that for breakfast. But I’m picky about my bananas. They can’t be too ripe. I actually like them right after they leave the green phase. I know, it’s weird.
Jennifer
It’s so wonderful that not only is this delicious, but it’s healthy too. I’m putting some banana pieces in the freezer right now!
Marly
I hope you like it!
Tatiana
That sounds entirely too cool – perhaps frozen grapes would be an appropriate topping also?
Marly
I love frozen grapes. Haven’t had them in awhile, so I’m going to pop some in the freezer now. Thanks for the inspiration!
FOODESSA
Marly…a while ago…I too saw the same recipe and was saving my judgement until I got to try it. I was incredibly pleased with this creamy surprise. I’ve already made it twice. Each time it turned out differently due to the sweetness from the level of banana ripeness.
I also added a few garnishes here and there depending on my mood.
I’m glad you also got to try this and that more people will adopt this very simple recipe too.
Your Westie ‘Coco’ is just absolutely adorable ;O)
Flavourful wishes, Claudia
P.S. Did you get my email on the other ice-cream?
Marly
Hi Claudia
Garnishes are what make life (and food) so fun! Yes, Coco is just adorable. He seriously waits outside the kitchen so that when we’re done he can go in and scour the floor for any stray morsels. I think it’s kind of handy. He’s like our little dogba! Thanks for the reminder about your email. I just responded to you!
Grace
Hey Marly
I really love these pics and I can’t believe ice cream using one ingredient, genius! I can’t wait to try this, I’ll probably add chocolate, you know how much I love it or maybe some cherries, what do you think of cherry banana?
Marly
I think cherries and bananas are a great combination. You could probably add some coconut milk to that as well. No wait…it’s quickly becoming a 3 or 4 ingredient ice cream. Well, that’s the fun of it anyway. Very versatile!
Patty Price
This looks great Marly, I always have bananas on my counter:)
Marly
Me too! In fact, I have some right now that are in desperate need of being incorporated into a recipe. I was thinking more along the lines of banana muffins. That just really sounds good for some reason.
Stella
This looks awesome, Marly! I bet reese’s peanut butter cups would be so good on this banana ice cream. No?
Hey, I thought you were driving. How’d you sneak so many posts in so fast?
Reeni
I have been seeing this ice cream all over. It is genius, really, and I’m finally convinced that I need to try it! Good idea to jazz it up a little with some chocolate. Thanks for trying my sandwich! You’re so good at recreating things. I’m glad you liked the sauce.
Marly
The flavor of this ice cream is really intense. I think coupling it with something else is helpful. Your meatball sandwich looked so good…I just had to veganize it.
ryan
My kids love ice cream, now I can give them ice cream that is also good for them, thanks for a great recipe. Hope Coco enjoyed his.
Marly
It is really good ice cream…especially with some chocolate sauce. Does that take away from the healthy part though? Nahh. Coco? Do you mean Dogba? Sometimes I have to tell him to quit licking the floor. What a strange thing to say to your dog. Usually the floor is clear of any morsels, but I often wonder if that means they’re covered in doggy saliva. Uhh, I need to go. I think I need to mop the floors….
Kathy Patalsky
Yum that looks super amazing. Your website is great — I added it to my Best Vegan Blogs list: http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2010/07/best-vegan-blogs.html
Marly
Kathy – thanks so much. I’ve checked out your site many times so I’m honored to have my blog listed there!
Stella
I made this, and it was wonderful. Seemed like some type of dairy product was in there, but there’s nothing but banana So good. I think this is a trick everyone (vegan or not) should know about…Thanks Marly.
Marly
I agree. It’s hard to believe there’s not some dairy in there because it’s so dang creamy. But it’s not. I agree with you also that using bananas that are not quite so ripe would be better. I like my bananas a little on the greenish side anyway. It’s both a sweetness and a texture thing for me. Oh, now I’m getting hungry! 😉
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