First off, what is nice cream? The concept is simple: freeze sweet and nutritious bananas, then blend them up until they form a creamy, dreamy mock ice cream. And for a food lover who studied both nutrition and sensory science, this recipe is basically a unicorn for me – the best of all worlds! Today, you’ll learn how easy it is to make nice cream, along with ways to customize it with your favorite flavors (like chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry)!
You’ll need two things
Banana: The riper the banana the sweeter the ice cream! Milk: Any milk you like will work. Cows or plant-based.
how to make it
Step 1: Prepare The BananasChop your bananas into chunks and lay in a single-layer on a parchment-lined plate or tray. It’s important that you peel the bananas before freezing! (Grab our full guide to freezing bananas here.) Step 2: BlendThrow the bananas into a heavy-duty blender or food processor. I use a Vitamix blender for this, which powers through the frozen banana-like butter. Step 3: Freeze ItYou can eat the nice cream straight out of the blender if you like the soft-serve texture. For a firmer texture, spoon the mixture into a deep dish and set it in the freezer for about 30 minutes until it firms up. Then just scoop, serve, and enjoy!
using a food processor
Food processors are better for breaking up ingredients, while blenders are better for, well, blending. We highly recommend using a blender to make banana nice cream; otherwise, the banana turns into flakes instead of ice cream.
Nice Cream Flavors
The best thing about making nice cream is all the flavors you can create! Here are a few of our favorites:
Vanilla Nice Cream: Use the base recipe below, adding ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Tropical Nice Cream: Use 3 frozen bananas, ½ cup of frozen mango, and ½ cup of frozen pineapple. Instead of using milk to blend, add a splash of orange or pineapple juice. Mocha Nice Cream: Use the base recipe below, adding 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon of instant coffee, and a handful of chocolate chips. Strawberry Nice Cream: Use 3 frozen bananas and 1 cup of frozen strawberries (or cherries!) Raspberry Basil Nice Cream: Use 3 frozen bananas and 1 cup of frozen raspberries, adding 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh basil.
