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Made with, at a minimum, only 2 ingredients, this healthy Nice Cream recipe is an ice cream lover’s dream come true. Nice cream is simply put, a vegan dessert made from frozen bananas and a bit of almond milk. This dairy-free and vegan frozen dessert is creamy, rich and so delicious! It’s easy to add-in a few extra ingredients to make different flavors, and we’re sharing all our favorites below!
Healthy Banana Nice Cream Recipe
Don’t be fooled by the description of it being healthy, this Nice Cream is sinfully delicious! Allow us to introduce you to banana ice cream! A frozen vegan dessert made from bananas, almond milk, and a couple of optional add-ins to make your favorite flavors. While not technically ice cream, this frozen dessert is a healthy spin on the cool summertime classic that everybody loves. We are including our base banana nice cream recipe, as well as recipes for our three favorite flavors: peanut butter, chocolate, and strawberry. We are hooked on this, and think once you give it a try, you will be too!
But first…what is Nice Cream?
Nice cream is a dessert made from frozen bananas! It’s blended up with a bit of liquid (we recommend almond milk) that turns it into a creamy and sweet soft-serve like a puree. It’s called nice cream because it’s like a healthier version of ice cream.
How To Make Banana Nice Cream
Bananas are the first order of business! We have found that ripe bananas with just a few brown speckles on the yellow peel to be perfect ones for this recipe. If your bananas aren’t ripe, the nice cream won’t be sweet. And if they’re overly ripe, they’ll give the nice cream a funny flavor. Stick to perfectly ripe bananas for this!
Next, the bananas will need to be frozen, for at least 2 hours. You can either freeze the bananas whole, or sliced. Slicing them will allow the banana to freeze faster, but it also can promote oxidation and turn the bananas brown. So if you are slicing the bananas, be sure to place them in a bag or container.
Once the bananas are frozen, it’s time to blend! This can be made in either a powerful high-speed blender or a food processor. Place all ingredients in the machine and process until the nice cream is completely smooth and airy. While it’s coming together you might need to scrape down the sides of the machine to help the mixture come together once or twice.
Now there are two choices, either eat the nice cream as soft serve immediately or transfer it to a loaf pan or an other freezer-safe storage container and freeze for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Because this isn’t traditional ice cream, it isn’t scoopable right away once frozen. When ready to serve, let the nice cream sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes, or until scoopable. This will vary depending on how hot (or cold) your kitchen is.
Once it’s easily scoopable, serve with your favorite toppings!
Nice Cream Flavors
The options are truly endless when it comes to how you can flavor your nice cream, but we’re offering you three additional recipes in combination with the base banana ice cream recipe:
- Peanut Butter Nice Cream
- Strawberry Nice Cream
- Chocolate Nice Cream
But really you can get creative and add in:
- frozen fruit (blueberries, raspberries, etc)
- any nut butter (almond butter, tahini, etc)
- broken up cookie pieces (chocolate chip cookies, oreos, etc)
- extracts (mint, almond, etc)
- chocolate chips
- shredded coconut and coconut milk
- instant coffee
- spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, etc)
- granola
How to Store and Serve Nice Cream Recipe
Store nice cream in a covered container. Technically this can be kept frozen for up to 2 months, but we recommend you eat it as soon as possible. When it comes to nice cream, the fresher the better!
Because this isn’t traditional ice cream, it is quite solid when frozen. When ready to serve it, let the nice cream sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes, or until scoopable. This will vary depending on how hot (or cold) your kitchen is.
Once it’s easily scoopable, serve with your favorite toppings!
We loved topping it with:
- nut butter
- chopped chocolate
- dye-free sprinkles
- chocolate ganache
- shredded coconut
- granola
Watch the video here:
If you like this healthy dessert, check out these others:
- Protein Fudgsicles
- Chia Honey Lime Fruit Salad
- 2-Ingredient Strawberry Fruit Leather
- Healthy Chocolate Hummus Dip
Healthy Nice Cream
Ingredients
Nice Cream Base:
- 3 large bananas about 12 ounces, sliced and frozen at least 2 hours
- 2-4 tablespoons almond milk or coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- pinch of salt
Strawberry Nice Cream:
- 2 large bananas about 8 ounces, sliced and frozen at least 2 hours
- 8 ounces frozen strawberries
- Pinch salt
- 2-4 tablespoons almond milk or coconut milk
Peanut Butter Nice Cream:
- 3 large bananas about 12 ounces, sliced and frozen at least 2 hours
- ⅓ cup peanut butter
- Pinch salt
- 2-4 tablespoons almond milk or coconut milk
Chocolate Nice Cream:
- 3 large bananas about 12 ounces, sliced and frozen at least 2 hours
- ¼ cup dutch cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a food processor or high-speed blender. Process until the nice cream is completely smooth and airy, stopping as needed to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in more liquid if needed.
- Transfer nice cream to a loaf pan or other freezer-safe storage container and freeze for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- Let the nice cream sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes, or until scoopable. The time needed to let sit will depend on how warm your home is!
- Scoop and serve as is, or with desired toppings.
I’ve made 6 flavors so far: Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Ginger, Coconut, Pumpkin Spice and Tahini. The chocolate comes out the creamiest and is my favorite for taste with Peanut Butter a close second. The Tahini is amazing! Ginger was a little “too spicy” according to my friend, maybe I overdid the powdered ginger and could have used only diced candied ginger. Coconut and Pumpkin Spice were both very mild with a strong banana flavor. Haven’t tried using fruit or chocolate chips yet and plan to keep experimenting, it’s so much fun.
I ate it too fast to snap a pic. I sprinkled in some pumpkin spice and topped with grated caramel salted dark chocolate Yum!
If using peppermint extract…how much should I add?
I think about 1/4 teaspoon – 1/2 teaspoon depending on how minty you want it!
I hate banana flavor. Is there anything else I can use instead?
Sorry, the main ingredient in this recipe is banana, and there is no substitute.
Hi! I’m just double checking about the cocoa banana recipe, so no almond milk goes into that one? Thanks in advance!
Hi Courtney! That’s correct. The maple syrup gives it what it needs to come out smooth and creamy. If you do need to add in a tablespoon of almond milk though to get it creamy, that’s fine to do!
Delicious! Perfect consistancy
I made this nice cream in two flavors: chocolate peanut butter and strawberry. I’ve tried many other banana nice cream recipes and NONE compare to this one!! By far the most creamy and best tasting nice cream I’ve made, thanks to this recipe!!
YAY! So happy to hear!
Thank you guys so much for featuring this! Dairy free and no ice cream maker needed? A woman’s dream! Would it be ok to freeze the bananas DAYS in advance, or is it better to keep it at the shorter time period?