Guilt Free Banana-licious Ice Cream

This is one of the coolest things I’ve come across. Maybe I’m the last person on the planet to try it but just in case I’m not I’ll share my “discovery” with you all. I like kitchen gadgets. I like shopping on the internet. That equals a lot of catalogs in the mail. I received one recently that had an appliance where you put in frozen bananas and they come out like soft serve ice cream. Yeah, sure they do. I wasn’t going to buy another small kitchen appliance so I figured I would try it with my food processor. It’s magic. Frozen bananas really do turn into soft creamy ice cream. My food processor can turn those banana’s into soft creamy ice cream but it can’t fill a cone with that swirly soft serve pyramid but I know how I can. Now that I’ve discovered this magic the flavor possibilities are endless. Caleb, Keegan and I would like to share some of our favorites creations here for you to enjoy too.

Kristy

Ingredients:

For Banana Blackberry Ice Cream

• 2 medium sized ripe bananas
• 8 blackberries
• 4 peach slices
• 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup (optional)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

For Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

• 2 medium sized ripe bananas
• 1 tbsp raw honey or maple syrup (optional)
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp peanut butter (optional)

For Banana Sweet Potato Ice Cream

• 2 medium sized ripe bananas
• 1/4 sweet potato
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tbsp coconut milk
• 2 tbsp chopped pecans (optional)

Preparation:

1. Peel the bananas and cut into 4-5 chunks. Place in a zip top bag or in a container with a tight fitting lid. Place in the freezer until frozen.
2. Prepare any other fruit you plan on using in the same way, cutting into approximately 1-2 inch chunks or slices and then freeze. When using a vegetable such as the sweet potato cook it first before freezing. I baked the sweet potato, removed the skin, cut it into chunks and then put it in the freezer.
3. To prepare the ice cream place the bananas and any additional fruit or veggie into a food processor. Start out pulsing until the bananas are chopped into confetti sized pieces then process normally until a ball forms. You will either want to pulse a few times at this point or open the lid and chop up the ball before continuing.  Process again until you have a soft smooth ice cream.
4. Add any additional ingredients here such as spices, cocoa, sweetener or coconut milk and pulse just to mix in.
5. Spoon into bowls and serve or to make a soft serve style cone, spoon the ice cream into a plastic baggie, cut the tip at one end and squeeze out into a soft swirly pyramid.

Nutritional Info:

Each banana you use makes 1 serving.

The serving size will vary depending on any additional ingredients you add.

Nutritional information not available as it will depend on any additional ingredients you use.

Notes:

I found that any leftover ice cream you have is best stored in zip top freezer bags with as much air removed from the bag as possible. To serve remove the bag from the freezer and let thaw for 10 minutes or so and then squeeze the bag working the ice cream around to soften it back up.

Experiment with different ingredients to find your favorite combinations. Fruits, nuts, seeds, even pumpkin are all great additions.

Source: http://www.thenakedkitchen.com