Chocolate banana nice cream

Chocolate nice cream made from frozen bananas, cocoa and dates. It tastes like chocolate ice cream but has a fraction of the fat.

Cocoa is the simplest way to turn banana nice cream into “chocolate ice cream”. Unlike chocolate, it brings no sugar and has only about 11 % fat, but a fair amount of fibre. It doesn’t completely hide the banana, but it moves the flavour towards a chocolate dessert. The healthier side: about 115 kcal per 100 g and minimal fat; the trade-off is the same as with banana nice cream — eat it straight away.

Type: Sorbet · Servings: 4 · Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 450 g overripe banana (brown-speckled, peeled) (4 bananas with brown spots)
  • 50 g dates (Medjool, pitted) (3 Medjool dates, pitted)
  • 25 g cocoa powder (10–12 % fat) (unsweetened, ideally Dutch-process (alkalised))
  • 30 g peanut butter 100 % (for topping or folding in at the end, for drizzling, optional)

Making the mix

  1. Peel the bananas and cut them into rounds about 1 cm thick.
  2. Pit the dates; soak dry ones in hot water for 10 minutes and drain.

Method — High-speed blender

  1. Spread the banana rounds on a baking tray lined with baking paper and freeze for at least 6 hours.
  2. Put the frozen bananas, dates and cocoa in a high-speed blender or food processor and blend in pulses, scraping down the sides, until you have a smooth cream (3–5 minutes).
  3. If the blender struggles, add 1–2 tablespoons of water or plant-based drink.
  4. Serve straight away, or after 30 minutes in the freezer, drizzled with peanut butter.

Total time: 6 h 15 min

Method — Ninja CREAMi and similar machines

  1. Blend the unfrozen bananas, dates and cocoa into a smooth purée, pour it into the CREAMi tub up to the MAX line, put the lid on and freeze level for 24 hours.
  2. Put the tub in the machine and run the Sorbet program.
  3. If the result is powdery, add 1–2 tablespoons of water or plant-based drink and run Re-spin.

Programme: Sorbet

Total time: 24 h 15 min

Stages

Preparation
10 min
Freezing
6 h
Processing in the machine
5 min
Total time
6 h 15 min

Serving and storage

With peanut butter, chopped nuts or cacao nibs. With frozen sour cherries you get a “Black Forest” version.

Best eaten as soon as it is made; leftovers harden in the freezer, so blend them briefly again before eating.

Tips

  • Dutch-process (alkalised) cocoa is darker and milder; natural cocoa is more acidic and fruity.
  • A pinch of salt and a drop of vanilla bring out the chocolate flavour.
  • The peanut butter goes on top, not in the mix — it contains peanuts, one of the 14 major allergens.

Sources