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Mushy banana? No problem. It’s ice cream time!

Now that it’s summer, I find my bananas are ripening quicker than I can eat through them. Which means I’m left with a choice — eat the bananas faster, buy fewer, or figure out something delicious to do with them once they hit that mushy stage of over-ripeness.

Generally when people think of overripe bananas, they immediately think of banana bread. In the summer, though, I only want to turn on my oven when I absolutely have to. These days, my thoughts jump straight to ice cream, and bananas make great ice cream. All you need are two things: frozen bananas, and a food processor. Here’s how you do it.

IngredientsShutterstock

frozen (pre-peeled and chopped) bananas

water

Recipe

When your bananas start to get past the point of prime eating, peel them and chop them into 1″ pieces. Throw the pieces in a Ziploc bag and toss the bag in the freezer. The bananas will keep for a few months, so you can make this recipe as many times, with as many bananas, as you’d like. I find about half a banana per person makes one good-sized serving.

To make banana ice cream, take your frozen banana pieces and dump them into a food processor. Add a splash of water to get things started, and fire up the processor. It’ll be loud at first, but will quiet down as the banana pieces get chopped up. Process until the bananas start to smooth out into an ice cream consistency. It takes a while — at least a minute or two or five. Add more water if the bananas are getting stuck in the processor without getting chopped up. If things are moving around, just be patient and keep processing. You’ll see when the ice cream magic begins.

Once the bananas hit ice cream consistency, scoop into a bowl and eat up. Delicious, gluten-free, vegan, and all those great things. And perfect for a healthy summer treat.

Shutterstock

Notes

— You can customize this recipe any way you want. When the bananas go into the food processor, consider adding chocolate chips, frozen strawberries, or a scoop of peanut butter. It’ll all get blended up together. If you add other fruit, stick to the frozen variety so it doesn’t add too much extra liquid, which would make your ice cream into a smoothie.

— You can also customize this recipe after the banana ice cream is scooped into a bowl. Turn it into a sundae with your favorite hot fudge, whipped cream, sprinkles and nuts. Or drizzle some maple or strawberry syrup over the top. Add chopped up graham crackers or mini marshmallows.

— You can refreeze the ice cream after you process the bananas to eat later, but it won’t retain its creamy, fluffy texture. This ice cream is best eaten immediately after processing.

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