Banana swirl is the easiest dessert. Creamy and sweet, it will have your little one excited to try a new food.
You've got to try new food because it might taste good! There's nothing like a skeptical kid giving some serious side eye to the delicious meal I've cooked that will get me to break into song... Don't you agree, mom or dad of littles?
For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, "you've got to try new food because it might taste good" is a catchy little tune that Mom tiger sings to her son Daniel in the PBS Kids show Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. A remake of Mr. Rogers, the show teaches little ones all kinds of life lessons, including how important it is to try new foods. I have sung this song to my kids for years when I make new recipes and more often than not it does encourage them to take a bite. At the very least, it always gets them laughing and rolling their eyes at me.
In one of my kids' favorite episodes, Daniel and his mom make banana swirl. Banana swirl is a sweet and creamy dessert that we adults call "nice cream". It tastes like banana soft serve, and is made with only one healthy ingredient - frozen bananas! This easy recipe is a crowd-pleaser, and has tons of customization potential. If your kiddos (or you) have a sweet tooth and you have never tried banana swirl, you just have to try this recipe.
Don't make me sing...
You Will Love This
- A super simple and delicious dessert for your arsenal of healthy recipes. It's awesome to have a healthy dessert option at your fingertips!
- A great way to use up overripe bananas. You might even find yourself hiding the green bananas so you have some left for banana swirl.
- Tons of customization options! This basic recipe can be used to make an endless number of nice cream flavors.
Ingredients
Gather up your ingredients. For this simple recipe, you will need:
- Just bananas! The basic recipe for banana swirl is just frozen bananas. It doesn't get any easier. You want to choose overripe bananas - the more brown, the sweeter. Underripe bananas will not be sweet enough, and they will not have as creamy of a texture.
- If you find your banana swirl is hard to blend, you can add a tablespoon or two of milk to loosen it up.
Make it your own!
In my humble opinion, the promise of toppings and add-ins is the absolute best part of banana swirl! This simple recipe has about a million variations, and I'm prepared to bet that all of them are delicious. Not only that, but this is about as healthy as dessert gets. Here are a few ideas on how to customize your swirl:
- Top plain banana swirl with mini chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, salted caramel, a drizzle of peanut butter, or some chopped nuts (all totally delicious pairings with the banana flavor).
- Add unsweetened cocoa powder, maple syrup and vanilla extract for yummy chocolate nice cream.
- Blend in frozen strawberries, raspberries or blueberries for berry banana nice cream.
Equipment
For this recipe, you will need a blender or food processor. If you want to freeze your banana swirl before serving for a more scoopable ice cream (as opposed to a soft-serve consistency), you will also need a bread loaf pan.
Instructions
Step One: Peel overripe bananas and slice them into rounds. Place the banana slices in the freezer for at least an hour.
TIP: If you do not have a high-speed blender, I suggest you freeze the bananas in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper. Having the banana slices separate from each other will make your blender's or food processor's job easier. If you do have a high-speed blender that can handle larger clumps of frozen bananas, feel free to just dump the banana slices in a freezer bag.
Step Two: Put the frozen bananas in the blender or bowl of a food processor. Blend the bananas until nice and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. If you find your bananas are hard to blend or are just sticking to the bottom of your blender, add milk or water a tablespoon at a time to loosen them up. I added one tablespoon of milk for two bananas.
Step Three: For a delicious soft-serve texture banana swirl, scoop the banana mixture into bowls, top with desired toppings, and serve! For a more scoopable traditional ice cream texture, put the banana swirl into a loaf pan and freeze for an hour or two. If it's too hard to scoop when removed from the freezer, just let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes.
Recipe
Banana Swirl
Ingredients
- 2 overripe bananas
- 1-2 tablespoons milk as needed
Instructions
- Peel overripe bananas and slice them into rounds. Place the banana slices in the freezer for at least an hour.
- Put the frozen bananas in a blender or the bowl of a food processor. Blend the bananas until nice and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. If your bananas are hard to blend or are sticking to the bottom of the blender, add milk a tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency.
- For a delicious soft-serve texture banana swirl, scoop the mixture into bowls, top with desired toppings, and serve! For a more scoopable traditional ice cream texture, put the banana swirl in a loaf pan and freeze for an hour or two. If it's too hard to scoop when removed from the freezer, let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes.
Tony
This is a great healthy dessert!