Banana Nice Cream

I have been reading around on some raw and whole food foodie blogs about the miracles of frozen banana ice cream.  Apparently bananas have some sort of bizarro-land properties to them that make them turn into the texture of soft serve if you prep them right.  I didn't believe it.  Then I did it for myself. Holy crap, it really does.

The trick is to cut your banana into chunks, and freeze them ahead of time.  In the food processor, blend the frozen chunks for about 3 minutes.  You will need to open the top and scrape down the edges every 30 seconds or so.  At first. the chunks will knock around, then it becomes a powder almost; when it starts to melt is when the magic happens and the substance comes together. It really is like soft serve.

The first time I made this, I did 2 bananas, and covered the top with a tablespoon of almond butter (about 300 cals), but the almond flavor was lost in the pure banana goodness.

Tonight, I did 1 banana, and after I went through the process and it was in ice cream form, I added 2/3 cup of frozen pineapple, and 2 oz. of frozen plain non-fat Greek yogurt and blended for a bit longer.  I think I have died and gone to heaven.  Over the top I spooned on 1.5 tablespoons of coconut butter, which hardened up on the cold surface, so it was like having Magic Shell

Calories on this bowl of fun were 341.



Other combination I have tried : frozen star fruit & strawberries (add additional fruit after banana is already in the "powder" form) which only came out so-so - to much extra fruit.  Frozen black cherries; frozen strawberries.


Gratuitous food-porn closeup shot: