brownie-crusted banana ice cream pie

Note to self: never go grocery shopping on the day you’re recovering from a red-eye.

These are some of the things I purchased during my so-tired-I’m-basically-drunk excursion:

2 mangoes

10 lemons

organic turkey burgers

collard greens

store brand tomato sauce

a loaf of white bread

The majority of the stuff I bought was organic, which is nice but not something I typically splurge on. I’m not sure if I was thinking “Oh, I just got back from a west coast business trip so I’m a huge baller and should buy top of the line everything.”

That doesn’t explain the tomato sauce, though. Or really the collard greens, which I’ve never eaten in my life.

I also stood in front of the Ben & Jerry’s case for at least 10 minutes. Just staring. I ultimately purchased a pint of Chunky Monkey which is my all time favorite. And it became the inspiration for this year’s birthday dessert ! The 6th one I’ve made for the blog. That makes me feel reallyyyyy old.

That, and the fact that Timehop reminded me that 5 years ago we went out in a literal hurricane to celebrate my 22nd birthday, but this year we were more than content to stay in and play cards. This is 27.

Brownie-Crusted Banana Ice Cream Pie

for the brownie crust

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups white sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweeted cocoa powder

1 tablespoon espresso powder

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

for the ice cream

3 frozen bananas

3 tbs cocoa powder

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1/4 – 1/2 cup milk (I used vanilla almond milk)

for the whipped cream

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Add the cocoa powder, espresso powder, flour and salt. You’ll have a really thick batter.

Spread into a greased and floured pan and bake at 325 for 20 minutes.

While the brownie layer is cooling, make your banana ice cream. You can certainly use actual Chunky Monkey, but I went with the frozen banana recipe. I did it in the Ninja this time and it definitely works better in a food processor, so I wouldn’t recommend a blender.

Spread the ice cream over the brownie layer and freeze.

When you’re ready to serve, top with whipped cream. I made it fresh because it was my birthday cake, but you could use Cool Whip or the canned stuff.

Top with sliced bananas, chopped dark chocolate, and chopped walnuts. I put those on the side so everyone could customize, but it’s probably prettier to dump it all over the whipped cream.