Aside from eating out (preferably with family or others I really enjoy hanging out with), my favorite hobbies are reading, watching cooking shows, perusing food magazines and cookbooks, and visiting a handful of food blogs. I have some other hobbies but those stand out the most...
While doing a couple of these favorite things recently, something grabbed my attention and peaked my curiosity. I watched a cooking show host make banana ice cream and didn't think too much of it at first but then I also saw this post on thekitchn.com. The crucial part being it's banana "ice cream" made with just one thing: banana!
OK, not that I'm a huge fan of banana ice cream per se but the idea of making "ice cream" from just banana is pretty interesting. I was wondering if it'd really work and have the taste and texture of ice cream. So I finally got around to it a few days ago and I have to say, it's fascinating because the frozen banana really turns into/tastes like ice cream! All you have to do is freeze it and give it a blitz in the food processor. It's a very healthy alternative to real ice cream. I'm going to be honest and admit that, all things equal, I'd rather have the real thing but it was good enough to make again and you just can't beat the nutritional value and simplicity of it.
Here is the pure banana "ice cream", with nothing added, just plain right out of the food processor in all its soft-serve goodness.
And then I couldn't resist playing with it a bit so I also made it with unsweetened cocoa powder and chocolate-hazelnut (Nutella) spread thrown in. I know adding all the extras takes away from the pureness but I just couldn't help myself. I was thinking of all those crepes with banana and nutella that my husband likes to order. If you freeze the ice cream for a few hours, you can scoop it like regular ice cream. Here it is with a sprinkling of chocolate on top.
