Recipe for vegan no sugar added caffe mocha protein "ice cream"
Hi y'all! So I'm here today to bring you a recipe honoring one of my all time favorite foods...bananas! If you know me, you know just how much of a banana fanatic I am. My friends (both the friends that I know personally and the friends I have "met" through social media) have dubbed me "banana girl." True story. As a vegan myself, who aims for a primarily raw vegan diet, I ALWAYS have bananas around...like 3-5 bunches at a time. I can easily consume 3-5 a day just on my own so yeah, it doesn't take me long to get through 3-5 bunches lol. I not only use them for regular eating, but for baking cookies/breads/muffins etc and for smoothies/protein shakes and ice cream. In regards to the smoothies/protein shakes and ice cream, I always leave a couple of bunches to the side and let them get overly ripe and then slice them and put in gallon size freezer bags to use whenever I need them.
I have been vegetarian for almost 14 years now with the last roughly 3-3.5 years of those 14 being vegan. Also just over 2 years ago I decided to try going a month without consuming anything with added white sugar and after the end of those 30 days, I realized that I didn't miss it all that much so I have stuck with it (with one exception...I occasionally have vegan chocolate chips) since. Yes, even through birthdays/anniversaries/etc. Obviously, I do allow fruit sugars and occasionally vegan chocolate chips. With that said, I (on occasion) would miss ice cream, but with giving up white sugar and as a vegan I found myself in a bit of a bind lol. So I turned to my old faithful...the banana (I seriously just typed that while speaking it out loud in a Minion voice...yes I'm a total dork...in my defense, I have a 5 year old that loves the Minion movie...so well I've seen them say "banana" way too many times lol). While I am not by any means the inventor of the whole banana ice cream thing (sometimes referred to as nicecream), I jumped on that band wagon a couple of years ago and have never regretted it : ). The beauty of banana ice cream is that it is so versatile and you really can make as many different flavors as you like. While this one is a caffe mocha flavor, I have done everything from strawberry, cherry, blueberry, peanut butter, avocado lime (yes you read that right), chocolate chip...lots of flavors! Here are a couple of notes to consider before I get into the recipe in case you ever want to make a different variety other than this one. I always add protein powder into my banana ice cream. Do not worry if you do not have any. You can simply omit it ; ). Also, I always add a little bit of fat. Fat=flavor! I always add either a spoonful of natural peanut butter or 1/2 of an avocado. Just use your judgment...if I'm making a more fruity flavored ice cream, I'll often use avocado (unless I'm out of it course...I almost always have pb on hand though...that's the other food I'm obsessed with lol) and if I'm making ice cream with other flavors (such as this one) I go for natural peanut butter as the fat source : ).
Ingredients
Place all ingredients in a food processor (I use a Ninja brand one and it works great for me) and blend away...it may take a few minutes of blending, stopping, pushing it down on the sides, and repeating until you get the consistency that you want. Don't be quick to add too much fluid (the milk) too soon...often banana ice cream in that first minute or two seems like it is way too thick and needs more fluid, but just be patient and keep mixing. If it is obvious after a couple of minutes that it really needs help mixing then add the fluid in small increments. I did that with this ice cream and did not add the full 1/4 cup initially and did it in small increments...remember you want ice cream (if you want it to resemble "real" ice cream as closely as possible) to have a thick texture.
