Bananas Foster Ice Cream

Butter and brown sugar cooked with ripe bananas and cinnamon create a heavenly flavor for this recipe for Bananas Foster Ice Cream.

This is an easy-to-make Philadelphia-style ice cream recipe, and it doesn’t require egg yolks or a custard base. Aside from being egg-free, banana foster ice cream is also nut-free and gluten-free.

Bananas are delicious in all sorts of ice cream recipes and frozen treats! You’ll love this Fat Elvis Ice Cream.

Try making Banana Popsicles dipped in chocolate, Banana Pudding Ice Cream, a Banana Milkshake, or a classic Banana Split. This Banana Ice Cream is also a reader favorite.

Why You’re Going to Love this Bananas Foster Ice Cream Recipe

Fancy Restaurant Flavor – When I think of Bananas Foster, I think of a very fancy restaurant that I went to with my family as a kid. A chef came to the table and made this dessert for us at the table, complete with flames! You can have this same experience at home, for much less of an investment.

No Need to Flambé – The fire is fun when it’s done by a trained chef, but I prefer not to light things on fire on the stove in my kitchen. In this recipe, we’ll cook the banana foster sauce slowly, so the alcohol will cook off, flame-free.

Options – You can blend the caramelized bananas in with the ice cream base, or keep it separate to create a swirled ice cream with more texture. I’ll explain both methods below.

Ingredients in Homemade Bananas Foster Ice Cream

To Make Bananas Foster:

Butter– Melted butter makes this sauce rich and silky.

Brown Sugar – When cooked with butter, brown sugar creates a dark caramel sauce.

Dark Rum – This is a classic flavor addition for bananas foster. See below for tips on what you can use instead if you’d prefer not to use alcohol.

Cinnamon – Cinnamon stars in this recipe, and we’ll include it in the bananas and in the ice cream base.

Ripe Bananas – Use yellow, ripe bananas for this recipe. Avoid bananas that are green, or black, overripe ones.

For the Ice Cream:

Heavy Cream – Heavy cream is what makes our ice cream base rich and creamy!

Whole Milk – A mix of both heavy cream and whole milk creates the perfect ice cream texture.

Sugar – Any great ice cream will have a good amount of sugar in it, both for sweetness and texture. 

Vanilla Extract – Pure vanilla extract is in just about all of our homemade ice cream recipes. It elevates the simple flavors of sugar and cream.

Cinnamon –  Use a good quality spice for the best flavor.

Kosher Salt – A little bit of salt balances out the sweetness from the sugar.

How to Make Bananas Foster Ice Cream from Scratch

Start the day before by making sure that the bowl for your ice cream maker has at least 24 hours to freeze solid.

1. To make the bananas foster, add butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Melt completely. Stir in the brown sugar, dark rum, and cinnamon until smooth. Bring to a boil. 
2. Add the bananas and toss to coat. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes until the bananas have softened. Remove from the heat and refrigerate until ready to use. 
3. In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream, whole milk, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, and kosher salt.
4. Whisk for 2-3 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved into the mixture. You should not feel any grit if you rub the mixture together between two fingers. 
5. Churn the ice cream mixture in the bowl of your ice cream machine according to your manufacturer’s instructions (mine took about 25 minutes), until it is thick and the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.
6. In the last two minutes of the churn, add the chilled banana foster mixture and churn until combined. 
7. Spoon the ice cream into a shallow container or a loaf pan. Press plastic wrap or wax paper to the surface of the ice cream. Freeze for at least 4 hours, or until solid. 
8. Let sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes before serving. 

These numbered steps match the numbered photos above and are for illustration purposes. For the complete list of ingredients and instructions, please see the recipe below.

How to Store Bananas Foster Ice Cream

Store this homemade Banana Foster Ice Cream in the freezer in an airtight container with a piece of parchment paper or wax paper pressed on top for up to one month.

Tips for Making This Banana Foster Ice Cream Recipe

Use quality ingredients – When making homemade ice cream, you’ll want to make sure you are using high-quality ingredients for the best outcome.

Use Ripe Bananas – Banana ice cream will be sweeter, smoother, and overall just better if you wait until the bananas are very deep yellow. Avoid using bananas that are overripe though, because they won’t hold their shape.

Chill out – If possible, always start with chilled ingredients. This is important for homemade no-churn ice cream recipes and ice cream maker recipes. In this recipe, it is important to make the banana foster mixture first and chill it completely before adding it to the ice cream machine.

Don’t skimp on the fat – High-fat milk and cream are essential when making homemade ice cream. Opting for a low-fat option often leads to icy ice creams and inconsistency in the texture.

Don’t go crazy with the add-ins – If you’re adding in additional ingredients, pick one or two and make sure they are chopped into pieces no larger than a blueberry or pea.

Don’t skimp on the sugar – Sugar not only adds sweetness to homemade ice creams, it also helps with the texture. Sugar is essential for the creamy texture of ice cream.

Swirled Bananas Foster Ice Cream Recipe

This recipe blends the bananas foster syrup in with the ice cream during the last few minutes of churning to make a smooth, ice cream that is all flavored the same way.

If you prefer, you can make the cinnamon vanilla ice cream base, and wait to add the bananas foster until the end freezing stage. Layer the soft ice cream with the syrup in your loaf pan, and then gently swirl to combine.

No Churn Bananas Foster Ice Cream Directions

Chill a shallow container or a loaf pan in the freezer while you mix the ice cream ingredients.

Pour the ice cream mixture into the prepared pan and freeze for 3-4 hours. Stir the ice cream every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours to help add air. This will help create a creamy, smooth texture.

Can I Make Bananas Foster Without Alcohol?

The alcohol used in this bananas foster recipe will cook away, leaving just the flavor of the dark rum behind.

Because we aren’t going to flambé the bananas, you don’t necessarily need to use alcohol in the recipe, but if you leave the rum out of the recipe, you will want to replace it with something else flavorful.

If you would like to avoid cooking with rum, you can use rum extract or apple juice instead.

Why is it Called Bananas Foster?

This firey dessert was first created in the early 1950s in New Orleans, by a chef named Paul Blange working in Brennan’s restaurant. You see, in the 50s, New Orleans was the major port of entry for bananas imported from Central and South America, and so they were readily available, but not very exciting

The chef was challenged to use bananas in a new dessert, and he came up with this amazing dessert! Blange named the firey dessert after his friend Richard Foster.

Brennan’s restaurant still serves this dessert every day, flambéd tableside.

More Homemade Ice Cream Recipes

We have so many amazing homemade ice cream recipes here, and many are modeled after classic desserts. Try these recipes in your ice cream maker next:

• Red Velvet Ice Cream
• Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
• Birthday Cake Ice Cream
• Apple Pie Ice Cream
• Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

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