Irresistible soft serve banana ice cream made in the Ninja Creami, is so soft, creamy and packed with banana flavour. Only 4 everyday ingredients and nothing ultra processed!
Ninja Creami Banana Ice Cream
One of the things I really love about the Ninja Creami is the ease with which you can make delicious fruit based ice creams (as well as sorbets and frozen yoghurts) all using natural ingredients with no added nasties, and this banana ice cream is no exception!
I was genuinely amazing at how soft and creamy this banana ice cream is – it really is soft serve in a tub packed with natural banana flavour! It uses simple every day ingredients, with no need for stabilisers and processed add-ins and barely any added sugar.
More Ninja Creami Recipes
- Tart and full of berry flavour – raspberry ice cream
- Mango ice cream is a tropical delight!
- Love bananas – try my banana frozen yogurt!
- All my Ninja Creami recipes
This recipe is fairly adaptable and forgiving so the size of your bananas does not matter too much.
Good ice cream is a science, needing a careful balance of sugar, water and fat for the perfect texture, freezing point and mouth-feel. It took a good few experiments to get this recipe perfect.
Too little sugar and fat and the ice cream is icy, too much sugar and the ice cream does not freeze, and with too much fat the machine will churn it to butter as it spins.
Because bananas are already quite sweet you don’t need to add any extra sugar aside for the maple syrup to this recipe. The ice cream already has the consistency of soft serve, and adding any more sugar will stop it freezing solid altogether.
There is enough fat in the cream to make a delicious smooth creamy ice cream that is stable and doesn’t melt too quickly into a watery liquid. All of this without needing processed additions like pudding mix or gums which I prefer not to use.
Why make this recipe
- It uses just 4 simple everyday “clean” ingredients
- It’s easy to make – prepare the ice cream in advance, blitz in the tub and then process in the Creami
- Delicious – soft, rich, bursting with intense natural banana flavour
- Far cheaper than premium store bought ice cream – and no nasties – this is UPF free!
- Adaptable – once you have learnt and memorised this easy recipe, you can make any flavour of fruit ice cream
Ninja Creami Banana Ice Cream Ingredients
- Bananas – The riper the banana the more intense the flavour and sweetness. So pick ones which are deep yellow and starting to get some flecks of brown.
- Cream – British single cream (18% fat). Or you can use a mixture of two parts semi skimmed milk to one part double cream (around 48% fat) which has almost the same fat content as single cream. (This is an easy swap to both remember and calculate).
This is preferred method as I usually have double cream in the fridge to use in other recipes.
I will usually weigh the cream and milk – it is close enough to 1ml = 1g for the recipe to work
- Maple Syrup – Adds a little sweetness, flavour and improves the texture of the final ice cream. You can also use honey or golden syrup.
- Vanilla Extract / Paste – takes your banana ice cream to the next level!
I prefer a vanilla bean paste with the little black flecks of seed, as they have more flavour. It is worth spending more money on a decent brand, because if you buy a cheaper, one you often need twice as much (or more). Avoid false economy!
Vanilla extract contains real vanilla, while vanilla essence is generally synthetic and really does not taste very good. So don’t buy it.
My other Creami ice cream recipes usually use a little sugar, for both sweetness and texture, but you do not need to add it in this banana ice cream.
How to make Ninja Creami banana ice cream – step by step
Follow my step by step instructions, with hints and tips for how to make this banana ice cream perfectly every time.
Scroll down for the recipe card with quantities and more tips at the bottom of the page.
Step One – Break up the bananas and put into the Ninja pot.
Add the maple syrup (honey or golden syrup), and vanilla extract.
Pour over the cream up to the maximum fill line. The recipe is very forgiving, so with larger bananas use a little less cream, and a little more with smaller bananas.
Step Two – Use a stick blander to give it all a blitz, so there are no pieces of banana to sink to the bottom of the tub.
I find it is best to blitz the mixture as otherwise the pieces of banana will sink to the bottom. You can also blitz in a regular blender, but using the Ninja Creami pot means less washing up.
The maple syrup would have sunk to the bottom of the tub when you added it, so check it has been properly mixed in.
Freeze until solid; this can take overnight or up to 24 hours depending on your freezer.
Step Three – If the banana mixture has developed a hump or bump in the middle whilst freezing scrape with a spoon so it is flat.
Freezing with the lid off can help to stop these humps forming. Different recipes and freezers will cause different sized humps to form. If your mixture always forms a large hump give it a stir after an hour or so in the freezer.
Do not spin a mixture that has a large hump, without flattening it first. You may damage your machine.
Step Four – Put the frozen banana mixture in the machine and spin – with the regular Creami (the NC300 which makes pint pots) the light ice cream cycle gets the best results for this recipe.
Scrape the sides down and respin as needed to get the best creamy texture.
What do I do if my banana ice cream is grainy / sandy?
If your ice cream looks sandy or grainy (like this mango froyo) after processing put it back in the machine and run the respin cycle, repeat as needed. You can also add a splash of milk to help it along. Do NOT add cream – as this will immediately freeze into small lumps which will not be blitzed on a respin cycle.
Serving suggestion
Enjoy straight away as is, or top with some fresh berries, chopped nuts, a drizzle of cream, or some of my hot chocolate sauce for a treat!
Variations
I love this ice cream as it is, but if you have made it a few times and want to mix it up, replace some of the cream with:-
- 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) nut butter
- 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) chocolate spread
- 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) biscoff spread
Storage
Your ice cream will keep for a couple of weeks in the freezer in an airtight container. Before returning a half eaten pot to the freezer smooth out the top of the banana ice cream so it is flat.
Never use the respin cycle on a tub of leftovers from the freezer until after it has been spun on a regular cycle.
Alternatively you can mix some vegetable food-grade glycerine to soften the mix and keep it scoopable from the freezer. The perfect amount will vary with recipe, but start with 2 teaspoons.
Hints and Tips
- The recipe is for the regular “original” Ninja Creami (NC300). If you have the deluxe model multiply the recipe by 1.5x to fill the tub.
- Make sure the mixture is completely frozen before processing. You might have to turn up your freezer in hotter weather. On my basic freezer, turning the dial up to a higher number makes the freezer work more, giving a colder temperature. If you freezer is more sophisticated then you might have direct control of temperature.
- If you add some banana slices as additions using the mix-in function, then any re-spinning of the ice cream after refreezing will blend them completely. If you don’t want to do this, simply allow the mixture to defrost a little before enjoying. Or, you can add about 2 teaspoons vegetable, food grade, glycerine into the mixture so your ice cream is scoopable from the freezer. Experiment to perfect quantities.
- Wash the lid and blade as soon as the machine has finished.
FAQs
Either just let it thaw slightly, or process again with the light ice cream function. You can’t use the re-spin function on a solid mixture. You can also add glycerine, as detailed above.
Well, it is admittedly an expensive device but we are loving homemade fruit based ice creams, sorbets and froyos with no added nasties.
The containers, lids, and paddle are top-rack dishwasher safe. Ensure the paddle, tub, outer bowl, and lids are all separated before placing them in the dishwasher. Sometimes water can get trapped in the lid – make sure the lid is positioned with the sliding knob facing down so that water can drain out.
The advantage of the Deluxe NC501 model is that it has more cycles and you can process only half a tub at a time. We have the NC300 model which is perfect for a two person household with a smaller freezer.
The other advantage of the deluxe machine is the larger pots, which might help you if you have many people clamouring for ice cream.
Banana Ice Cream (Ninja Creami)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 bananas (1)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup (2)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (3)
- 225 ml single cream (4)
(4) In place of the single cream
- 150 ml semi skimmed milk
- 75 ml double cream
Instructions
- Prep the tub – Peel and break up the bananas and put into the Ninja pot.Add the maple syrup (honey or golden syrup), and vanilla extract.Pour over the cream up to the maximum fill line. The recipe is very forgiving, so with larger bananas there will be a little less cream, and a little more with small bananas.2 bananas, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, 225 ml single cream
- Whizz to mix – Use a stick blander to give it all a blitz, so there are no pieces of banana to sink to the bottom of the tub. Check that the maple syrup is completely mixed in, as it will run to the bottom of the tub when you add it. You can also blitz in a regular blender, but using a stick blender in the Ninja Creami pot means less washing up.Freeze until solid; this can take overnight or up to 24 hours depending on your freezer.
- Check for humps – If the mixture has developed a hump or bump in the middle scrape with a spoon so it is flat.* Freezing with the lid off can help to stop humps forming. Different recipes and freezers can different sized humps to form. If your mixture always forms a large hump as it freezes give it a stir after the first hour in the freezer. Do not spin a mixture that has a large hump, without flattening it first. You may damage your machine.
- Process – Put the container in the machine and spin – with the regular Creami (the NC300) I have found that the light ice cream cycle gives the best results. Scrape the sides down and respin if needed.
Notes
- Bananas – The riper the banana the more intense the flavour and sweetness. So pick ones which are deep yellow and starting to get some flecks of brown. Two bananas (about 200 – 220g) is perfect – but a little more of less either way won’t matter, as you adjust the amount of cream used to fill the tub. If the bananas are still on the green side of yellow then add a little sugar to the mixture.
- Maple Syrup adds some sweetness and improves the texture of the final ice cream. You could also use honey or golden syrup.
- Cream – British single cream (18% fat). Or you can use a mixture of two parts semi skimmed milk to one part double cream which has almost the same fat content. This will be 150ml milk and 75ml double cream. I nearly always weigh the cream and milk using 1ml = 1g as a guide, the recipe will still work perfectly.
- Vanilla Extract / Paste – takes your banana ice cream to the next level! I prefer a vanilla bean paste with the little black flecks of seed, as they have more flavour. It is worth spending more money on a decent brand, because if you buy a cheaper, one you often need twice as much (or more). Avoid false economy! Vanilla extract contains real vanilla, while vanilla essence is generally synthetic and really does not taste very good. So don’t buy it.
- This recipe is for the regular NC300 Ninja Creami, with (American) pint pots. For the Deluxe model use 1.5X the ingredients.
- For best results use ripe bananas as they are sweeter.
- Make sure the mixture is completely frozen before processing.
- If you add some banana slice as additions using the mix-in function, then any re-spinning of the ice cream will blend them completely.
- Smooth the surface of any leftover ice cream before returning to the freezer.
- To enjoy a half empty pot: either just let it thaw slightly or process again with the light ice cream function. You must not the re-spin function on a solid mixture. Or, you can add about 2 teaspoons vegetable, food grade glycerine into the mixture so it is scoopable from the freezer. Experiment to perfect quantities.
- 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) nut butter
- 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) chocolate spread
- 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) biscoff spread
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