Freezing bananas for "ice cream"

[Valkarie]

I have seen dairy free ice cream type recipes using frozen banana and made some yesterday. My blender is not particularly strong and it did struggle with the frozen banana pieces. The result was tasty but lumpy.

All the recipes I have seen say to freeze first and then blend. Is there any reason I can't do it the other way round?

[FairyLightFiend]

I’m not sure if I could see it working the other way - I imagine it would just freeze into a solid lump of mashed banana. I’ve found that when I do it, the smaller the frozen pieces are, the fewer lumps I end up with. Perhaps try breaking your banana into smaller pieces before freezing?

Also, if you add a bit of cocoa power you an make amazing chocolate/banana “ice cream”.

potters off to freezer

[Blondie1984]

You need to blend afterwards as it breaks down the ice crystals that will have formed to give the smooth texture - if you do it the other way around then it will be quite grainy

[Valkarie]

Great, thank you. Will try chopping smaller and adding different flavours.

[NannyR]

I freeze them in slices and leave them out to defrost for 5-10 min before blending.

[MollyHuaCha]

I use Nanny's method. Works well with my ancient blender.

[serbska]

I cut an overripe into thin coins, freeze the coins on a tray and then when frozen tip into a small freezer bag.

I find it works better in my food possessor than lender hug but it doesn’t have any issues with the frozen coins.