Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream
It’s hard to beat creamy ice cream on a hot summer day. Cool off with a batch of this Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream!
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A couple of months ago, I found myself cutting across the western, rural part of New York state. I was with 3 other guys, and we were returning from a curling tournament in Ontario, Canada. We had a great time up there, but that’s not the focus of this post. Instead, this post is about farming. After we crossed the border near Lake Ontario (and a stop at duty free!), we decided to forego the highway and take smaller state roads back home. As we were driving through tiny towns like Evan Mills, Deer River and Boonville, I couldn’t help but notice the vast amount of farmland…literally as far as the eye could see out there! (We also drove by Beartown State Forest. We didn’t stop, but I like to think that the Berenstain Bears live there.)
I’ve worked quite a bit with the beef and dairy industries, and I’m always in awe at the level of dedication and hard work it takes to be a successful farmer. Right there in that same category are peanut farmers. I had the chance to visit a peanut farm in Texas last year, and these folks work hard. Like most outdoor professions, peanut farmers watch the weather very closely during growing season. It takes 140-150 days for a peanut to reach maturity, and farmers need to make sure those peanuts get harvested before the first frost. Peanuts also need very little water to grow, so farmers want to avoid wet weather.
One of the coolest things about growing peanuts? They are a zero waste crop. The plant portion above the ground gets tilled back into the soil. The peanuts are obviously eaten or used to make peanut butter, candy, etc. I’ve seen some cool uses of peanut shells recently, too. Jehangir Mehta, who owns 2 restaurants in NYC, uses peanut shells instead of wood chips for his smokers. I’ve never tried this myself, but it sounds pretty cool. (Mental note: Buy a bag of in-shell peanuts at the store this week so I can throw the shells in the smoker.) (Mental note #2: Can I roast my own peanuts!?) (Mental note #3: Oooo…smoked peanuts!!)
Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream
Ok, so I know what I’ll be doing next week now. In the meantime, though, let’s focus on a different peanut recipe. This Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream is a really fun and tasty recipe for hot summer days. I’ve made Peanut Butter Ice Cream in the past. I’ve also made Banana Ice Cream in the past. This recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream is simply a merger of those two…and it’s a new favorite in our house!
Elvis’ favorite sandwich was peanut butter topped with bananas and bacon. I wonder how Mr. Presley would’ve felt about this ice cream? I’m thinking he would’ve loved it…although next time I make a batch, I should take a page from Elvis’ book and add crumbled bacon on top. As we reach the height of summer heat, I hope you find yourself with a bowl (or perhaps a cone) of this Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream in your hand. It’s delicious, and it tastes even better on a hot summer day! Cheers!
Did you make this Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream at home? Leave a comment. Or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog)!
Looking for more tasty ice cream recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
Malted Milk Ice Cream
Honey Ice Cream with Roasted Figs
Butter Pecan Ice Cream
Coffee Ice Cream
Maple Bourbon Ice Cream
Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 3 ripe bananas
- ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- {optional} caramel sauce for drizzling
Instructions
- Peel bananas and slice into ¾-1” pieces. Place bananas in a resealable freezer bag; freeze for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Transfer the frozen bananas into a food processor along with the sweetened condensed milk. Pulse repeatedly until creamy. (Note: It might not seem like it’s working at first…keep going! The bananas will indeed transform into a creamy, fluffy ice cream.) Set banana mixture aside.
- Place the milk and peanut butter in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until mixture just begins to simmer and peanut butter has melted completely.
- While the peanut butter mixture is heating, whisk together the sugar, salt and egg yolks in a medium bowl. Gradually pour the peanut butter mixture into the egg yolks; whisking vigorously the entire time.
- Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens noticeably and coats a wooden spoon. (~4-6 minutes)
- Remove mixture from heat and add the heavy cream; stir until well combined.
- Pour/gently press the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container. Stir in the vanilla extract and banana mixture from above. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic directly onto the surface of the mixture, and refrigerate overnight.
- Pour the ice cream mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions.
- {Optional} Drizzle ice cream with caramel sauce before serving.
Curling! It is so popular in Canada, hope you enjoyed the trip up north! So cool about peanuts, I love them on ice cream, and in general. Such a cool idea with the bananas to make the ice cream, sounds like a great idea for making with kids!
Love the idea of these delicious flavours! Growing up, I didn’t eat peanut butter all that much..
I don’t know why… but I am definitely making up for it now! It works so well in desserts!
When the weather warms up a little bit, I will make this for sure!
Yes! Peanut butter is a staple in our house for everything from ice cream to the classic peanut butter sandwiches. (For some reason, I’ve never liked jelly on my peanut butter sandwich. Go figure.) Glad you’re making up for lost time there, Alexandra! Maybe this ice cream will send some thoughts for warm days? 🙂
We absolutely love curling, Matt! It is indeed very popular in Canada, but it’s gaining traction quickly here in the States. That trip was the first time I’d curled in Canada, and it was great. Everyone was so friendly! (Then again, the curling community is almost always very friendly.)
And that’s a great idea to make ice cream with the kiddos. I think Robbie is making ice cream at preschool today…I wonder how that will go. Haha! 🙂
peanut butter with banana is one of my all time favourite combo. I can survive on it. This ice cream will vanish in no time from our table. excellent photos David too.
Have a great day!
