Disclaimer: I received free products from OliveNation, which enabled me to make this recipe. I wasn’t compensated to write this review, but if you purchase anything through the links in this page, than I will receive some compensation, but the products will not cost you anymore than they would normally. As always, any thoughts and opinions are my own, and I would never suggest a product that I don’t personally love!
There are a whole lot of delicious chocolate temptations floating around the internet right now. Valentine’s Day unleashes even more excuses for me to eat even more chocolate than I normally would.
I thought I would try to come up with a romantic treat that would not only satisfy the chocolate craving (it’s a deep part of my personality; a never going away, need for chocolate that’s much more serious than a craving), but actually be beneficial for my health.
When I was a kid, my mom used to run frozen bananas through her vegetable juicer. I know it sounds strange, but it turned them into a delicious soft serve ice cream texture!
I recently got to try some products from a really neat online food seller called OliveNation, and I really loved their dark cocoa powder They sell a ton of different specialty food products like olive oils, extracts, dried goods and so much more! They have a huge range of products and a good selection of organic options too.
If you buy anything from OliveNation before February 29th, you can get 10% off at checkout if you use the code: loulou10
I’m a huge fan of dark chocolate, so this cocoa powder is right up my alley.
I was worried that because there was no added sugar, the dark cocoa powder would be too bitter, but the bananas were plenty sweet enough to balance the chocolate, and the results were delicious!
Frozen bananas are kind of magical. Not only do they have the perfect texture for ice cream, but they are so sweet that you don’t need to add extra sugar!
They also have a low water content, which means that they’re soft and easier to blend in the blender.
I will tell you, the strawberries are kind of a beast in the blender, if you don’t have a high powered blender or food processor, just leave the strawberries out, or add them fresh. Bananas and cocoa powder on their own are delicious! If your blender can handle ice, than it can handle the strawberries. They have a much higher water content than bananas, and thus, are more like ice cubes when you try to blend them up.
I had to use my tamper to get the frozen fruit moving, and then halfway through, I had to stop the blender and use a spoon to move the frozen fruit puree away from the blades, because it had just gotten stuck. After that though, I was able to easily blend the fruit and cocoa powder to a frozen yogurt consistency. You can eat it just like that. Squeeze it through a star tipped icing bag if you want it to look really authentic! I froze mine for a couple of hours though, and it turned into the picturesque, scoop-able texture that is perfect for the ice cream scoop.
While it was freezing, my soon to be sister-in-law was in the kitchen asking me about what I was making, and I told her it was ice cream made out of just bananas, strawberries, and cocoa powder.
A while later she came back in when I was taking photos and she said “What? I thought there was no dairy in it? That looks like real ice cream!”
You’ll be able to eat your Valentine’s Day treats guilt free this year!
- 2 bananas, frozen
- 1 cup strawberries, frozen
- 1 tbl dark cocoa powder
- Slice the bananas into 1" pieces and add to a high powered blender or food processor.
- Add strawberries and cocoa powder.
- Process on high speed until smooth and creamy. You will need your tamper for this, and you may need to stop and loosen the frozen material around the blades once or twice, but it will blend.
- You can serve it immediately if you want it to be the consistency of frozen yogurt or soft serve ice cream, but if you want it to be harder, freeze it for 1-2 hours in an airtight container and then scoop. If you let it go too long, or you have leftovers the freeze really hard, just let it sit out on the counter for a few minutes to soften.
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I love how simple this recipe is. 🙂 I can’t say no to vegan ice cream, but you add dark chocolate and strawberries and I’m just drooling! Agreed on the frozen bananas being magical… They make everything taste soooo good. P.S.Love the ice cream dripping down the sides of the dish in your photos!
Thanks so much, Demeter! I am a big fan of simple, especially when it’s healthy 🙂
I love making ice cream with bananas too! I haven’t made it in awhile an this recipe is inspiring me to make some! Pinning!
I hope you try it again soon! Thanks for pinning 🙂
I have been hearing about this frozen banana trick for some time. Can’t wait to try. That dark chocolate looks decadent!!!
It’s super decadent! Thanks for your comment!
Easy to make and looks exotic ?
SO easy. Yes, the dark cocoa powder does make it look kind of exotic!
Oh my that is some daaarrrrkkk chocolate! Perfect for Valentine’s Day. That’s crazy that your Mom put bananas through her her juicer! She must have been ahead of her time 🙂
Yes, she was a bit ahead of her time! Thanks for your comment!
Like this simple recipe 🙂 looks delicious!
Thanks, Uma!
That is the ultimate in chocolatey! 🙂 Looks delicious and creamy. I haven’t tried frozen fruit ice cream in my high speed blender yet, but have been wanting to.
You’ve got to try it at least once! It’s kind of miraculous. Thanks for your comment!
I’ve kinda hit my chocolate limit for today but I’m pinning for later. Love the photos!
It takes quite a lot of chocolate for me to hit my limit 😉 Thanks for pinning!
Love the simplicity and it’s so healthy! My grandkids will love this!
I bet they would! Don’t even tell them it’s not “real” ice cream 😉
This is so tempting. Love the fact that it is so simple.
Thanks, Deepika. It really doesn’t get easier than this!
Now, this is a healthy ice-cream that I would eat without any guilt. Awesome recipe.
Yes, totally guilt free! Thanks for you comment, Molly!
Simple to make yet so gorgeous!! I am drooling over every pic. Gonna try this for sure!
Thanks so much, Jayshree!
I just made this. I used blueberries instead of strawberries because I forgot to get the strawberries. It turned out GREAT! The girls loved it and-of course-I love that there’s no sugar!
I’m so glad you girls liked it! I bet it would be amazing with blueberries! Thanks so much for trying my recipe 🙂