Chocolate Banana Ice Cream
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Make healthy chocolate banana ice cream with frozen bananas, cocoa powder, almond milk and almond butter. It’s absolutely delicious, healthy, dairy-free and doesn’t require an ice cream maker!
Throughout the summer months I seem to crave ice cream. Maybe it’s childhood memories of chocolate and strawberry cones. Or maybe it’s the fact that it’s blazing hot outside and I need something to cool down. Either way, I could eat ice cream every day. It’s always been my favorite dessert so when I found out you could make banana ice cream from ONE ingredient (frozen bananas) I was in heaven.
I actually have to thank my mother-in-law for the idea because she was the first person to introduce me to it. This was years ago — way before the land of Pinterest. Now everyone knows about frozen banana ice cream, which is awesome!! I’m just waiting for someone to open a shop with healthy fruit-based ice creams here in Richmond.
Anyhow, this summer I’ve been on a banana ice cream bender… again. I’ve been making a bunch of different combos and have found a new favorite.
Here’s What You Need:
- frozen bananas – I recommend peeling and chopping your bananas before freezing so they’re easier to blend! Check out my how to freeze bananas guide for tips and tricks!
- almond milk – I used unsweetened chocolate almond milk for more chocolate flavor without adding sugar and it was delicious! Unsweetened vanilla almond milk works great too.
- almond butter – any brand of almond butter works – just make sure the only ingredients are almonds and salt! I like the Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s brands.
- cacao powder – or cocoa powder works!
- cacao nibs or chocolate chips – optional but I love the texture it adds. If you use chocolate chips, I recommend Lily’s chocolate chips as there is no added sugar.
We all know banana and chocolate go well together, but you introduce a little almond butter to the mix and things get real. Chocolate, banana and almond butter = the trifecta.
Of all my years buying Almond Breeze this was my first time buying the unsweetened chocolate. Crazy, right? I’m excited I finally decided to try it because I can definitely see myself buying it again. I’ve actually been using it as creamer for my iced cold brew coffee and it’s quite delicious. Like a mocha iced latte. 🙂
See how smooth and creamy it turns out?!?
Get Creative!
I added in a few cacao nibs for a little crunch, but they’re totally optional. Isaac hates crunchy things like nuts and chocolate chips in his ice cream (or brownies) so I get that some people won’t be a fan.
Nibs or no nibs, this healthy ice cream is soooo good and incredibly easy to make! Ready for the recipe?
Healthy Frozen Treats To Try
- Blueberry Frozen Yogurt
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Ice Cream
- 3 Ingredient Icebox Cake
- Frozen Banana Snickers
- High-Protein Banana Pudding Ice Cream (Ninja Creami)
- Strawberry Cheesecake Cottage Cheese Ice Cream
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Chocolate Banana Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 3 frozen bananas, chopped into chunks
- ¼ cup almond milk, unsweetened chocolate or vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon almond butter
- ½ – 1 Tablespoon cacao powder, or cocoa powder
- ½ Tablespoons cacao nibs or chocolate chips, optional
Instructions
- Place bananas, almond milk, almond butter and cocoa powder into a food processor or high speed blender.
- Pulse/process until smooth and creamy. You may need to turn off the motor and stir the mixture a couple times while processing.
- Add in cacao nibs or chocolate chips (if using) and pulse once more. Spoon ice cream in to a bowl and enjoy! If you want to be able to scoop the ice cream you can place it in the freezer for 2 hours so it’s solid enough to scoop.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This Recipe? Rate & Comment Below!
I love my Yo-nanna, frozen banana mill….wonder if this would work in that ? ( you can bet I am gonna try)
YUM!!! My husband and I are enjoying this tasty treat right now. I subbed coconut milk and peanut butter for almonds since we can’t eat almonds. I needed to double the milk to get the right texture in my food processor and it’s super tasty and creamy. I haven’t had anything similar to chocolate ice cream in close to 4 years, so this is especially special. Thank you!
I “discovered” frozen banana “ice cream” a year ago, but haven’t made it much, having recently discovered many unhappy allergies. However, I can eat sunflower butter, which is amazingly delicious, so am going to try the ice cream with that in place of almond butter. It’s a bit runny, so I may need to add more banana, but as my former mother-in-law, a Kentucky hill woman, used to say, “Ain’t complainin’, just explainin’!”
Tell me what food processor you recommend for something like this some of them are so expensive
I have a Cuisinart 9 cup food processor and use it all the time. Here’s the one I have: http://bit.ly/2zW5QMZ
…I love this idea….sounds so yummm. However, theres very litle ” almond’ in Almond Milk that you buy, and you can actually make your own. I lived in CA, in the area where there was Blue Diamond Almond Farm and Plant, but I did research on it, and havent used Blue Diamond in a long time…; I am not criticizing, I am only stating an option. I realize the post was in partnership with Blue Diamond, and I respect that,to the end that it helps make your site possible…that is the reason I stated it was not to criticize, only to share information.
I’m allergic to almonds and coconut while trying to go Paleo. Any suggestions for this recipe?
I’m sure you could use any other kind of nut butter. I’m going to try this with chocolate protein powder/shake instead of the chocolate almond milk. I’m not allergic, but I like the idea of adding a little protein.
Love this idea! Let me know how it turns out.
I tried it with my Vega Mocha flavoured protein instead of cacao powder and it was so yummy!
Hi! I am really planning to add this on my list for my soon-to-be business 🙂 I hope its okay to use this as part of my food testing and tasting hehehe but i should ask, if i put this in freezer how many days it would last?
This was so good. My husband and I enjoyed this with our evening tea. My 8 year old son was eating his Reese’s peanut butter cup ice cream sandwich and tasted ours. Now he wants some next time. Yeah, healthy ice cream snack.
This is quite amazing! I make it all the time to cure my sweet tooth. ☺️
Yay! So glad that you like it, Sandy. Enjoy.
What if I don’t find Almond milk and almond butter…..can I substitute with normal milk and butter ?
Hi Maya! You can use regular milk and another nut butter like peanut butter in place of the almond butter.