I must confess! I used to be an ice cream fanatic!!! I can admit now, that I used to eat 1/2 gallon a day sometimes!!! And remember (I’m going to date myself!) when you could get a triple scoop of chocolate chip ice cream at Thrifty’s for 15cents??? Oh, happy days!
When I gave up dairy, sadly my ice cream days were over and I did miss it. I think I tried some at a birthday party a couple of years after not having it and my tummy wouldn’t have it! I kind of paid for that indulgence for a day or two! :-/ I never again, even took a bite of ice cream.
And how about frozen yogurt? MMMmmmm! It’s yum but again, the dairy and sugar isn’t something I care to test my tummy with. I have taken a bite of my hubby’s from time to time…..and sometimes I pay the price when I have one too many bites. It’s crazy how your body reacts when you haven’t had it for years and eat something it’s not too fond of.
So a few years back, I made up some treats with frozen bananas and added a few ingredients that would trick my palate into feeling like it’s getting a dose of ice cream and/or frozen yogurt. It’s never been something that I measured out but more “eye balled” and just added what I had on hand to switch up the flavors. And this particular flavor is only sweetened with bananas! So go freeze some and then you’ll be good-to-go!
Today’s “ice cream” is Chocolate Chip! And oh man….it kinda reminds me of the Thrifty’s triple scoop that I oh-so loved! Forget those pricier well known Ice Cream Shops – I loved Thrifty’s weird little squared off scoops!
I’ll be posting more flavors as I make them. I’m trying to be more diligent about measuring and writing down the ingredients so I can share them with you. I don’t have an ice cream maker so this is all just done in a blender (my Ninja) and then frozen in a loaf pan. You’ll need to pull that pan out for about 10 minutes before trying to scoop out but that just gives you a little time to clean up dinner dishes while the ice cream softens up a bit for dessert 
Have at it! Summer months are a-coming…..get your ice cream on!
- 1 can - full fat coconut milk/top, thick layer only (chill in fridge for a few hours to get this effect)
- 2 frozen bananas
- 2 tbsp almond butter (trust me!)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips - I use Enjoy Life (divided into 1/4 cups)
- Place a loaf pan into freezer to chill while your get your ingredients together.
- In a blender (I use my ninja), blend the coconut milk with the frozen bananas.
- Once combined, add the almond butter & vanilla....blend a bit to incorporate.
- Add 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips and pulse a few seconds to break the chips down.
- Roughly chop the remaining 1/4 chocolate chips so you have some chunkier bits and mix these in by hand.
- Pour into your chilled loaf pan and put back into freezer for 90 minutes.
- When ready to eat, let sit for a few minutes on counter to soften -- then scoop away!
- *note: the almond butter softens the taste of coconut milk so you get more of a vanilla ice cream vs. coconut ice cream.
