Friday, February 22, 2013

Frozen Banana Soft-Serve "Ice Cream"


I think most of us have seen various "recipes" for this on Pinterest. I did not invent this, and I'm not sure who really did or I would praise them repeatedly, but it is AMAZING. Delicious "soft-serve" without the guilt. Perfect! My whole family loves it and we make a toppings bar to make it fun. (This part adds a little unhealthy to it, but not in comparison to what you would get with real ice cream or frozen yogurt. And technically you can keep this part totally healthy too if you want.)

Ingredients:
Bananas (just starting to brown - NOT black ones, but not greenish either)
Peanut Butter (1 spoonful or to your taste)
Dutch Cocoa Powder (about 2tbsp or to your taste preference)

How to make:
1. Slice up bananas in coins and put in ziploc freezer bag. Freeze until frozen. I froze ours last week so they were ready any night we wanted some.
2. Take out of the freezer 10 minutes or so before you are ready to blend. I used this time to cut up strawberries and get our topping bar ready.
3. Blend slightly thawed banana coins... this process takes a bit, I won't lie, but it's worth it. If you have a vitamix or a really great blender this may be much easier for you. You can use a spoon to carefully help the bananas into the blending blades. It also helps to do a little at a time versus filling the whole blender up. Once it gets started it will go from banana gravel to creamy soft-serve. It's magical. If you are really struggling, you can add a tiny bit of milk, but be careful as the consistency without milk is already very soft, so you don't want it runny - we aren't making milkshakes here.
4. Once bananas are completely blended into smooth soft-serve, add the peanut butter and cocoa powder. Blend again until mixed well.
5. Put it in bowls and use desired toppings. (This time we had strawberries, chocolate sauce, caramel, mini marshmallows, and sprinkles as options. In the past we have had blueberries, raspberries, chocolate chips, etc)
6. Serve and enjoy without the guilt!

I love it when healthy food tastes amazing! This is also great for people who can't handle dairy well (myself included). I don't have any pictures of the finished project because we ate it all too fast.

Enjoy and let me know what you think! :)

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