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Banana Pudding Ice Cream

Banana pudding ice cream with creamy banana-infused vanilla custard, crushed Nilla wafers, and banana slices for a frozen banana pudding feel in every bite. Churned and folded for a thick, scoopable texture with wafer crunch throughout.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
chilling + freezing (4 hours chilling + freezing until scoopable) 4 hours 4 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 34 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 520
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Bananas
  • 3 very ripe bananas Use very ripe for natural sweetness and smooth banana flavor.
Dairy base
  • 2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
Sweetener
  • 0.75 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
Flavorings
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 0.25 tsp salt
Mix-ins
  • 1.5 cup Nilla wafers, roughly crushed Crush to a mix of fine crumbs and small pieces for texture.
  • 0.5 cup banana slices (frozen) Fold in at the end to keep banana pieces from breaking down.

Equipment

  • 1 ice cream maker

Method
 

Make the banana custard
  1. Blend the ripe bananas until completely smooth, then set the puree aside.
  2. Heat the heavy cream and whole milk until steaming, but not boiling.
  3. Slowly whisk the steaming dairy into the egg yolks and granulated sugar to combine.
  4. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard reaches 175F.
  5. Strain the custard and stir in the vanilla extract, salt, and banana puree.
  6. Cool the custard completely, then refrigerate for 4 hours to chill thoroughly.
Churn and freeze
  1. Churn the chilled custard in an ice cream maker until thickened.
  2. Fold in the crushed Nilla wafers and frozen banana slices during the last 2 minutes of churning.
  3. Freeze until scoopable.

Notes

For the silkiest texture, chill the custard until very cold before churning—warm base leads to softer ice cream. Store leftovers covered in the freezer up to 2 weeks. Freeze yes; for best scoopability, let it sit 5 minutes at room temperature before serving. Dietary swap: use lactose-free milk and cream in place of dairy for a lactose-reduced version (egg-based custard remains).