Banana Chocolate Chip (Graeter’s)

Graeter’s Review No. 6: I was once served a homemade dessert made from frozen bananas run through a food processor with a touch of honey and a splash of almond milk and told I wouldn’t miss ice cream and all of that unnecessary fat and sugar. Dirty lies! That thoughtfully offered but painfully bland pile of banana snow shows the challenge the tropical staple presents for professional ice cream makers, too. I’ve had multiple pints that featured a nice, fresh banana flavor but the fruit — full of water and starch — makes for a disappointing, icy texture if not handled right. However, if you go the opposite route and avoid fresh banana altogether, you end up with a creamy spoonful of candy Runts. How will Graeter’s solve this dilemma? With their usual elegance and decadence, of course.

What I liked: Graeter’s finds that magical balance of incorporating fresh banana puree into a premium ice cream base. The signature chocolate "chips" are the perfect accessory. This pint features their milk chocolate (much to the dismay of a recent post I saw here that preferred their dark option).

What could be better: While it’s pretty perfect as is, it’s pretty simple, too. To have a shot to sit among my all-time favorites, it needs one more standout element — like the peanut butter shards that make Baskin-Robbins’ Oreo Monkey Business so crave-worthy.

How it compares: This is probably the best banana ice cream I’ve had except Häagen-Dazs’ dearly departed Bananas Foster. Monkey Business is close behind. A couple of others I find have both good texture and banana flavor: Van Leeuwen’s Caramelized Banana Honeycomb and Blue Bell’s Banana Pudding.

Possible pairing: Graeter’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. Add a side of crisp bacon if you want full-on Elvis gluttony.

Final thought: This banana base is so good I wish Graeter’s would have a little more fun and zhuzh it up each season with different mix-ins: A spring Banana Pudding fit for the Easter table (banana base, cream cheese-vanilla pudding swirl, Nilla wafers), a Banana Split for hot summer nights (swirled banana and strawberry bases, plus pineapple jam, strawberry and chocolate sauces, roasted almonds, cherries), a well-spiced Bananas Foster to greet fall (banana base, spiced rum caramel) and ginger-molasses banana bread for the holidays (banana base, ginger-molasses swirl, pieces of banana bread). All that said, this more basic version is still top banana.

Score: 9.3/10