Thanks so much, Priya! I love a good ice cream, and the peanut butter + banana combo here is delicious! 🙂
Did you have a curling tournament in Ontario? Wow. If we still lived in Ontario, you could have stopped and I would have made something delicious (Lavender based, perhaps?) for you. Please consider having your tournament in Nova Scotia next time – I’m noticing so many clubs even in small towns across the province. And this ice cream? You know my love for it, all year round. But believe it or not, I haven’t opened the season of homemade ice cream yet (I’ve only made sorbet). Anyway, this ice cream sounds delicious and looks super rich and decadent. Approved by Ben.
So our tournament was indeed in Ontario, although Ontario is quite a large province. We were down in Sterling…about 1.5 hours east of Toronto. It was a very small town, but they had a curling club! I’ll have to see about curling tournaments in Nova Scotia next. However, I suspect the drive might be a bit long to get to those places! Either way, I appreciate that this ice cream got the Ben seal of approval. It’s a good one! Now I challenge you to get your ice cream maker out. Summer won’t be here forever!
Oooh, I love this recipe, David! Anything peanut butter is definitely on my list. Love the banana addition too. You’re right, Elvis would be a fan! And let me know about those smoked peanuts, they sound awfully good, too!
I totally want to figure out how to make smoked peanuts! I bet there’s a way. Think how good those would be in the fall for football season! Thanks, Laura!
oh wow. this sounds fun! how in the world were you able to take those great photos! My ice cream always turn into soup!!!
Wow, thank you so much, Mimi! Truthfully, ice cream is my least favorite thing to shoot. It’s such a rush to get the photos before it turns into, well, soup. One of my tricks is to actually scoop the ice cream out, and then let those scoops refreeze. It buys you a couple extra minutes, but still not the easiest thing. Either way, thank you again! 🙂
This ice cream looks amazing, David! I love the combo of peanut butter and banana! So interesting that peanut crops are zero waste – I had no idea! Great excuse to eat more peanuts!
Exactly! Peanuts are delicious in their own right, but then the zero-waste thing is pretty darned cool, too. This peanut butter + banana ice cream is definitely good for hot summer days! 🙂 Thanks, Marissa!
This ice cream looks so rich and creamy and I love banana peanut butter smoothies, so I KNOW I would love this. And I just learned everything I never knew about peanuts. Such cool info. ~Valentina
Peanut butter + banana is such a fun combination! Add in the fact that it’s a creamy ice cream, and I’m pretty much set for a hot summer day. 🙂 Thanks so much, Valentina!
I’ve always loved anything peanut butter – especially ice cream! I just had an “Elvis” milkshake the other day that was chocolate, PB & banana heaven 🙂
Oh man, if you put a chocolate drizzle over this ice cream, then you totally would have recreated that milkshake! I love how creamy the banana makes the ice cream. Thanks so much, Nicole! 🙂
I love taking the back roads and discovering new places. I also love your mental notes – now don’t forget cause I really want to hear about smoking with peanut shells! I’m not a fan of peanut butter, but my kids and hubby are and I tend to make them things that will make them happy! This would make them very, very happy!
Same here, Kathy! The back roads might take longer, but you get to see such cool things along the way. I love ’em! I expect you to hold me to the smoking with peanut shells challenge. I’ll do it! Also, the cool thing about this ice cream is you could easily make a banana only batch (for you) and a banana-peanut butter batch (for the kids + hubby). That way everyone would win! 🙂 I hope you had a great weekend, my friend!
I think I need to make some of this creamy peanut butter banana ice cream right away David as it’s been quite hot here over the last few days and Lynne’s almost finished the ice cream we’ve got left in the freezer! And plus it looks absolutely delicious!
You should totally try your hand at this homemade ice cream, Neil! It’s so creamy and delicious. The banana + peanut butter combo is quite tasty, too. It was insanely hot here over the weekend, too, with really high humidity. Too bad we had already eaten all of this ice cream…I could’ve used some to cool off for sure! 🙂 Stay cool, my friend!
David, I think you’re on to something there with the smoked peanuts! So cool how the peanut is a zero waste crop.
This peanut butter banana ice cream looks fabulous! Amazing flavor combination. Gotta try it with the bacon!
Yeah, I’m actually kinda excited about the idea of smoked peanuts! Think how good those would be for football season. We’ll see, though. I’ve gotta figure out how to cold smoke them as I’m guessing the heat would cause moisture and that would be bad. Stay tuned… 🙂
In other news, this ice cream is amazing! Perfect for these hot days we’re having right now. (Well, it did cool off yesterday, but this past weekend was insanely hot here!) Hope you’re staying cool, my friend!
Love banana ice cream! Always amazes me how creamy it gets…it’s almost like it’s too good to me true..don’t ya think?? And you can’t go wrong with pb, if you ask me! Two, no three, scoops for me please!!
I totally agree! It’s crazy to me how creamy a good banana ice cream is. Perfect for hot summer days! And peanut butter makes almost everything better, so the combo is quite delicious if you ask me. Thanks, Dawn!!
yay to peanut butter but not so much bananas. i can’t eat them as is but they’re ok in smoothies etc. so maybe i can give this a go. cheers sherry
If you’re ok with bananas in smoothies, then I think this ice cream (or “nice cream” as I’ve heard it called) would be fine! Thanks, Sherry!!