Banana Caramel Ice Cream Cake is a decadent frozen layered dessert with banana, dulce de leche, and vanilla ice creams, crunchy almonds, and toffee bits in a sweet and salty graham cracker crust. It's like a banoffee pie in ice cream form!
Be sure to try No-Churn Coffee Ice Cream and Lemon Blueberry Graham Cracker Ice Cream Sandwiches next!
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, you'll get more FREE recipes and tips from my Midwestern kitchen to yours!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Midwestern HomeLife
Jump to:
If you've never had banoffee pie, it's a treat! The name is a combination of banana and toffee and it's a traditional English dessert made from bananas, caramel-y dulce de leche, and whipped cream in a cookie crust.
I still remember my first bite of it during a trip to England a loooong time ago, so I decided to make my own version of it with this homemade ice cream cake recipe!
You're Going to Love This
- Like a frozen banana cream pie with layers of banana, vanilla, and dulce de leche ice creams
- The thick, buttery graham cracker crust is a sturdy, sweet and salty base for a creamy ice cream pie
- Easy ice cream cake recipe you can customize with different types of ice cream and toppings
- Great birthday cake idea for summer birthday parties!
Ingredients
See recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full list of ingredients and exact amounts.
Graham crackers. A homemade graham cracker crust is the perfect cookie crust for this ice cream pie.
Salted almonds. Almonds add crunch, keep the graham cracker crust from being too sweet, and add a salted caramel vibe. Skip them if you're not into nuts in ice cream.
Ripe bananas. The bannas go into the homemade banana ice cream layer -- because there is no such thing in stores (not here, anyway). For best flavor, use bananas with brown speckles.
Vanilla ice cream. Use a good quality vanilla ice cream since it goes into two layers.
Dulce de leche ice cream. Use your favorite brand, I like Haagen-Dazs. Use caramel or caramel swirl ice cream, if you can't find it.
Dulce de leche sauce. Dulce de leche is a gooey caramel sauce, but thicker, and more luscious. Find it with ice cream toppings or the baking aisle. Or use a thick store-bought caramel sauce or make homemade dulce de leche.
Toffee bits. Buy plain or chocolate English toffee bits or crush up Heath bars or Skor bars.
Sea salt. A pinch of salt enhances the flavors and leans more into the salted caramel flavor.
Substitutions
- Try my homemade Oreo cookie crust recipe (increase to 3 cups Oreo cookies and 6 tbsp butter).
- Make your own ice cream cake concoction with your favorite ice cream flavors. Chocolate ice cream would be awesome with bananas, caramel, and toffee!
- Sprinkle dark chocolate chips, chopped Snickers or peanut butter cups, toasted coconut, pecans, or peanuts between layers.
- Top the finished dessert with chocolate sauce, chocolate ganache, hot fudge sauce, cookie crumbs, chocolate shavings, or candied nuts.
How to Make Banana Caramel Ice Cream Cake
Step 1: In a food processor, pulse graham crackers, almonds, and butter into fine, moist crumbs. Use the bottom of a glass to lightly press crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of a 9" springform pan.
Step 2: Bake crust in preheated oven at 325 for 10 minutes. Cool completely.
Step 3: With a fork or potato masher, mash bananas in a large bowl. Stir in softened vanilla ice cream until combined. Pour banana ice cream into cooled crust. Freeze until firm.
Step 4: Top the frozen banana ice cream layer with dulce de leche (soften in microwave, if necessary) and chopped almonds.
Step 5: Spread softened dulce de leche ice cream in an even layer over the banana ice cream layer.
Step 6: Top with dulce de leche sauce, toffee bits, and sea salt. Freeze until firm.
Step 7: Spoon softened vanilla ice cream over dulce de leche ice cream. Top with toffee bits and chopped almonds. Cover with foil or plastic wrap. Freeze several hours or until completely firm.
Step 8: Allow banana caramel ice cream cake to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes to slightly soften before cutting. To serve, drizzle the top of the cake with warm dulce de leche sauce. Top with regular or caramel whipped cream or whipped topping.
Expert Tips
- Use a glass to firmly pack the graham cracker crust into the bottom of the pan. Be careful not to press too much or the crust will become hard and difficult to cut.
- To soften ice cream, set it on the counter for 10-15 minutes or in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.
- The banana ice cream layer may take longer to firm up because of the addition of room temperature bananas.
- Give each layer of ice cream about an hour to freeze before adding the next.
Recipe FAQs
Store leftovers in the freezer, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container for about 5 days.
Banoffee refers to the flavor combination of bananas and toffee. The toffee flavor usually comes from sweetened condensed milk that’s been boiled down to a thick and creamy caramel-like sauce.
Caramel sauce and dulce de leche taste similar, but they are made differently. Caramel sauce is made from sugar, cream, and butter, while dulce de leche is made from milk and sugar.
You can let ice cream soften in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes or at room temperature for 10-15 minutes.
More Delicious Desserts
Let's Stay in Touch
Follow Midwestern HomeLife on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, and subscribe via email to receive all of the latest recipes!
📖 Recipe
Banana Caramel Ice Cream Cake (Banoffee)
Ingredients
- 18 graham cracker sheets enough for 3 cups of crumbs
- ½ cup melted butter
- 1 ½ cup chopped salted almonds (divided) I used roasted almonds
- 2 pints softened vanilla ice cream
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1 cup dulce de leche sauce (divided) or thick caramel sauce
- 1 pint softened dulce de leche ice cream or caramel ice cream
- 1 cup toffee bits (divided)
- sea salt
Instructions
Nutty Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat the oven to 325.
- In a food processor, pulse graham crackers, ½ cup almonds, and melted butter into fine crumbs. Lightly press crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of a 9" spring form pan, using the bottom of a glass to press it into the edges.
- Bake for 10 minutes and cool completely.
Banoffee Ice Cream Pie
- Mash the bananas in a large bowl. Stir in one pint softened vanilla ice cream until combined. Pour banana ice cream mixture into the crust. Freeze up to an hour or until firm. Because the bananas are room temperature, this layer may take longer to firm up than the others.
- Top banana ice cream layer with ⅓ cup dulce de leche and ½ cup chopped almonds.
- Spoon one pint softened dulce de leche ice cream over the banana ice cream layer. Top it with ⅓ cup dulce de leche sauce and ½ cup toffee bits. Freeze for up to an hour or until firm.
- Spoon 1 pint softened vanilla ice cream over the dulce de leche ice cream. Top with ½ cup toffee bits and ½ cup chopped almonds. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and freeze for several hours or until completely firm.
- Allow banana caramel ice cream cake to sit at room temperature for 5 mintues to slightly soften before cutting.To serve, drizzle the top of the ice cream pie with warm dulce de leche sauce.
Notes
- To soften ice cream, set it on the counter for 10-15 minutes or in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.
- Be careful not to pack the crust too firmly in the pan or the crust will become hard and difficult to cut.
- Allow plenty of time for each layer to freeze before adding the next and for the whole ice cream pie to freeze -- about 6 hours in all.
- For the best flavored banana ice cream, use ripe bananas that are just starting to get brown spots on them.
- The salted nuts in the graham cracker crust keeps this dessert from being too sweet
This dessert was outstanding. The perfect amount of banana, and salty and sweet flavors. The crust is delicious.
Hi, Rachel, thank you so much for your note, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Cara