It’s a lovely summer Sunday, a perfect day to relax on the deck and enjoy the weather and some healthy ice cream. Wait, what?? Something doesn’t sound right there… “healthy” ice cream you say? YES! That’s right! I am so excited about this lovely little recipe and wonderful discovery!
I first heard about banana ice cream quite a while ago and thought “no way, can’t be, must taste like crap!”. Well I put my money where my mouth is and gave this little recipe a try, and what do you know, it’s darn DELICIOUS! This recipe is so great because it’s gives you the opportunity to be creative and create many different healthy and delicious flavors from one ingredient… frozen banana! All you do, is pop some cut up banana pieces into the freezer for a few hours, then, once frozen, put the banana in a food processor and blend. As you watch the banana change form, it slowly turns into a creamy, velvety, rich ice cream consistency! Honestly you wouldn’t know the difference! Then, to make it your own, you can add any other ingredient you like – strawberries, light coconut milk, mango, peanut butter, maple syrup, blueberries, coffee grinds, cocoa powder, you get the idea.
I love peanut butter (in moderation), so that was my ingredient of choice to add. Then I topped the delicious “ice cream” with walnut crumbs and yum yum yum!! This recipe is SO easy and such a great alternative to real ice cream which is always laden with fat, refined sugar, and lots of times other weird ingredients!
- 2 large bananas, cut into ½" pieces
- 1 tablespoon sugar-free peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts (optional)
- Cut banana into pieces, place in the freezer for 3 hours or so, do not leave overnight or they will be too frozen and could wreck your blender/processor!
- Once banana pieces are frozen, blend them in food processor until they are the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.
- Blend in peanut butter and transfer to freezer container, and freeze until desired consistency (an hour or so for typical ice cream texture).
- Garnish with walnuts or anything else your heart desires!
This “ice cream” is so wonderfully sweet from the natural sugars in the banana, there is NO need to add any sugar! It’s healthy, delicious, and an absolutely guilt-free dessert!
Enjoy!
Christal
Nutritionist in the Kitch
THIS IS AMAZING. So simple and delicious. I want this every day! I see many more bananas and much less store-bought ice cream in my future. I am so glad to have found this. I am going to impress my family and friends with this delicious nutritious dessert as often as possible. Thanks again.
You are very welcome Kayla! 🙂 Enjoy!
To make this even BETTER (I know right) use PB2! 🙂
Will be trying this out
I LOVE the idea of PB2 but I hate that they add sugar to it 🙁 Boo!
The second thing I did with my new food processor today, after making the protein bars, was to make this “ice-cream”. My husband’s response after he gobbled his up: “Is there more?” 🙂
Lol! Yes, my hubby was shocked that the ice cream was made from bananas! That’s how I make all my protein shakes now, with the frozen banana, and then I eat them with a spoon – I feel like I get ice cream every day, yet it’s good for me!! 🙂
Hi. Just wondering if you need to eat all of the ice cream you made or can you leave it the freezer for another day?
Hi Angie! You can definitely keep it for another day, the only thing is that it will get quite frozen, so you will have to unthaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes before you can eat it, or you can always pop it in the fridge a few hours before eating as well!
Thanks for sharing Christal! I like your tip on cutting the banana into small pieces and then only freezing for 3 hours before putting in the food processor. I tried this recipe before with larger very frozen banana pieces and it DID wreck my food processor! I can’t wait to give it a try with your tips. Sounds delicious! (and food processor friendly!)