This Healthy Chunky Monkey Ice Cream is a fruit based nice cream recipe that’s super popular with kids! It’s gluten free, dairy free, egg free, and vegan as well. It’s all fruit based with no added sugar, but there’s plenty of chocolate peanut butter flavor to go around. Try it with any and all optional toppings!
A couple years ago when we started to get a little more serious about eating healthier, there was this popular idea floating around about making ‘ice cream’ out of frozen bananas. I was more than a little skeptical because ice cream is a food group unto itself in our family – it’s serious business to say the least. For years I used to make a different flavor of homemade ice cream every Sunday, (and yes… we went through a lot of heavy cream).
But I wanted to try and be open minded, so I froze some bananas and gave it a whirl. As my husband and I were trying the first spoonfuls straight out of the food processor, I think my exact response was, ‘this doesn’t taste like ice cream at all, I feel like I’m eating frozen baby food’. Since Tyler wasn’t a fan of it either, I gave up on the idea for awhile. After some time passed I just had to try it again, but this time with other ingredients instead of straight up banana.
I had a hunch that adding some peanut butter and creating some sort of chunky monkey situation might be a good place to start. And as a side note, you can use any nut butter here in place of the peanut butter if that’s not part of your diet. The peanut butter added just enough richness, and the cocoa powder cuts the straight up banana flavor, and a shot of vanilla extract rounds it all out.
I didn’t tell Tyler I had made another ‘banana based ice cream’ before he tried it, and he absolutely loved it! I’ve started making it almost every week as a little something sweet to have around for late night chocolate cravings. It keeps really well with a fairly soft creamy texture in the freezer above my fridge, but it does get a little too hard to eat when I put it in the chest freezer.
Let’s jump in and talk about how to make this Healthy Chunky Monkey Ice Cream!
For this recipe you want ripe speckled bananas, which is another bonus I love because I almost always have bananas going brown before I can use them. Now, when I know I’m not going to use them in time, I break them up into quarters, and freeze them for ‘ice cream’.
I just froze mine in a plastic bag, but you can use any kind of reusable container you have as well.
I wasn’t very careful about chunking up my bananas before freezing them and there are some bigger pieces in the above photo. But over time I’ve learned that it’s better to break them into quarters or smaller before freezing them because it’s easier to process them into ice cream.
I usually have to stop the food processor a couple of times to scrape down the sides. Break up and chunks that form and process again.
You’ll know your ‘ice cream’ is done when it’s all smooth with no chunks remaining.
I love how this ‘ice cream’ is so creamy with the texture of soft serve. And I would’ve never thought that bananas could create such magic!
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Healthy Chunky Monkey Ice Cream
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This Healthy Chunky Monkey Ice Cream is a fruit based nice cream recipe that’s super popular with kids! It’s all fruit based with no added sugar, but there’s plenty of chocolate peanut butter flavor to go around. Try it with any and all optional toppings!
Ingredients
5 ripe bananas, peeled and frozen
1/4 cup peanut butter, or any other nut butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder, I used Dagoba
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt
Optional ‘chunks’ for mixing in:
sliced bananas, chocolate chunks/chips, roasted peanuts/nuts, and cacao nibs
Instructions
At least 8 hours or 1 day before you plan to make this recipe, cut/break the bananas into quarters and freeze them.
Remove the bananas from the freezer, and place them into the food processor. Sometimes they freeze together and you’ll need to break them up as you put them in.
Add the peanut butter or other nut butter, cocoa powder, vanilla, and a pinch of sea salt.
Secure the lid and process until the mixture gets stuck in the food processor. Stop and scrape down the sides, breaking up and chunks that have formed. Continue processing, stopping when necessary until the the mixture forms a creamy smooth ‘ice cream’. This takes anywhere from 3-5 minutes.
Serve immediately or place in the freezer for a few hours to create a firmer texture.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Food Processor
- Cuisine: American
Just verifying the chocolate powder blends with the cold ingredients before I try to serve it tomorrow.
Yes it goes in all together, and only the mix-in chunks are added at the end. I sure hope you enjoy this, and be sure and let me know how it goes!
When will your new cookbook be out??
I’m not sure what you’re referring to by ‘new cookbook’ if you could add some details? I do have an e-book called Inspired Ice Creams if that’s what you meant, I’ve left the link below. I sure hope you enjoy this ice cream!
https://getinspiredeveryday.com/inspired-ice-creams-e-book/
Wow! This is amazing! It tastes so good. The banana and chocolate flavors were perfectly balanced. I already want to make it again!
Thanks so much, and I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂
Seriously delicious! Is it terrible that between myself, my 4 year old, and my 20 month old there were no leftovers?? We’ve been dairy free for 4 years and this is way better than any store bought dairy free ice cream. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and it’s not terrible at all! I’m sending you a link to my dairy free category on the blog, and hopefully that will be of some help. I also have a dairy free ice cream e-book that I’ll include a link to, but don’t feel like you need to have a look or anything, I just thought you might enjoy it since you’re dairy free! 🙂
https://getinspiredeveryday.com/dairy-free/
https://getinspiredeveryday.com/inspired-ice-creams-e-book/
We happen to have a machine especially made for this- and somehow the thought of cocoa ANDpeanut butter has escaped my mind! But yes, you have to add the extracts to have a flavor beyond baby food with bananas! And this recipe is SO getting transcribed into my cookbook, out is sooo delicious!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I was really surprised how little it takes in the way of extracts/nut butter/cocoa powder to take nice cream from a baby food flavor to actual ice cream!