BANANA (OR BERRY) "ICE CREAM" WITH SWEET & SALTY ALMONDS - DELICIOUS!!
Are you HOT? But trying to be healthy and not take the family out to ice cream? This recipe has all the rich texture of ice cream with none of the dairy or sugar!! That, along with the crunchy topping it just might help you tolerate the heat this summer! If you're not a fan of bananas…see the "Berry Version" below at the end of this post!
- 4 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
- 1/4 cup finely chopped roasted almonds (I use raw almonds)
- 2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons good quality maple syrup, divided
- A pinch of sea salt
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Freeze the banana slices in a single layer on a tray or plate lined with parchment or wax paper. Once they freeze, use them immediately and put them in a zip-top plastic bag or airtight container for up to a month. This is from the recipe but here's my tip, it's easier…just peel the bananas and freeze them in halves. When you use them, just slice them with a sharp knife;)
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the almonds with 2 teaspoons of the maple syrup and the salt. Set aside.
Combine the frozen banana slices, the almond milk, the remaining 2 tablespoons of the maple syrup and the vanilla in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is the texture of soft-serve ice cream, scraping down the sides as necessary. Don't worry if the mixture isn't totally smooth at first - once the bananas start to break down and defrost in the food processor, the "ice cream" will start to take shape quickly.
Spoon the banana "ice cream" into bowls into bowls immediately and sprinkle each serving with a bit of the almond mixture.
Makes about 1 pint. Hope this helps cool you off!! It was 95 degrees here today and is going to be hotter tomorrow! Enjoy!
This recipe is from the "It's All Good" cookbook by Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Turshen.
BERRY VERSION...
I was looking forward to making this tonight after writing this post because it's delicious...I always keep frozen bananas in my freezer! I was disappointed to see that I only had 2 frozen bananas! So I wasn't going to give up…I eyeballed the "equivalent of the other two bananas" I was missing and used frozen berries in place of them. I used about 1/4 blueberries and 3/4 raspberries and still used the frozen bananas I had. It was AMAZING!!!