Thursday, June 27, 2013

Vegan Nut Butter and Banana "Ice Cream"


I have an ice cream maker, but sometimes I want to make an even more simple "ice cream", one which doesn't involve the heavy cream, milk, sugar, a frozen canister, etc.  And it's nice to have a vegan version of "ice cream" on hand in case you ever have a friend who is vegan or intolerant (or allergic) to dairy.   One day as I was perusing my favorite blogs, I found this great recipe from Teri at Managed Macros.  I quickly recreated it and was more pleased than I ever would have imagined!  Not only did this "ice cream" taste amazing, but it was very simple with only three ingredients.  It's also a great way to use any bananas that are about to go bad.  Don't let them go to waste, put them in the freezer and make this recipe!

In Nick's words; "This stuff tastes like peanut butter, banana whipped cream!"

Vegan Nut Butter Banana "Ice Cream"
Serves: 2

Ingredients
2 frozen bananas, sliced into ~1-inch thick pieces
3 Tbsp. of your favorite peanut butter or almond **
~1/4th cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Directions
1.  Make sure your sliced bananas are nice and frozen (they should be in the freezer for a few hours, at least).

2.  Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend away!

3.  Stop and scrape the sides as needed, and continue blending/pureeing until it's nice and creamy.

4.  Top with extra peanuts/almonds if you wish.

**NOTE:  If you are following a low FODMAPs diet you are better off using peanuts, as they contain much less FODMAPs than almonds, and the amount of peanuts in this recipe should be tolerable for most FODMAPs sensitive individuals.


Estimated Nutrition Facts for 1-serving (half the recipe)
Source: CalorieCount.com
Using peanut butter




This summer I tried the recipe with almond butter.  Almond butter tends to be a bit healthier than peanut butter simply because of it's higher content of magnesium and vitamin E (And a few other properties, which you can view here).  Did you know that both vitamin E and magnesium are good for preventing, or reducing symptoms of PMS?  Yeah ladies, stock up (or gentleman....).


Estimated Nutrition Facts for 1-serving (half the recipe)
Source: CalorieCount.com
Using almond butter

As you can see there is slightly more calories and less calcium and iron in the peanut butter version.  And there is also more vitamin E and magnesium in the almond butter version, as I mentioned, but neither of these nutrients are required to be on the label.  I would honestly say this could be a hearty snack, a really healthy desert, or even a pretty decent breakfast (perhaps with some type of whole grain crumbled on top, such as homemade granola, cereal, popped amaranth and/or toasted wheat berries, or raw oats.



QUESTION:  What do you like better, peanut butter or almond butter?


Thanks for reading!

The Candid Rd

10 comments :

  1. this is one of my favorite treats since ice cream does not agree with my stomach

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  2. This looks great! I'm more of a peanut butter fan, but I really do need to start making banana soft serve at home.

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  3. I LOVE banana ice cream! However I've never tried adding peanut butter to it...such an obvious choice, why didn't I think of it??? Despite not being low fodmap I've never had an issue with almonds and I LOVE LOVE LOVE almond butter. Especially the freshly ground kind from Whole Foods. Mmmmmm.

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  4. My daughter bought me an ice cream maker, probably because she loves ice cream! Sad to say since the year + she's moved out, I haven't used it once. Love the idea of this one though Gina - can't wait to give this one a try!

    It's a tie - if it's by itself, peanut butter, but in things, I like almond butter :D

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    Replies
    1. Oh you've GOT to use it Biz! It's addicting, but in a good way :) Check out all of my other recipes on the side of my blog, tons of ice creams and most are lower (lowER) in sugar.

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  5. I've heard so many good things about this banana ice cream thing. I definitely need to try it...especially since i have a whole ton of frozen bananas in my freezer!

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  6. i love banana and pb combination. Will try this sometime soon

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  7. This sounds so delicious! Ive been searching for a similar recipe so this is perfect. cant wait to try it out! :)

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  8. Yum! I've made this "vanilla" flavored by adding a healthy dash of vanilla extract to it, but I've never tried a nut butter in it. Bet it's delicious!

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  9. I have been attempting to make this for a few weeks now! For some reason, every time I freeze bananas, they end up getting used for something else. I have two in there now though, so hoping to whip this up next week!

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