Creamy Frozen Fruit Ice Cream: The Blender Method for Any Fruit
Making homemade ice cream without an ice cream maker sounds complicated… until you try this one.
We actually own an ice cream maker. It was a Christmas present and it’s given us plenty of good moments. But ever since we figured out this way of making ice cream with frozen fruit, milk powder and yogurt, the machine mostly just takes up space in the freezer 😜
We’ll walk you through the whole process step by step. We’re using strawberries here, but this is really more than a recipe: it’s a method for homemade fruit ice cream that works with almost any fruit. Blueberries, mango, banana, peach, cherries…
And once you’ve got the base down, the same mixture turns into chocolate-dipped bars with a crackly shell. That part is further down the post.
This one has it all: it comes together in minutes, it takes only 4 ingredients, you can make it with no added sugar, and the texture is properly creamy 😋
How we make it at home, step by step
Frozen Fruit Ice Cream (Any Fruit, No Ice Cream Maker)
Ingredients
- 250 g frozen strawberries or any fruit you like
- 1 ripe banana, frozen about 100 g
- 30 g milk powder about 3 tablespoons; look for nonfat dry milk
- 30 g Greek yogurt optional, about 3 tablespoons
Instructions
- Freeze the fruit in small pieces on a parchment-lined tray, in a single layer, for at least 2–3 hours.
- Take the fruit out of the freezer 10 minutes before blending.
- Blend the strawberries (or whichever fruit you're using), the banana, the milk powder and the yogurt until the mixture is creamy. If it gets stuck, scrape the sides down with a spatula. Use a low speed if your blender is powerful.
- Serve right away for soft-serve texture, or freeze for 1 hour to make scoops, stirring halfway through.
Video
Notes
- If the fruit is creamy (mango, persimmon, cherimoya): 20 g milk powder. If it’s juicy (strawberries, blueberries, pineapple): 30 g.
- Use ripe fruit: it’s your only source of sweetness. Add sugar, honey or syrup if the fruit isn’t sweet enough.
- It’s at its best freshly made. After several hours in the freezer, take it out 10–15 minutes before serving.
- With this same mixture you can make Magnum-style bars with a crackly chocolate shell. Full step-by-step further down the post.
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Why this recipe works
The base of this ice cream is simple: frozen fruit, milk powder and yogurt.
The frozen fruit gives it body and instant cold. The banana brings creaminess. The milk powder is what gets you a texture close to real ice cream, because it adds milk solids without adding liquid. And the yogurt helps everything blend smoothly and softens the final texture.
The result is a homemade ice cream you can eat straight from the blender, soft-serve style, or freeze for a while so it firms up enough to scoop.
A note on the milk powder. In the US you’ll find it in the baking aisle labeled nonfat dry milk or instant nonfat dry milk powder (Carnation is the one you’ll see most often). It’s the one ingredient here that isn’t already in most kitchens, and it’s also the one that makes the biggest difference, so it’s worth picking up a box.
The method: how to make it with any fruit
This is the best part: it isn’t a recipe, it’s a method. It works with almost any fruit using the same formula every time — 250 g fruit + 1 banana — and adjusting only the milk powder depending on how watery the fruit is:
Creamy fruits (low water) → 20 g milk powder (2 tablespoons) Mango, papaya, persimmon, cherimoya, figs… or just banana on its own.
Juicy fruits (high water) → 30 g milk powder (3 tablespoons) Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, peach, pineapple, kiwi…
The logic is simple: the more water the fruit holds, the more milk powder you need to absorb it and keep things creamy. Store-bought frozen fruit works too. Frozen blueberries in particular are excellent and give you a gorgeous color. Cherries turn out spectacular, just pit them before freezing.
How to freeze the fruit properly
The single most important thing for this recipe is freezing the fruit in small pieces: the smaller they are, the easier they blend.
Wash the strawberries (or whichever fruit you’re using) and cut them into halves or chunks. Peel the banana and slice it thin.
