Dairy Free Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter "Ice Cream"
with Pecans and Organic Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
So my youngest of four children is not only unable to eat dairy, but is our first that opened our eyes to the issues of additives such as food dyes and various preservatives (which she reacts strongly to with several issues). While I am thankful for the insight, as I am now much more aware of what I put inside my body, it still makes finding things, especially treats, a bit more of a chore!
However, we found a delicious treat that is not only clean, but also dairy-free so that she can enjoy it with us! I hope you like it too!
Like all ice cream, you start with your 'base', but of course we are not using cream! In this case, the base is bananas and peanut butter. It mixes easy, freezes well (without being solid) and becomes a vehicle for many other options. If you don't like or can't have peanut butter or bananas ... well ... sorry! If not, enjoy this incredibly simple recipe!
The Base:
Ripened Bananas (organic if possible) (300g) - about 3 average sized bananas
Natural Peanut Butter (organic if possible) (9Tbsp) - about 3T per banana
You can whisk these with some muscle, blend them with some patience, or do what I do, and use the food processor! Process it until nice and creamy.
At this point you actually can be done. I know of others that simply use this as the ice cream, put it in a freezer safe storage container, and leave it at that!
Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and begin adding your other "stuff".
For this recipe, I used:
3 Tbsp Cocoa Powder (organic if possible)
1 Tbsp Agave Sweetener (organic if possible)
1/4 cup Chopped Pecans (organic if possible)
1 Package of Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
- You could substitute here, but be careful as while quality dark chocolate does not contain milk, some other products do squeak some in, including other nasty ingredients that have nothing to do with peanut butter cups! Besides, give Justin's a try, you'll love it!
Then just whisk everything together until combined and place into a freezer safe storage container until frozen.
No, it's not "Ice Cream", but from one ice cream lover to another, you won't be disappointed with this replacement. Certainly not low-cal, but it's clean eating and dairy free!
* Neat little trick, after whisking, try spreading the mixture on a graham cracker, top it with another graham cracker, wrap it, and freeze it. You just made an ice cream sandwich! By the time it's frozen, the moisture from the mixture turned the graham cracker into a more cake like coating that makes for a perfect non-dairy ice cream sandwich!
Enjoy ... we all did in this family!!!
~Matt
