Guilt free ice cream anyone? – or should I say, ‘nice cream’!

Banana ice cream, or better known as ‘nice cream’ is a huge craze right now and for good reason. It’s creamy, (just like ice cream), sweet and delicious! But, get this – ice cream with an N in front is fruit based and sugar-free, it’s also commonly dairy free and vegan. Yep, it’s the healthiest kind of ice cream you can ever treat yourself to. Especially if one of the ingredients is homemade yogurt! Now you’re talking! Gut friendly ice cream too! Yes please. 

The best news is you don’t even need an ice cream maker! A high-speed blender can transform slices of frozen banana into a whipped, soft-serve dessert in moments.

Now, this one’s for chocolate lovers. You might not choose to eat a real Snickers bar, but I bet you’ve had one once and I bet you can recall the yummy combination of flavours. This version has Medjool dates masquerading as caramel, plus peanut butter and honey-candied peanut brittle. It’s oozing with deliciousness. Any homemade yogurt you fancy can go into the mix. This one has 24-hour cows milk yogurt but it is delicious with coconut or nut milk yogurt too.

NICE CREAM TIPS 

• Rule no. 1. Never run out of frozen bananas! When you see bananas on sale, buy up, so that nice-cream is only ever moments away.
• Let your bananas ripen and get plenty of brown spots on the peel. Firm, un-ripe bananas result in an earthy, chalky taste, rather than the sweet, caramelized flavor they develop when the skins turn brown.
• Once over-ripe, peel the bananas, cut into pieces, and freeze. Bananas last months in the freezer.

WATCH HOW IT'S MADE HERE

Serves 4 - 5
This recipe has a Vegan option & is GAPS friendly if cacao is tolerated

INGREDIENTS

Ice cream
4 frozen, overripe bananas frozen, chopped
1 teaspoon of honey or maple syrup
¾ cup (your preferred) homemade yogurt
¼ cup raw cacao powder
2 tablespoons of peanut butter (or nut butter of your choice)
3 Medjool dates

Nut brittle
¼ cup crushed peanuts (or nuts of your choice)
1 teaspoon of honey or maple syrup
Pinch salt

METHOD

Preparation the day before:
Peel the bananas, cut into small pieces and freeze overnight.

Nut brittle

1. Gently heat a heavy based pan on your stovetop.
2. Add the crushed nuts and honey and stir immediately to thoroughly coat.
3. On a low heat, stir continuously for approx. 1 minute or until the nuts are caramelized but not burnt.
4. Remove from the heat and transfer the nut crumble to a plate.
5. Separate the nut clusters so that they do not cool into one solid clump.
6. Set aside until required.

Ice cream

1. Deseed the dates and chop into pieces.
2. Combine all the remaining ingredients in a food processor or high-speed blender and blend until you achieve a consistency that resembles soft serve ice cream. Use the ‘tamper’ insert in the blender lid to push the frozen banana down into the blades, or you may need to stop and scrape down the sides several times before you reach the right consistency.
3. Note: If your machine is having trouble processing frozen clumps, you can add up to a ¼ cup of milk of your choice or another liquid such as yogurt or whey.
4. Once you have the soft-serve texture, scoop it into bowls, sprinkle with nut brittle and eat immediately. Straight from the blender the ice cream will be smooth and mousse-like. Enjoy it right away before it melts.
5. For a firmer ice cream texture, transfer the ice cream into a container and freeze it for an additional hour, (or more) then serve with an ice cream scoop.
6. Any leftovers can be kept in the fridge and enjoyed like a smoothie or frozen for another time.

For another delicious fruit and yogurt based ice-cream, try our cultured mango and coconut nice-cream.

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