It’s time for another super easy banana ice cream. This time, it’s chocolate banana ice cream. Simple, delicious and healthy. It’s a combination we all adore.
I’ve shared my recipes for chocolate mint banana ice cream and for chocolate chip raspberry banana ice cream before. This one is much easier, as you probably have all the ingredients on hand.
If you don’t have any frozen banana slices, make some first. Slice a ripe banana, spread out the slices on the cutting board, and freeze for at least an hour. Waiting for them to freeze is the longest part of the recipe.
If you have previously frozen banana slices, and they’ve been in the freezer for more than a day, take them out of the freezer and defrost for 5-10 minutes. They’ll blend better this way. You don’t need to defrost banana slices that haven’t been in the freezer that long. They’ll be fine.
Put about a banana and a half’s worth of slices per person in your food processor. Don’t try to make a huge batch – you can’t refreeze this ice cream. It will solidify too hard if you do. Banana ice cream is something you make because you want it right now, not later.
Add about a tablespoon of ground chocolate or chocolate drink mix. The better the quality, the better the banana ice cream will turn out. I like to use Ghirardelli’s ground chocolate. I keep the big container on hand because it makes good hot chocolate too. You could probably make this work with Ovaltine or Quik, but I haven’t tested them. Their chocolate flavors aren’t strong enough for me.
Use the food processor on the pulse setting. Running it too long will be too hard on the motor. Besides, the bits of banana will climb out of the reach of the blades, and you have to knock them down sometimes. Keep this up until the chocolate banana ice cream is smooth.
Serve immediately. You can add toppings if you want, or drop a bit of fruit in at the very end so that you get chunks of fruit in your ice cream.
I have just one kid who doesn’t love this. It’s strange. She loves bananas. She loves frozen bananas. And she loves chocolate. But she doesn’t like chocolate banana ice cream. I don’t get it. But since the rest of my kids adore this, I’ll keep making it. The one who doesn’t like it can snack on the frozen banana slices.

- 1-1/2 frozen bananas, sliced
- 1 tbsp ground chocolate
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If your bananas have not already been frozen and sliced, slice them, put the slices on a cutting board, and freeze for at least one hour.
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If your bananas have been frozen for more than a day, take them out of the freezer and defrost for 5-10 minutes before proceeding.
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Place frozen banana slices in food processor, approximately one and a half banana's worth per person. Do not make more than you plan to serve immediately.
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Add one tablespoon of ground chocolate per person.
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Use the pulse setting of the food processor to blend the bananas. Knock down the bits that climb out of the range of the blades. Continue pulsing food processor until chocolate banana ice cream is smooth.
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Optional: Add choice of fruit chunks and give a quick pulse of the food processor to add to ice cream.
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Serve immediately. Leftovers do not freeze well.