Banana Chip Ice Cream

As a child, my family and I would take yearly summer vacations to Ocean City, New Jersey.  Yeah I know, New Jersey is not that exciting (no offense to those from the Garden State) but I made a lot of great memories.  One set of memories included several trips to an ice cream stand along the boardwalk.  The shop specialized in chocolate covered bananas and banana ice cream.  The banana ice cream was served in a cantaloupe half and was the best dessert on a hot day!  It tasted like they just smashed up bananas and piled them into the melon.

The recipe below, developed by Alton Brown, is the only recipe I have found that closely mimics the flavor of my childhood.  I was also inspired to make this recipe by the pile of frozen bananas in my freezer (a great way to save over ripe bananas for later recipes).  I added the chocolate chips at the end because I love the taste of bananas and chocolate.  Enjoy!

Banana Chip Ice Cream
Adapted from recipe by Alton Brown, 2003 – aired on Good Eats

6 ripe bananas (about 2.25 pounds)
1 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
¾ cup light corn syrup
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1 ½ cups heavy cream
½ - ¾ cup mini chocolate chips

Place bananas in freezer and freeze overnight.  Remove bananas from freezer and allow to thaw for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Peel bananas and place in bowl of food processor along with the lemon juice.  Process for 10 to 15 seconds.  Add corn syrup and vanilla bean seeds and turn processor on.  Slowly pour in the heavy cream.  Process until smooth.  Chill mixture in refrigerator until it reaches 40 degrees (about 2 hours).

Pour ice cream base into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. After the ice cream starts to stiffen (about 15 minutes), add the chocolate chips, then continue freezing until the ice cream is ready.  Pack the ice cream into a plastic container.  Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream and close with an airtight lid.  Freeze until firm, about 4 hours.