Spread the fruit on a tray lined with parchment paper, in a single layer, without the pieces touching too much. That way they come apart easily later. A plate works too, but parchment makes it far easier to lift the fruit off.
Into the freezer for at least 2–3 hours, or until it’s frozen solid (overnight is perfect). And yes: the waiting is the hardest part of the whole recipe.
How to make homemade Magnum-style ice cream bars
This same mixture works for popsicles, and with a chocolate coating you get homemade Magnum-style bars that hold their own against the store-bought ones.
Fill your molds with the freshly blended mixture. No popsicle molds? No problem: use an empty yogurt cup and stick a spoon in as the handle. Into the freezer for 2–3 hours, until completely firm.
For the coating:
- Melt the chocolate over a water bath. It’s the safest way: chocolate scorches at a low temperature, and a water bath melts it evenly with no risk. Chop it small so it melts faster (about 3 minutes). You can use the microwave if you’re in a hurry, but watch it closely.
- Measure the right amount: melt only as much chocolate as fits in a glass slightly wider than your bars. That way nothing goes to waste.
- The trick that changes everything: add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to the melted chocolate. The coating comes out much thinner and crispier. It works exactly like a magic shell. Ever since we discovered it, our bars have been on another level.
- Dip the bars straight out of the freezer. Because the ice cream is so cold, the chocolate sets almost instantly and forms that crackly shell.
- Before it sets completely, customize them: shredded coconut, chopped nuts or a few flakes of sea salt.
Dark, milk or white chocolate all work. Whichever you like best.
Frequently asked questions about frozen fruit ice cream
Does any kind of yogurt work?
Any yogurt works, not just Greek. And by the way, if you’d like to make your own Greek yogurt at home, we have the recipe.
Is the banana essential?
No, you can make it without banana. But it brings a creaminess that’s hard to get any other way, plus natural sweetness.
If you’d rather skip it, replace it with more frozen fruit and add a little extra yogurt if the mixture gets too thick. Naturally creamy fruits like mango work very well without it.
Can I make it without sugar?
Yes, and that’s how we make it. It all comes down to the fruit: the riper and sweeter the banana and the fruit you use, the sweeter the ice cream.
If you still want it sweeter, add a little honey, maple syrup, brown sugar or plain sugar. You can also use whole dates, just blend them very thoroughly so you don’t get little bits.
Can I make it lactose-free?
The two ingredients with lactose are the milk powder and the yogurt, and both come in lactose-free versions. We haven’t tried it yet. If you do, tell us how it turns out in the comments 😊
Why did my ice cream turn into a block of ice?
It’s almost always one of two things: not enough milk powder (it’s what absorbs the water from the fruit and keeps ice crystals from forming), or the ice cream spent too many hours in the freezer. This one has no stabilizers, so overnight it hardens more than a store-bought pint would. Take it out 10–15 minutes before serving and it’ll come back.
Can I make lemon, coffee or other non-fruit flavors?
Not with this method: it needs the frozen pulp of the fruit for body and creaminess. For citrus like lemon, or for flavors like coffee, cookies or chocolate, we use a different system: a base of cream and condensed milk that also skips the ice cream maker. You’ll find the full step-by-step in our no-churn chocolate ice cream.
How long does it keep in the freezer?
It keeps for several days without any problem, but it’s at its best freshly made or after an hour in the freezer. Since it has no stabilizers and not much sugar or fat, it hardens more overnight than a commercial ice cream. Easy fix: take it out 10–15 minutes before serving and give it a stir to bring most of the creaminess back. Our advice anyway is to make only what you’re going to eat: it takes 5 minutes, so there’s no reason to store it for long 😉
Have you tried it?
If you make this recipe, leave us a star rating down below 👇 It helps us a lot so more people can find it. Tell us what you liked or what we could improve. We read and reply to every comment 😊
