Make This: Peanut Butter Banana "Ice Cream"

A few months ago I saw this post from The Kitchn about making banana ice cream with just one ingredient: banana. I was intrigued, made a mental note to try it, and then never did. Until a few weeks ago. Oh frozen banana, where have you been all my life? This is good people. Good.

I kept doing silly things like making banana bread with my old bananas, or, heaven forbid, eating them all before they even got mushy. Finally I made a mental note to buy tons of extra bananas, and freeze the ones that were left after they had turned brown, mushy, and ultra sweet. Nom! One afternoon a few weeks ago I decided I could go for something sweet, so I pulled out two of my frozen bananas. I popped them in the food processor with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and let her rip. At first it didn't look like much, just bits of icy banana and some brown goop stirred in. Then, after about 45 seconds, something happened. It magically morphed from eh looking chunks to a smooth, delicious-looking cream. I knew it was ready.

I plopped it into a bowl, took a bite, and...wow! Creamy, sweet, peanut buttery, and of course, banana! Since it was cold, the banana flavor wasn't overpowering, and the peanut butter gave it just a fantastic punch of flavor. It seriously could have passed for some form of ice cream if I didn't know better.

Husband heard my moans of pleasure and came running, asking what I was eating. I didn't tell him. I handed him the bowl and told him to try it. He did. Then he brought the bowl possessively to his chest and gave me a look that said "I am prepared to fight you to keep possession of the contents of this bowl". In other words, he loved it. He knew I hadn't bought any ice cream at the store, so he was confused on where the bowl of deliciousness had come from (by the way, I love that feeling when something so delicious comes out of the kitchen that your loved one looks at you like you've whipped magic out of thin air?). Our exchange went something like this:

Husband: What is this?

Me: Banana ice cream!

Husband: ...

Me: It's just whipped up frozen banana with a little peanut butter.

Husband: Is there more?

Me: Sure. I only made this batch, but there are more bananas and it only takes a minute.

Husband: Good. This one is mine.

I don't know why, but I haven't made it since. I rarely go in the freezer, so I think it's a case of out of sight, out of mind. Also, I'm probably too busy shivering from cold because it is cold all of a sudden. But I have a nice collection of frozen bananas stocked, so I'm ready for round 2!

Make this. It's cheap, easy, and delicious. You will not be disappointed.

And if you're interested, I store my frozen bananas by removing the peels, wrapping them individually in plastic wrap, and then putting them all together in a gallon ziplock freezer bag. That way they're all ready to use, and they don't stick together. I like to let my bananas get nice and brown and mushy before I freeze them because that's when I know the starches have broken down into delicious sugars.

Update: I made this again for dessert last night, and it was every bit as delicious as I remembered! So creamy, so sweet. Nom! This time I did 3 bananas with the intent of splitting it with Husband. I'd recommend sticking with 2 if you're using a Cuisinart food processor. The third banana proved too much for the blade to handle and it kept balling up and getting stuck without creaming. I have to stop and stir it up several times, a problem I didn't have with 2 bananas.