2 Ingredient Banana and Dates Ice cream

A lot of my friends asked me about these one/two or three ingredient ice creams made without the ice cream maker. I have some recipes already on my blog which you can find through the search bar. Here is the link to the basic one ingredient banana ice cream. You can make many variations of this by adding chocolate, Nutella, mango, dates, vanilla, peanut butter, strawberry, almond butter.. Think more and be creative. There is no dairy in these but you can make with sweetened condense milk and cinnamon too.

Bananas, especially overripe ones are terrific for these ice-creams.  Frozen fresh bananas make for such a fantastic  rich and creamy custard like ice cream which you can eat as soft serve or freeze it more to make solid ice cream.

The sweetness of bananas and dates means no added sugar but adding a little honey ensures that there won’t be any ice crystals when you freeze the ice cream.

These fruity ice creams are dairy free, vegan, egg free, gluten free and very delicious. Don’t worry if you do not have those gorgeous food props or ice cream scooper and other such kitchen gadgets. You can still make this and relish.

For the dates banana ice cream you will need

Ingredients : (serves one) 

Ripe Bananas – 2 ( look for those brown spots on the skin)

Dates ( Medjool) – 5-6

Honey / Sticky date syrup – for topping ( optional)

Steps – 

Slice and line the banana pieces on a plate covered with parchment paper. Make sure the pieces do not touch each other. Freeze for 4-5 hours or overnight. I often put them in zip lock bags and freeze in advance.

Soak the dates in two tbsp of water after removing the seed. Once soft you may discard the flake dry top skin if any. Put it in freezer too.

To make the ice cream take a good food processor or a good blender. Put the frozen pieces of banana and the dates in the jar and give it some good churns. Scrape the sides of the jar to ensure smooth blending. This may require some patience so go ahead and blend till you get a soft serve custard like consistency. If you want to make a firm scoop ice cream then add a teaspoon of honey at this stage otherwise there is no need. I used it for topping.

Once you get he thick creamy rich texture you can scoop it out into a bowl and eat it as it is or spoon it in a freezer proof container and freeze for an hour.  Take it out and mix it with a spoon then put it back for freezing.

Once it is uniformly frozen scoop it out in a bowl and drizzle with sticky date syrup/honey or any of your favorite topping. It tastes delicious without any topping too.

This summer give these ice creams a try and let me know how you found them.

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Two Ingredients Chocolate Peanut Butter & Banana Ice Cream

I am big fan of anything peanut butter so while making the one ingredient banana ice cream I saved some for this delicious chocolate peanut butter ice cream. Guilt free, dairy free and vegan, this is the easiest breakfast dessert you can make. I used an organic chocolate PB but you can use a normal Homemade PB and chocolate chips too. Here is my recipe for Homemade PB

 

Ingredients : 

• Frozen sliced ripe bananas – 4 medium size
• Organic peanut chocolate butter – 3 tablespoon
• Topping – Honey coated Popped amaranth/ Multi-grain Muesli

Steps :

1. Cut and freeze bananas overnight. Make smaller pieces if your blender/processor is not heavy duty.
2. In a jar place frozen bananas and blend till it gets to creamy aoft swirl consistency. It will take time to achieve this so be patient.
3. If you find the blending hard then add a small non frozen ripe banana to the mix. It will help in smoothing the process.
4. Keep scraping the sides to ensure the fruit blends evenly.
5. Once the bananas come to a soft creamy ice cream consistency add the peanut butter. I used organic chocolate flavored but you can use chuny/ smooth plain, any kind.
6. Blend again till the PB gets incorporated and the mixture is airy and creamy.
7. You can serve this as a soft serve ice cream topped with buts or your favorite topping or spoon it in a freeze safe container and freeze for a few hours for a firmer texture.
8. Once you achieve a firm ice cream , scoop it in cones or ice cream bowls and top with muesli/ popped amaranth/ chocolate shavings/ nut butter/ cinnamon powder/ chopped nuts/ roasted broken peanuts or any other thing you crave for.

My Tip:Always use ripe banana. Add at least one overripe banana for that sweetness and creamy texture. The fruit should have brown spots on the skin. Use any peanut butter. It won’t make any difference to the ice cream. Prefer Homemade or organic.

 

Healthy One-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream

I stumbled upon this one ingredient ice cream while making the Yogurt smoothies. I usually freeze the fruits in zip lock bags and realized that this could be eaten as a fruit based ice cream too. I wonder if ice cream is a right word for this dessert but WTH, it is amazingly delicious. 100 % natural frozen banana ice cream is a perfect Paleo, Vegan, zero dairy, zero added sweetener alternative. Rich and creamy this is a marvelous guilt free treat. Add your favorite toppings or mix-in to make it more healthy and tasty. Later I found that internet is buzzing with the various one ingredient ice creams including the one made from bananas.  So the idea isn’t original.

Ingredients : 

• Ripe Bananas – 6 large (Sliced & Frozen)
• Desired Topping -Honey / Peanut Butter / Molasses /Walnuts /Raisins/Nuts/Spices

Steps : 

1. Choose Bananas with brown spots. The riper they are the creamier and sweeter your ice cream will be.
2. Slice them into coins or 1 inch pieces if your processor is strong.
3. Put them in a zip lock bag or airtight freezer safe container and freeze till completely frozen. Preferably overnight.
4. To make the one ingredient ice cream take out the frozen bananas and put them in the blender jar. If your processor is not strong add one non frozen banana for smooth blending.
5. Pulse the frozen bananas till they turn crumbly. Keep blending to break them down completely.
6. Scrap the sides of the jar with a spatula and keep blending. you will get a goey mixture in some time.
7. Have patience and blend till you see the blended bananas turn into creamy rich soft serve like texture. Keep scraping the jar so there are no pieces.
8. Give a few more rounds of blending to incorporate some air in the mixture. This will make the ice cream smoother and thicker.
9. Once done, you can eat this fabulous creamy ice cream as a soft serve immediately or scoop it out in an airtight freezer safe container to make it more firmer like the traditional ice cream.
10. After 2-3 hours of freezing scoop out the delicious creamy ice cream in bowls and serve with your favorite toppings. I used honey and peanut butter,
11. Enjoy this guilt free ice cream any time the craving strikes.

My Tip:1. Use very ripe bananas or at least those which have some brown spots. They don’t look good but give a perfect sweet smooth ice cream. 2. Toppings are endless for this rich ice cream. Be creative. 3. You can add flavors of your choice to the basic ice cream and make it 2-3 ingredient ice cream if you wish. Add fruits, nut butters, condense milk, coconut cream, soy milk or anything that fancies you. I love it as it is.