Scoopable No-churn Bananas 4 Brownies Ice Cream

Super easy, super fast, no churn, creamy banana ice cream.

Have you ever tried making a meal out of what you have on hand? That's kind of what happened with this ice cream. It all started with researching how to make scoopable ice cream. There were a lot of recommendations for liquors. Apparently the alcohol keeps the ice cream soft because it does not freeze. And while it can be fun experimenting, this just is not practical for lets say those under 21 or for the wallet. Then I came across an article that suggested gelatin and decided to give it a whirl. I just so happened to have whipped cream in the fridge from the day before with, you guessed it, Gelatin! Gelatin was added to the whipped cream as a stabilizer to keep the whipped cream from weeping. Back to the ice cream. A banana, about half a can of condensed milk, and a splash of vanilla was added to the stabilized whipped cream along with some leftover brownie chunks and presto! Then I waited. 4 hrs passed and very scoopable but also not quite set. The day later and the ice cream was noticeably more scoopable yet still required some manpower. A little arm workout never hurt anybody and might even soothe the conscience of ice cream lovers. However, the title says, “SCOOPABLE” and I am not one for deception. So back to the lab. What would you do? Yes, increase the gelatin. It worked! S-C-O-O-P-A-B-L-E straight from the freezer. The heavy whipping cream can leave a slightly slippery film on the lips. So if you are up for the challenge, try my indulgent chocolate ice cream with a creme anglaise base.

Any tips?

A note for gelatin (word of advice/ tip/ reminder) : bloom gelatin by combining with water and then warming up a bit over a warm surface or microwave for 5 seconds.
A note for whipped cream: It helps to throw the bowl and whisk in the freezer for about 20 minutes prior to whipping cream. Soft peaks is when the cream forms a formless blob at the end of the whisk when the whisk is pulled out. Stiff peaks is when a pointy mountain forms at the end of the whisk when pulled out and flipped up. The difference between the two is about a minute, so don't over whip.

Any Tools?

Electric Mixer of sorts: hand or stand. An electric mixer is important, unless you can get stiff peaks with the miracle of your arm.

Scoopable No-churn Bananas 4 Brownies Ice Cream

creamy, silky banana ice cream with chunks of chocolate and walnuts, made without ice cream maker.

Serves

6 CUPS

Prep Time: 15minutes

Chill Time: 6hrs

Total Time: 6hrs 15min

Ingredients

1 ½ cups of Heavy Cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup of condensed milk

2 tbsp melted White chocolate (optional)

½ tsp gelatin w/ 1-2 Tbsp water

1 Banana

Brownies- chopped. Taken from my indulgent Brownie Recipe.

Chocolate chips or chopped chunks (substitute if no brownies, see pic)

¼ cup Walnuts, hand crushed.

Technique

1. Mash banana w/ fork, or blend with a little heavy cream in blender.

2. Whisk heavy cream till soft peaks. Add vanilla. Whisk a little bit longer to create stiffer peaks.

3. Add mashed banana and mix till incorporated.

4. Add the liquid gelatin and mix till just incorporated.

5. Add condensed milk and mix till just incorporated.

6. One time I slightly over whipped. I simply removed the whisk and folded the ingredients till incorporated. So no worries, try to salvage it. Unless, your cream has split and now has bits of butter with liquid. Please restart if this is the case.

7. Remove whisk and fold in the small brownie chunks and walnuts with a spatula.

8. It's good to cover the surface of the ice cream w/ plastic wrap to prevent crystallization, in addition to the lid of course.

9. Freeze overnight. 4 hrs is not quite enough to freeze.

Updated

January 12, 2023