Banana Bread Ice Cream Sandwich
I finally got to break in the new kitchen this weekend and have settled in more to my new place! I made a quick stir fry for dinner…
Shortly after that, I got to work on the most fabulous recipe ever. In 2008, I traveled to the beach with my friends Andrea and Rachelle to firm up details for Andrea’s wedding venue. We were treated to dinner and dessert from the wedding caterers’. The dessert that evening was a banana bread ice cream sandwich. It was like two perfect worlds colliding in one dessert. I made my own version shortly after that trip for one of our frequent get-togethers but haven’t attempted it since 2008. Andrea’s birthday is tomorrow (Tuesday the 21st) and I thought it would be the perfect recipe to attempt in my new kick-a** kitchen!
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 stick butter, room temperature (1 stick = 8 Tbsp)
- 2 large eggs
- 3 ripe bananas
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup oat flour ( ground old fashioned oats)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl. This is what it should look like, light and fluffy!
Then, add the eggs one at a time beating until yolk disappears. In a medium bowl, mash the bananas. I used a potato masher that I got a long time ago but you can use a fork if you do not have a masher. Add the the milk, cinnamon and almond extract and mix. In another medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the banana mixture to the butter/egg mixture and stir until combined. Mix in the dry ingredient bowl just until flour is blended. Over mixing can make the end result less spongy and light.
Pour this batter into prepared pan (2 buttered loaf pans or 1, 9X13) and bake 50 minutes ~ 1 hour. Ovens vary and my new oven had the toothpick-in-center-clean at 49 minutes. Cool bread before slicing. I realized mid recipe that I no longer had my loaf pans after moving! I had to do this recipe in a longer 11x 14-
Now that is a fantastic banana bread on its own but if you want the over-the-top dessert, keep reading!
Banana “Ice Cream” Filling
Ingredients
4 bananas, peeled and broken into chunks
1/4 cup chocolate chips
Directions
Blend banana pieces in blender until smooth and creamy. Add chocolate chips and pulse lightly to incorporate chocolate pieces. Pour mixture into freezer safe baggie and freeze flat for approximately 2.5 hours. Remove from freezer once banana bread is cool so that it is malleable for spreading onto slices. Slice banana bread into desired size for sandwiches. I recommend thin and shorter to make more sandwiches. Spread “ice cream” onto slice, top with second slice and re-freeze sandwich overnight. I individually wrapped these so that they were similar to true ice cream sandwiches and because it makes it easier to freeze!
Absolutely best banana recipe ever, in my opinion and I’m never bias. 
How was your weekend?
Dairy-Free Version
My friends’ baby girl is actually allergic to cow’s milk so this recipe can be easily dairy-free. Substitute 1/2 cup applesauce for the butter. Omit the 1 Tablespoon of milk or use alternate ( i.e almond milk, soy milk). The “ice cream” filling is really just bananas, so omit the chocolate chips or use dairy-free chips.
Gluten Free Version
Substitute ground oats to make 2 cups of oat flour or use 1 cup GF all purpose flour (its just more expensive than blending oats into flour).
