My mom gave me a Yonanas machine for my birthday a number of years ago. I was a bit skeptical. I eat bananas, but I don’t like banana flavored anything, especially ice cream. Well, let me tell you what my friends, bananas can make one heck of a faux ice cream. And wait for it….it’s even healthy!
Mixing in a little peanut butter and cocoa powder is my favorite, but I’ve included several other flavor combinations for you to try. It’s the consistency of frozen yogurt, without any of the dairy. Awesome, huh? You really can have your ice cream and eat it too! I’ve been doing this for several years now and people are always asking for the recipe. I’ve even served it to kids and they had NO idea!
PRO TIP: This recipe works best with bananas that have ripened to the point where they have little black spots appearing. Bananas have various stages or ripeness and become sweeter as they progress, with a less pronounced banana flavor.
Watch the video below where I walk you through every step of the recipe. I love including videos with every post for those who are visual learners. You can see my entire collection of video recipes HERE.
Healthy Ice Cream
- 2 bananas, peeled and frozen
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- Cut the bananas into chunks and put them in a food processor or heavy duty blender (or a Yonanas Machine).
- Blend until smooth.
- Add in the desired flavor (in this case peanut butter and cocoa powder), and blend until everything is incorporated and smooth.
Strawberries (just blend a handful in with the bananas)
Coconut and Chocolate (2 tablespoons coconut milk or coconut oil +1 tablespoon cocoa powder)
PB Banana (just add 2 tablespoons peanut butter
PB and Jelly (1 tablespoon peanut butter + 1 tablespoon strawberry jelly)
This recipe first appeared on The Stay At Home Chef on May 2, 2013
Jennifer {The Craft Patch} says
Mmm… that sounds good! I wonder if my sad little blender could handle this.
I would want to try a pina colada tropical flavor combo…maybe coconut milk, pineapple and mango?
Anonymous says
awesome idea! count me in for waiting for that recipe!!! thank you for that idea!
Anonymous says
That looks amazing!!! Can't wait to try it out!!!
Robin says
Saw this on Pinterest, and oh my god it was amazing! My entire family thanks you!
Jason, Suzy, & David says
i did dates and it was so good!
Anonymous says
This is so amazingly good (and healthy too :D), thank you!
Sonerila says
Your avocado/tuna dish looks scrumptious & I’m sure will taste scrumptious. I see a lot of great looking recipes here, but this faux ice cream was horrible. Had to toss it. Just couldn’t eat another bite.
Rachel Farnsworth says
Really? That’s odd. I wonder if your banana wasn’t sweet enough.
elise says
Hmm.. any other flavor recommendation?
Is it nice if coffee flavor i wonder…
Rachel Farnsworth says
Those are the ones I’ve tried and liked best. It’s easy to experiment with your own flavor combinations.
Penny at Enjoying The Simple Things says
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Toni says
I have tried this faux banana ice cream with frozen peaches. It was delicious! I’m going to try your version next.
Donna says
Looks good. I’ll have to try it & figure out the calories.
Anita ray says
I try it today for the first time and I love it I needed something dairy free since I can’t have dairy products it is very tasty
Ellie Wachholder says
Do i have tofreeze it or is it ready after it is mixec
Rachel Farnsworth says
It’s ready immediately.
Derp says
This is better than empty calories in highly sweetened whipped ice cream, but all the recipes given here are high in calories – bananas are the highest calorie fruit, peanut butter and cocoa powder aren’t great either. This isn’t a diet ice cream, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t even describe this as healthy without the qualifier that it’s healthier when compared to some commercial ice creams…
Rachel Farnsworth says
Depends on how you define healthy. I am of the opinion that healthy has nothing to do with calories. Depending on what you add to it, you may end up with significant nutritional value since bananas are quite high in nutrients. Limiting calories can lead to starvation. Basing choices on nutritional value seems more like a healthy choice.