Banana Chocolate "Ice Cream"

Hi guys!  How was your weekend?  Ours was great!  We had Paisley’s 5^th birthday party.  Her actual birthday isn’t until 8/30, but we wanted to have an Olympic themed party, so we did it last Sunday.  It was super fun, and everyone had a great time. 

Above is Paisley doing the sack race.  That’s an Olympic event right?  I think it is tougher than speed walking.

Peepers landing the long jump.

Addy throwing her “javelin”.  Okay, Okay….it was a pool noodle.

Cake time!

It was a really fun party!

Ok, back to the food.  This “recipe” has been floating around for a while, and it is always all over Pinterest.  I decided to give it a try, since I am trying to diet.  Dieting sucks, so I am always looking for a good dessert.  This “recipe” is for banana “ice cream”. 

I always feel like Joey Tribiani when I use quotes.  And I feel like Chandler is telling me…”Still not using ‘em right, Joe.”

Essentially, this recipe is just pureed frozen bananas.  Believe it or not, when you puree frozen bananas, it becomes the exact same texture as ice cream.  This is a great idea for dieters or those that are allergic to milk.  You would never know that you aren’t eating real ice cream.  I will show you how I made it, and the twist I added…..because I always have to add my own twist.

I used 4 bananas.  Don’t be fooled by the 2 in the picture.  I had 2 more on standby.

I sliced my bananas and placed them in a re-sealable plastic bag.  I popped this bag in the freezer and froze my bananas for about 8 hours.

I tried my best to freeze them in a single layer so they weren’t all clumped together.

I will also be using unsweetened cocoa powder, Splenda sugar substitute and peanut butter chips.

I put my bananas in the food processor and hit “on”.  My processor then jumped all over the counter, and I actually had to hold it down.

This process takes a couple of minutes, but eventually the bananas will start to melt and blend easier.

This was part way through.  It is like banana gravel/sand.

If your bananas are super hard to blend, you can throw in a teeny bit of water to get the processor going.

And this was when it was ready.  It is the exact texture of soft serve. 

It’s seriously like a magic trick.

I added in my cocoa powder and Splenda and blended again.

Then, I added in my peanut butter chips and gave it the quickest blend.  I didn’t want to break up the chips.

It’s totally ready to eat at this point if you want it the texture of soft serve.  If you want it like real ice cream, scoop it into a dish and freeze it another couple of hours, or until it is hard.

Are you kidding me?  Totally guilt free ice cream!  Obviously, you have to like bananas to enjoy this, but if you do…..this is the creamiest, best ice cream.  It is sweet from the bananas and Splenda and salty from the peanut butter chips.  It is the EXACT same texture as ice cream. 

This will be my dieting “go-to” from now on.

Still not using ‘em right, Joe!

Banana “Ice Cream”

4 large bananas. Sliced into disks and frozen

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 packets Splenda

1/3 cup Peanut Butter Chips

Place frozen bananas in food processor.  Puree until smooth.  This will take a couple of minutes.  Once bananas are smooth, add remaining ingredients and blend. 

Pour ice cream into container and freeze for at least 2 hours.

Serves 6-8