Banana Pancake Ice Cream

If you like unique ice cream flavors, you’ll love this banana pancake ice cream. Use up leftover pancakes and ripe bananas while you’re at it!

I like to make at least one batch of homemade ice cream each summer. Usually classic vanilla, strawberry or mint ice cream.

But if I get really ambitious and make a second batch, I always like to experiment with a fun flavor of my invention. This is how pop tart ice cream and milk tea ice cream came about.

This banana pancake ice cream was created entirely because I had leftover pancakes that needed to be eaten, as well as ripe bananas that needed to be used up.

I think we can all agree with Jack Johnson that banana pancakes are delicious and so comforting on a weekend morning. And who can refuse a scoop of homemade ice cream? This banana pancake ice cream is the best of both worlds.

The flavor can best be described as a mixture of butter pecan ice cream, bananas foster and maple syrup-drenched pancakes (if you make the maple brittle). Put it on top malted waffles or a caramelized banana split, or simply enjoy it in a bowl or on a cone.

You’ll need two pancakes for this banana pancake ice cream.

Yes, this pancake ice cream uses real pancakes! You’ll need just two 8-inch pancakes, so it’s best to make this ice cream after you’ve made pancakes for breakfast, and have a couple left over!

You can use whole grain pancakes or classic buttermilk pancakes. Whatever you like best is what you should use, just don’t burn them! Or, order a couple of pancakes to go from your favorite diner. No judgement!

You’ll chop the prepared pancakes into 1-inch pieces, spread them on a parchment paper-lined baking pan, and then transfer them to the freezer. Freeze the pancake pieces for at least 30 minutes or up to a few days before you make this ice cream.

Having the pancakes be frozen when you mix them into the ice cream after it’s churned prevents them from breaking up into tiny little crumbles. You want to be able to see and taste chunks of delicious pancake!

Use ripe bananas, but not mushy ones.

And just like we don’t want the pancakes to disintegrate in the final ice cream, we don’t want the bananas to, either! For this banana pancake ice cream, you should use ripe bananas (some brown spots), but not overripe (all brown and mushy).

You’ll be sautéing the bananas in butter in a skillet, and overripe bananas wouldn’t hold up to that.

On the other hand, if your bananas are UNDER ripe, and you want to make this ice cream today, see my tutorial on how to ripen bananas in the oven.

Pecans add a special touch to this banana pancake ice cream.

I love adding pecans sautéed in butter to this pancake ice cream, because it reminds me of butter pecan ice cream, which is one of my favorites!

However, just like with my pear muffins, you can use any nut that you prefer, including walnuts, almonds, or even peanuts. Peanuts would make it taste kind of like a peanut butter-banana-pancake ice cream!

If you can’t eat or don’t prefer nuts at all, you can simply leave them out. In Step 2, melt the butter in the skillet, and then skip directly to Step 3 where you add the bananas (skipping the pecan part). You’ll still want to use the full amount of butter, even if you’re not using the nuts, because it adds flavor to the ice cream.

Make some maple syrup brittle as garnish, if you want!

This pancake ice cream is so delicious on it’s own, and garnishing it is kind of gilding the lily, so it’s completely optional.

But, I wanted to find a way to include maple syrup in this recipe, so I decided to make a batch of maple syrup brittle to garnish the ice cream when I served it.

It was actually pretty hard finding a brittle recipe that didn’t include nuts (because the ice cream already includes pecans), but I can vouch for this recipe, it works! It’s also delicious as a garnish to my blueberry cheesecake ice cream.