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Banana Pudding Ice Cream

Banana pudding ice cream—creamy banana-infused vanilla ice cream with crushed Nilla wafers and banana slices for a frozen banana pudding texture. Cooked custard, chilled until cold, then churned with add-ins for thick, scoopable results.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
chilling + freezing 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 430
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

banana puree
  • 3 very ripe bananas Use very ripe bananas for natural sweetness and smooth blending.
custard base
  • 2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 0.75 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 0.25 tsp salt
banana pudding mix-ins
  • 1.5 cup Nilla wafers Roughly crush; reserve for folding in after churning begins to keep texture.
  • 0.5 cup banana slices Use frozen banana slices for visible pieces in the finished ice cream.

Equipment

  • 1 ice cream maker

Method
 

Blend and set up
  1. Blend very ripe bananas until completely smooth, then set aside.
  2. Add heavy cream and whole milk to a saucepan and heat until steaming.
Make the custard
  1. In a bowl, whisk egg yolks with granulated sugar until smooth.
  2. Slowly whisk the steaming cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper.
  3. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard reaches 175F.
  4. Strain the custard and stir in vanilla extract, salt, and the banana puree until fully combined.
Chill and churn
  1. Cool the custard completely, then refrigerate for 4 hours.
  2. Churn in an ice cream maker until thickened.
  3. In the last 2 minutes of churning, fold in crushed Nilla wafers and frozen banana slices.
Freeze to scoop
  1. Freeze until scoopable, stirring/loosening only if needed after hardening.

Notes

For the smoothest banana flavor, use very ripe bananas and blend them until no specks remain. Refrigerate the custard base up to 4 days before churning. After churning, freeze until scoopable (best texture within 1–2 weeks); freezing is yes. For a dairy-light swap, replace whole milk with an equal amount of low-fat milk and use half-and-half for part of the heavy cream, then expect a slightly softer texture.