Homemade Vegan Banana Ice Cream

Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream (Ela Vegan) uses ripe frozen bananas (choose an organic peanut butter to avoid palm oil). Banana ice cream, often called ‘nice cream’ is one of the best ways to use leftover bananas. It’s simple, naturally sweet, and is no effort. All you need is frozen banana and a blender or food processor strong enough to handle it.

Start with sliced frozen bananas. Blend them until they break down into crumbs, then keep going. At first it may look dry or grainy, but after a minute or two it usually turns smooth and creamy. If needed, add a tiny splash of plant milk to help it along, though too much can make it loose.

You can eat it straight away as a soft-serve dessert, or freeze it for an hour if you want a firmer scoop. Because banana is the base, the result tastes clean and sweet rather than heavy. It feels like a proper pudding, though it starts with fruit that might otherwise have been thrown out.

To make a vegan banana split, just slice a fresh banana lengthwise, and add scoops of vegan ice-cream (vanilla and chocolate), and top with chopped nuts, dairy-free chocolate sauce and a spoonful of jam.

Try this banana split smoothie (The Simple Veganista).

For tinned foods, fully remove lids (put inside) or pop ring-pulls back over holes (and pinch top opening closed) before recycling, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.

Use banana peel as homemade shoe polish!

The inside of a banana peel makes great shoe polish, just buff with a clean cloth to lift dust and give a mild shine. You can also use it over dry elbows and hands (or use a mashed banana as  a face mask, due to potassium). If composting banana peel, remember to remove any plastic stickers.