Chocolate nice cream made with simple wholesome ingredients is creamy and sweet without cream or added sugar!
I have a sweet tooth, BIG TIME! I also have two major weaknesses when it comes to sweet treats, chocolate and ice cream.
Living a plant-based lifestyle means saying goodbye to ice cream. But what is life without chocolate or ice cream I ask you? A very sad life I believe. Luckily, I’ve developed this nice cream recipe that is just as good as the real thing! The first time I had it, I was blown away! I’ve created a few other treats like my cookie dough nice cream, and vegan protein fluff! They all have no dairy, no refined sugar, but all the creamy sweetness of real ice cream from frozen bananas.
This is a delicious plant-based dessert recipe!
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💗 Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Healthy Ice Cream
- Only takes 5 minutes to prepare.
- Only need 3 simple ingredients.
- Vegan
- Easy Recipe
- Dairy-free
- Refined sugar-free
- Gluten-free recipe
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
Sliced Bananas: Frozen sliced bananas ice cream texture. Bananas still have sugar, but it’s natural sugar. In fact, bananas are high on the glycemic index. But when you compare chocolate nice cream to chocolate ice cream you decrease the amount of total sugar and have 0 g of refined sugar.
Cacao Powder: Adda a deep and robust chocolate flavor. If you don’t have cacao powder then you can use cocoa powder.
Vanilla Extract: Brings out the natural chocolate flavor.
Almond Milk: Helps to create a creamy texture, and blend the bananas. You can use another type of dairy-free milk, such as coconut milk or soy milk.
📋 Step by Step Instructions for Chocolate Nice Cream
Step 1. Chop 4 frozen bananas into chunks. If you haven’t frozen your bananas overnight, cut and place banana slices onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and freeze for 1 hour.
Step 2. Place the banana chunks, cacao powder, vanilla extract, and almond milk in the food processor.
Step 3. Pulse until the mixture is completely combined and has a creamy texture. You may need to stop and scrape the sides of the food processor with a spatula to help combine the ingredients.
Step 4: Enjoy right away for a soft-serve texture, or transfer to a loaf pan lined with parchment paper, and freeze for 1 hour for an ice cream texture.
Note: The total time to complete this recipe if your bananas are not yet frozen and you want an ice cream texture is 2 hours and 5 minutes.
❓ FAQS
The sugars in nice cream are all-natural sugars from frozen bananas, so it doesn’t spike your blood sugar. Nice cream also doesn’t contain any dairy, which makes it vegan friendly, and suitable for those with a dairy allergy. It has less fat and fewer calories than traditional ice cream. It’s a guilt-free dessert!
Once you’ve frozen your homemade nice cream, it will become more of a solid rather than a soft serve. To return it to that soft-serve consistency, pull it out of the freezer to let it thaw at room temperature.
👩🍳 Serving Suggestions
Enjoy in cups or ice cream cones! There are so many different flavors you can create with this original recipe. Try some of these healthy flavor combinations. Mix these additions into your food processor or high-speed blender, or put them on top of your to create a sundae.
- Chocolate Almond Crunch-¼ cup almond butter, 2 tablespoon chopped peanuts, and 1 teaspoon chia seed sprinkles (pictured above).
- Almond Joy-¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes, 2 tablespoon sliced almonds, and 2 tablespoon cacao nibs.
- Chocolate Peanut Butter-¼ cup peanut butter and 2 tablespoon chopped peanut pieces.
- Mint Chocolate Chip-½ teaspoon peppermint extract and 2 tablespoon chocolate chips.
- Chocolate Covered Cherry-¼ cup fresh pitted cherries.
- Chocolate Strawberry-¼ cup fresh hulled strawberries chopped into chunks.
- Chocolate Raspberry-¼ cup fresh raspberries.
- Banana Nut Fudge-2 tablespoon chopped pecans and 2 tablespoon chocolate chips.
- Chocolate Mocha-¼ cup espresso.
- Maple Walnut-1 tablespoon maple syrup and 2 tablespoon chopped walnuts.
❄️ Storage
Just like regular ice cream, chocolate banana ice cream needs to be kept in an airtight freezer-safe container. It will keep for up to 7 days.
Once it sits in the freezer for a few hours, it may become solid, so when you’re ready to enjoy it again, pull it out of the freezer and let it thaw for about 5 minutes before serving.
💭 Expert Tips
- I like to use bananas that are starting to brown. When I notice our bananas are browning, I peel them and put them in a freezer-safe bag so I have bananas ready.
- Be sure to peel the bananas prior to freezing them.
- I prefer using my food processor. It does a nice job of breaking down the bananas into pieces and combining the chocolate evenly.
- If you don’t have a food processor but you have a good blender, it should still do the trick.
😋 More Healthy Ice Cream and Popsicles!
Recipe
Chocolate Nice Cream
Ingredients
- 4 bananas ripened and frozen
- ¼ cup cacao powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract
- ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk or other dairy free milk (optional)
Instructions
- Chop 4 frozen bananas into chunks. If you haven't frozen your bananas overnight, cut and place banana slices onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and freeze for 1 hour.
- Add frozen banana chunks, cacao powder, vanilla extract, and almond milk to a food processor. Blend until well combined. You may need to stop the food processor and scrape the sides with a spatula and continue blending to help the bananas blend well.
- Enjoy right away for a soft-serve texture (pictured above), or transfer to a loaf pan lined with parchment paper, and freeze for 1 hour for an ice cream texture.
Video
Notes
- The calorie count is for chocolate nice cream without any toppings or mix-ins.
- I like to use bananas that are starting to brown for a sweeter flavor.
- Peel the bananas prior to freezing them.
- For a firmer texture freeze an additional hour, otherwise, you can enjoy your nice cream right away.
- When I make nice cream I prefer using my food processor. It does a nice job of breaking down the bananas into pieces and combining the chocolate evenly.
- If you don’t have a food processor but you have a good blender, it should still do the trick.
- Freeze the nice cream for 1-2 hours for an ice cream texture.
- Enjoy immediately for a soft-serve texture.
- Chocolate Covered Cherry-¼ cup fresh pitted cherries.
- Chocolate Strawberry-¼ cup fresh hulled strawberries chopped into chunks.
- Chocolate Raspberry-¼ cup fresh raspberries.
- Banana Nut Fudge-2 tablespoon chopped pecans and 2 tablespoon chocolate chips.
- Chocolate Mocha-¼ cup espresso.
- Maple Walnut-1 tablespoon maple syrup and 2 tablespoon chopped walnuts.
Joanna
Great Nice Cream recipe. I broke my ripe bananas into smaller chunks before freezing and it worked great. Thanks!
Alison Corey
So glad you liked it! Cutting the bananas into chunks really helps when processing.
SHANIKA
I love that you’ve used frozen bananas to make this nice cream! Looks so creamy and delicious!
Kristen
I absolutely love banana nice cream. It’s such a great alternative to sugar and dairy loaded ice cream. Love that you add peanut on yours. Such a great idea!
Terri
I can imagine how hard it would be to say good-bye to ice cream! But I do understand to some degree, as I eat very little, given its calories and fat content. Nice cream is a great substitute! I need to try this chocolate variety because chocolate make everything better!
Heidy L. McCallum
Thank you for sharing your story and connecting with us readers. I am so glad you decided to take control of your medical issues. Many of us can relate. This recipe sounds perfect. Bookmarking to make this weekend.
Julia
I love making chocolate nice cream! It’s such a tasty and healthy summer treat!
Suzy
We love making nice cream at home but I never thought to use coconut milk! Love it!