Go Back
+ servings
Best Ever Banana Ice Cream with only 6 ingredients! Vegan, paleo and refined sugar free.
Print

Best Ever Banana Ice Cream

Serves 4 adults (8 scoops of ice cream), or 8 babies!
Servings 4
Calories 291kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 large ripe bananas sliced and frozen
  • ½ c coconut cream liquid but cool
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil melted but cool
  • 1 tbsp coconut nectar*
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • pinch sea salt
  • ¼ tsp guar gum OR 1 tsp lecithin optional**
  • To serve: berries nut butter, shaved chocolate

Instructions

  • Slice banana and put in a glass/ceramic container in the freezer overnight.
  • In the morning, pull it out and leave on the bench for five minutes to soften slightly (will make things easier on your processor).
  • Meanwhile put your coconut oil, coconut cream and vanilla in a glass and put it in a bowl of boiling water for a few minutes so it can melt together (you want it to be completely liquid before adding, no hard bits).
  • Pop your banana and salt in a food processor and begin to blend. As it starts to turn into small crumbs, pour in your liquid coconut mixture slowly through the top of the machine, as it is still running. Finally sprinkle over the guar gum or lecithin if using, and blend again until well combined. This technique ensures that you don't get any hard specks of coconut oil or cream forming through your mix, or solid clumps of guar gum, and you'll end up with a silky ice cream-like texture.
  • Once everything is super creamy (don't overblend or it will start to go gooey, losing it's genuine ice cream taste and texture), pour into a chilled container straight away and pop back in the freezer.
  • If you want to eat it straight away as a soft serve style ice cream you can. Otherwise if you prefer a firmer ice cream (like I do) with actual ice cream scoops, leave it for 3-4 hours in the freezer. Alternatively you can leave it overnight and just bring it out on the bench half an hour before serving the next day.
  • To make into sundaes, pop a scoop of firm ice cream in a glass, followed by a scattering of berries, a big dollop of your favourite nut butter (mine is this ABC butter here), and a generous shaving of dark chocolate (make this homemade version or else buy one of these pre-made blocks here). Follow again with a second scoop, more berries, more nut butter and shaved chocolate. Enjoy your healthy ice cream goodness while the sun is shining!

Notes

  • If you are indeed planning to give this to your infant, then I recommend dropping the coconut nectar (just pick riper bananas!) - your child will still love it. I did this with our second batch so that Mil could legitimately eat a whole scoop sans added sweetener. Although the flavour profile for me was infinitely better with the added nectar so please don't skip it if it's just for you - combined with the salt it really helps to bring out the rich natural banana taste! You can also use brown rice malt syrup in place of the coconut nectar here.
  • The guar gum/lecithin is entirely optional and I generally make it without, but it can assist in reducing any crystals if you plan to keep your ice cream in the freezer for a while (ours only lasts 1-2 days, so I don't bother!).

Nutrition

Calories: 291kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 519mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 75IU | Vitamin C: 11.1mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg