Banana Nice Dream

Making healthier choices in my life means eating differently. Ice cream has been a staple and this recipe gives me something to enjoy that is still sweet, cold and creamy but is not as loaded with sugar and fat, even when I add the optional peanut butter.

It is hardly a recipe and it isn’t ice cream.  But it really is yummy and if nothing else answers the occasional question “what am I going to do with all of these ripe bananas?”   Yes, you can freeze them for banana bread (and I do) but this give you another option. It is also a fun recipe because it seems to involve just a pinch of magic.  The bananas are sliced, frozen and then whirled in a food processor or blender and they  transform from an icy slurry of banana to a pale, creamy frozen dessert.

I found the recipe at the kitchen and decided to call it Banana Nice Dream because it is like ice cream even though it has no dairy and you don’t use an ice cream maker to make it.  In fact, the basic recipe is just ONE ingredient.  If you are vegan or know someone who is or someone who is avoiding sugar or can’t tolerate lactose, give this a try.  Or even if you are just trying to make some healthier choices, this recipe is worth knowing about.

Banana Nice Dream

Ingredients

3 to 5 really ripe bananas (if the bananas aren’t spotty and even over-ripe, your Nice Dream won’t be so nice and may taste a little green)

(really, that’s it!)

Optional Ingredients

Peanut Butter

Honey

Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)

Instructions

1. Peel and slice bananas into chunks.
2. Put on a plate or tray covered with parchment paper or plastic wrap and freeze uncovered for 1.5 to 2 hours.
3. Put frozen banana  chunks into bowl of food processor (or into blender)* and process until smooth and creamy. Stop and scrape down sides of bowl as needed.  This will take about 2 or 3 minutes.
4. If desired, add some or all optional ingredients.  It depends on how many bananas you start with but for 5 bananas I use about 2 rounded tablespoons of peanut butter, a drizzle of honey and 2 tablespoons cocoa powder.

*Note: Sorry, I didn’t test it in the blender and the comment from my mom said when she tried it, it didn’t work, so I can’t recommend it.  I saw other online recipes that suggested using the blender but for now I suggest using a processor.

You can eat it freshly made and soft or scrape it into a container, freeze it and scoop it like ice cream later.

The basic recipe is good and I buy extra bananas to have ripe ones on hand for making a batch.  It wasn’t a hit with Rem but he likes the chocolate-peanut butter version.   I hope you give it a try!