Daniel Tiger's Banana Swirl - You're Gonna Bake It After All (2024)

Daniel Tiger's Banana Swirl is a healthy, super simple 1 ingredient dairy free banana ice cream that is so smooth and creamy you'll never believe it's only bananas! Gluten free, egg free, Whole30 compliant, and MSPI friendly. Top with chocolate syrup or caramel sauce "tiger stripes" if desired!

When Ava was a baby, I saw a commercial about a new show on PBS called Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. I thought it looked cute, so I would put it on for her while I graded papers. She immediately fell in love with it! In fact, her second birthday theme was centered around the show, complete with a Daniel Tiger Birthday Cake!

On one of the episodes, Mom Tiger shows Daniel how to make Banana Swirl dessert. It took me a couple years to finally try it out, but I was amazed by how well this worked. The frozen bananas are transformed into a smooth, creamy banana ice cream just by processing them in a food processor. The key to this is to keep processing until the mixture is smooth and creamy. At first it will look icy. Just keep going, and you too will be in awe of the result.

When my kids were really little, I avoided giving them excess sugar, so this was a perfect treat since it's only bananas. Now that they are a bit older, sometimes I'll add some chocolate syrup or caramel sauce "tiger stripes" on top as a bonus.

My girls absolutely love Banana Swirl and beg me to make it whenever our bananas are getting a little too ripe!

WHAT TO DO WITH RIPE BANANAS? Try Ultimate Banana Bread, Double Chocolate Banana Bread, Chocolate Banana Bread Muffins, or Banana Split Cake!

Recipe Details

For this recipe, you'll want to start with ripe bananas. They are sweeter and will make for a better tasting final product.

First, peel the bananas and cut them into chunks.

Toss them into a freezer bag and pop them in the freezer. I recommend freezing for at least 2 hours. You may be able to get away with less, but I haven't tried it myself. I often put the bananas in the freezer and make the banana swirl the next day or even a week or so later. Technically you can leave them in the freezer longer, but the bananas will change color and your final product will look a little different.

Once your bananas are frozen, simply place them into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process the bananas until smooth. At first you may think something is wrong because they may look like icy bits of banana. Keep going. If it doesn't look right, you need to process it more. Continue to process until the mixture looks like this "after" image - creamy and smooth.

I recommend serving immediately. If you want to save it for later or have leftovers, store it in an airtight container in the freezer. The mixture may get a little icy but will still be good.

If desired, top with chocolate syrup or caramel sauce!

Gluten Free Banana Swirl

Banana Swirl is naturally gluten free! It is also Whole30 compliant.

Looking for More Frozen Treats?

Check out these other Frozen Treat recipes:
Raspberry Sorbet
Vanilla Ice Cream
Mint Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
Cinnamon Ice Cream

Rainbow Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Dairy Queen Copycat Ice Cream Cake
Brownie Peppermint Ice Cream Cake

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