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Healthy Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

By Brittany Mullins

4.63

106

Published Jun 08, 2020, Updated Jan 21, 2024

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GFGluten-FreeDFDairy FreeVVeganVGVegetarian

Make healthy chocolate banana ice cream with frozen bananas, cacao 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 from Carl’s Ice Cream, the best soft-serve ice cream shop ever. 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
• Mint Chip Avocado Ice Cream
• Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
• Greek Yogurt Popsicles
• Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

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4.63 from 51 votes

Healthy Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

By: Brittany Mullins

Make healthy chocolate banana ice cream with frozen bananas, cacao powder, almond milk and almond butter. It's absolutely delicious, healthy, dairy-free and doesn't require an ice cream maker!

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 servings

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 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

Serving: 1/2 of recipe | Calories: 240kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 26mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 23g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate banana ice cream

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