
Yeah, yeah, I’m a day late. My editor dropped three projects in my lap this week, so I’ve had my hands full and haven’t had a chance to do much blogging. Anyway, here’s your Vegan Friday recipe, posted Saturday. When you get in from mowing the lawn, you’ll be glad to have it.
Vegan Banana “Ice Cream”
Standard pint canning jar
Two overripe bananas, sliced
Chocolate sauce to taste
Optional: Whatever you like to put on ice cream (nuts, sprinkles, fruit, hot fudge, whatever)
I swiped this idea from the Internet. A few years ago, I kept seeing stickers on bananas advertising some fancy new treat called “Yonanas.” I looked it up online and found out it was an ad for a new kitchen gadget that would magically turn frozen bananas into a substance approximating the flavor and consistency of soft-serve frozen yogurt.
I looked at the gadget online and decided it wasn’t worth the money or already-limited cabinet space it would take, especially when I already owned a good blender and a set of Ball jars. The pureed-banana thing, on the other hand, seemed like a good idea, so I stole it. Here it is:

Slice overripe bananas into canning jar, leaving about an inch and a half of headspace at the top. Put the lid on and freeze for several hours (or days; I’m bad about forgetting stuff I’ve stuck in the freezer).

When bananas are frozen thoroughly, take the lid off the jar and nuke for 20 seconds to soften ’em up slightly.

Add a tablespoon or two of chocolate sauce, then replace the lid with the blade apparatus from your blender. (Protip: If you ever break your blender jar, you can replace it with any standard-mouth canning jar. You’re welcome.)
Puree, shaking the jar and/or opening it up and poking at it as necessary until all the chunks are pureed into a smooth paste that’s about the same consistency as soft-serve ice cream.
Serve with whatever you like to put on ice cream. It doesn’t taste exactly like ice cream, but neither does frozen yogurt, and it’s a lot cheaper than Rice Dream (which also doesn’t really taste like ice cream). Plus it’s hard to argue with a cheap frozen treat that contains about 250 calories, zero fat, two servings of fruit and a big dose of potassium.