Notes: 1. making banana ice cream is a bit of an art...you may not get it just right the first time, but just keep practicing and you will learn how to get just the right texture and the right amount of flavor you are seeking
2. if you are making this in hopes that it will be Ben and Jerry's then this is probably not the ice cream for you...yes, it is tasty, but it's also obvious that it is a yummy and healthy alternative from "real" ice cream...for someone like me, who is a vegan and who does not consume anything with added white sugar, than it is perfect : )...also if you have food allergies to foods such as dairy (or even peanuts/nuts...just choose a different fat option or milk option) then this can be a great alternative ; )
I have been vegetarian for almost 14 years now with the last roughly 3-3.5 years of those 14 being vegan. Also just over 2 years ago I decided to try going a month without consuming anything with added white sugar and after the end of those 30 days, I realized that I didn't miss it all that much so I have stuck with it (with one exception...I occasionally have vegan chocolate chips) since. Yes, even through birthdays/anniversaries/etc. Obviously, I do allow fruit sugars and occasionally vegan chocolate chips. With that said, I (on occasion) would miss ice cream, but with giving up white sugar and as a vegan I found myself in a bit of a bind lol. So I turned to my old faithful...the banana (I seriously just typed that while speaking it out loud in a Minion voice...yes I'm a total dork...in my defense, I have a 5 year old that loves the Minion movie...so well I've seen them say "banana" way too many times lol). While I am not by any means the inventor of the whole banana ice cream thing (sometimes referred to as nicecream), I jumped on that band wagon a couple of years ago and have never regretted it : ). The beauty of banana ice cream is that it is so versatile and you really can make as many different flavors as you like. While this one is a caffe mocha flavor, I have done everything from strawberry, cherry, blueberry, peanut butter, avocado lime (yes you read that right), chocolate chip...lots of flavors! Here are a couple of notes to consider before I get into the recipe in case you ever want to make a different variety other than this one. I always add protein powder into my banana ice cream. Do not worry if you do not have any. You can simply omit it ; ). Also, I always add a little bit of fat. Fat=flavor! I always add either a spoonful of natural peanut butter or 1/2 of an avocado. Just use your judgment...if I'm making a more fruity flavored ice cream, I'll often use avocado (unless I'm out of it course...I almost always have pb on hand though...that's the other food I'm obsessed with lol) and if I'm making ice cream with other flavors (such as this one) I go for natural peanut butter as the fat source : ).
Ingredients
- 4-5 ripe/sliced/frozen bananas (this batch was 5 bananas, but they were on the small side)
- spoonful of natural peanut butter
- scoop of protein powder (I use About Time vegan chocolate protein powder)
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips/chunks (I use Enjoy Life brand as they are vegan...they carry both chips & chunks & I just use what I have on hand...but if you are not vegan then by all means use whatever brand you prefer ; ) )
- sprinkle of cinnamon (amount to your preference)
- 1-2 espressos (I just buy 1 from Starbucks...obviously if you want a stronger coffee flavor then use 2...my children eat this so I only use 1 and use a decaf espresso)
- small amount of unsweetened almond milk (I usually never measure this and just eyeball it, but for the sake of the recipe I did and it ended up being 1/4 cup...I always recommend starting off with a splash of it and then add as needed...it's not fun when your banana ice cream comes out more like mush lol...also if you are not vegan than you can add regular dairy milk as well ; ) )
Place all ingredients in a food processor (I use a Ninja brand one and it works great for me) and blend away...it may take a few minutes of blending, stopping, pushing it down on the sides, and repeating until you get the consistency that you want. Don't be quick to add too much fluid (the milk) too soon...often banana ice cream in that first minute or two seems like it is way too thick and needs more fluid, but just be patient and keep mixing. If it is obvious after a couple of minutes that it really needs help mixing then add the fluid in small increments. I did that with this ice cream and did not add the full 1/4 cup initially and did it in small increments...remember you want ice cream (if you want it to resemble "real" ice cream as closely as possible) to have a thick texture.
Notes: 1. making banana ice cream is a bit of an art...you may not get it just right the first time, but just keep practicing and you will learn how to get just the right texture and the right amount of flavor you are seeking
2. if you are making this in hopes that it will be Ben and Jerry's then this is probably not the ice cream for you...yes, it is tasty, but it's also obvious that it is a yummy and healthy alternative from "real" ice cream...for someone like me, who is a vegan and who does not consume anything with added white sugar, than it is perfect : )...also if you have food allergies to foods such as dairy (or even peanuts/nuts...just choose a different fat option or milk option) then this can be a great alternative ; )
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