Banana Split Ice Cream Dessert

If you are looking for a knock your socks off, simple to put together, frozen dessert of wonder and bliss…

Look no further, man.

You have found it! This Banana Split Ice Cream Dessert has all of the elements of a Banana Split all piled up and made to look fancy and party worthy. 🙂  Let me break it down for you, just have a little look…

A heavenly crust is made from ground up sugar cones. (Yum, totally yum.)  Vanilla ice cream, bananas, chocolate ice cream, toasted pecans and strawberry ice cream are layered on top of the crust. Silky smooth hot fudge is then drizzle over it all and a cherry is placed on top. Man, it’s good. It is quite simple to put together and only requires 30 minutes of prep time (it does need to hang out in the freezer for at least 12 hours, so you’ll need to plan ahead a bit). It can also be made up to A WEEK in advance. It would make a wonderful dessert to finish off any backyard barbecue this summer.

Let me show you how to make it happen!

BANANA SPLIT ICE CREAM DESSERT
PRINT RECIPE

Time: 30 minutes prep + 12 hours freezing time
Yield: 12 servings
Recipe adapted from old issue of Women’s Home Magazine

3 cups vanilla  ice cream (about 1/2 of a 44 ounce container)
3 cups chocolate ice cream (about 1/2 of a 44 ounce container)
3 cups strawberry ice cream (about 1/2 of a 44 ounce container)
3/4 C pecans
1 (5 ounce) box sugar cones
5 T butter, melted
2 T sugar
dash salt
2 medium-sized bananas
1 C cool whip
1 (11 ounce) jar hot fudge
maraschino cherries

1. Take your ice cream out of the freezer and set it on your counter. You want it to get a bit soft before you start to scoop it into the pan. It should soften up for you in the time it takes to toast the pecans and make the crust.

2. Grab a medium-sized skillet and pour 3/4 cup of pecans into it. Sprinkle them with a bit of salt. Heat it all up over medium high heat. When the nuts darken in color and smell like heaven (should only take about 5 minutes) take the pan from the heat and allow the nuts to cool.

3. Take a box of sugar cones,

break them up a bit and toss them into a small food processor (I used the small pitcher of my Ninga blender). If you don’t have either of these you can place the cones in a gallon sized freezer safe Ziploc bag. Seal the bag tightly and then crush the cones with a rolling pin.

Grind the cones up into coarse pieces.

4. Pour 5 tablespoons melted butter, 2 tablespoons of sugar and a dash of salt into the ground up pieces. Stir everything together with a wooden spoon to combine.

5. Grab a 9 inch spring form pan and spray it with cooking spray. Pour the crumb mixture into the pan. Using a small measuring cup press firmly into  the bottom and 1 inch up the sides.

6. Scoop about 3 cups (or 1/2 of a 44 ounce container) of vanilla ice cream over the crust. Press it down and to the sides of the pan with a large metal spoon. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look pretty. It’s just going to get covered up. 🙂

7. Slice 2 medium sized bananas and lay the pieces out over the top of the vanilla ice cream.

8. Scoop about 3 cups of chocolate ice cream onto the bananas.

Press it down and smooth it out with a metal spoon.

9. Toss the toasted pecans evenly over the chocolate ice cream.

10. Scoop about 3 cups of strawberry ice cream onto the pecans and spread it out with a metal spoon.

11. Cover the strawberry ice cream with 1 cup of cool whip.
12. Wrap the pan tightly with plastic wrap. Pop it into the freezer for at least 12 hours and up to 1 week.
13. When you are ready to serve allow the pan to sit on the counter for about  5 minutes. Remove the outside of the pan and cut the dessert with a large sharp knife.
14. Heat your hot fudge in the microwave and drizzle it over each piece. Add a cherry on top if you so desire and enjoy!