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Want To Have It All? Try This Trick For Healthy Ice Cream

February 27, 2012   27 Comments

The photo above is not going to win any awards. It is hard to shoot anything resembling ice cream because it melts!

Zero Points Plus Dessert

Before you give up on my idea because of a bad picture, give it a try. I was inspired by the comments on my recent post: Eight Exciting Things To Do With Bananas.

It seems that there is an appliance out there called a "Yonanas" (see below) that will turn ripe and frozen bananas into soft serve ice cream. Miraculous!

I did contact "Yonanas" about trying one out and I should be receiving one to review soon. While I wait for my machine to arrive, I decided to try my basic Cuisinart blender that does a great job with smoothies. Can this blender turn out soft serve banana ice cream?

First, I left out three bananas on my counter with a big sign that said, "DO NOT EAT". We inhale bananas in this house and getting one that is really ripe is difficult. I waited until the bananas had lots of spots and were pretty soft.

Then, I peeled them and froze them in a freezer bag. The next day, I sliced them up and tossed them in my blender to see if I could create soft serve. My blender didn't like the bananas and complained.

I added about 3 tablespoons of almond milk and my blender started to work! While not exactly soft serve consistency (a bit melted), it was cold and creamy.

This dessert has no added sugar and very few added calories. Almond milk is only 40 calories per cup - so I added about 10 calories to the concoction.

If found the blended banana to be truly satisfying and I didn't want to share it with my children :)

For the banana haters out there, I am sorry but this dessert does taste like bananas. You could add vanilla to get a banana vanilla flavor. And, of course, chocolate sauce is always a great addition to anything.

This recipe produces healthy "ice cream" without the added chemicals of Skinny Cow brand. A food that resembles ice cream but is made entirely of fruit! How cool is that? (pun intended)

Have you tried to make soft serve banana ice cream?

bananasoftserveb

Banana Soft Serve Ice Cream Recipe

1.6 from 24 reviews

(serves 1)
1 very ripe banana
3 tablespoons almond milk (no sugar added), cow's milk, soy milk, or water

Peel banana and put it in the freezer in a freezer bag or wrapped in plastic wrap. Slice into 1/2 chunks and place in blender with almond milk. Blend until smooth and eat immediately.

113 calories, 1.0 g fat, 27.3 g carbohydrates, 1.5 g protein, 3.3 g fiber, 35 mg sodium, 0 Points+

Points values are calculated by Snack Girl and are provided for information only. See all Snack Girl Recipes

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27 Comments:

that is so awesome! ice cream anytime i want!:D

Wow! I can't believe they're charging $50 for a one-trick appliance!

I use my food processor to make a pseudo "sorbet" (a la Mark Bittman) using frozen strawberries w/ a little Greek yogurt mixed in. If you want to sweeten up that concoction, just put in about an ounce of melted chocolate chips (or sugar or honey). And you could certainly substitute a pound of frozen bananas for the strawberries! :)

Here are the quantities:
1 lb frozen fruit
1/2 cup yogurt or silken tofu

1/4 cup sugar (or 1 oz melted choc chips)

This makes a WONDERFUL ice cream-like treat. Here are the stats for the version with sugar:

Servings: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 107
Total Fat: 0.54g
Cholesterol: 1mg
Sodium: 23mg
Total Carbs: 25.01g
Dietary Fiber: 2.38g
Sugars: 19.82g
Protein: 2.10g

Here are the stats for the version with semisweet chocolate chips (my preference):

NUTRITION FACTS
Servings: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 92
Total Fat: 2.57g
Cholesterol: 1mg
Sodium: 24mg
Total Carbs: 17.04g
Dietary Fiber: 2.80g
Sugars: 11.19g
Protein: 2.39g

I do this all the time, but I add about 5 frozen strawberries, and one banana and a pinch of milk. Blend away. It's just like ice cream. Then I doll it up with fat free whip cream and some granola! Yum! It's my favorite!!

I've made banana "ice cream" in my ninja blender & I like it but the banana mixture can get a little "slimy" as it melts. I now make "4 ingredient vegan ice cream" in my ice cream maker...2 cups coconut milk, a little vanilla, a little salt, about 1/4 cup of maple syrup...15 minutes later I have yummy ice cream :-)

We have a champion juicer that we use. We put the bananas, or any other frozen fruit through it and out comes fruit ice kreem. The bananas do work the best. Mangoes are good combined with the bananas. Just like soft serve!!!

I must say I have a Yonana and I LOVE it! I won mine off of ebay so I only paid $25. You can mix the banana with any fruit. There is also plenty of recipies for making other desserts like pies and such. With the Yonana you do not have to add any milk product to make it creamy so it melts perfectly. I highly recommednd it!

Oh man, don't buy Yonanas! Blenders make terrible banana ice cream, but food processors do a really good job. I don't know why, but I think it might be because a food processor is going to "complain" about that many ice chunks where a food processor will churn it right on out without a problem. Try that first, for sure.

I have made this with cocoa powder for a chocolate banana ice cream and it is so yummy!

However, when I put it into the weight watchers recipe builder, it calculated it to be around 10 points! I have heard in meetings that when you put fruit into a blender or something and it's not in it's natural state, the calculator counts the nutritional info as regular foods and not 0 pp. is this true? It seems strange that such a healthy recipe is fairly high in points!

I'll still enjoy it though, so much healthier than store bought :)

I have a problem digesting bananas -- they make me constipated and give me terrible gas. So, I have to limit myself to just a couple a week (and make sure I have a nightly drink of prune juice)! I'm always so sad when I read all the wonderful things you can do with bananas. But I'll try the strawberries.

@Yuliya - This question came up at my WW meeting last week - the leader just said that is how the program calculates it, but if you have foods with 0 points (i.e. fruit) either calculate by hand or don't add them into the recipe builder. Sooo... if it is all bananas & cocoa powder, you would just count the cocoa powder.

@maria thank you so much for the reply!

I make this just with bananas. Frozen bananas whipped up in the food processor until smooth. There is no need for anything else. This is known as banana soft serve from the Oh She Glows site.

I'm so excited that you are going to test the Yonana Ice Cream Maker, I have been tempted to buy it but did not want to spend the money on something that was not going to work. I can't wait for your results!

I use the Yonanas all the time and absolutely love it. My grandkids love it, too, so I got them one. Their aunt is lactose intolerant and she loved it the they got her one.

With free fruit on WW, I make a batch with to bananas and a cup of other frozen fruit and divide it into thirds. I freeze two and eat one.

the next time I want some I take one out of the freezer and put it in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds and yummmmm. It's wonderful.

I do that for breakfast: one frozen banana, one heaping tablespoon of cocoa, half a cup of milk, a tablespoon of any nut butter (and if it is in the morning a scoop of protein powder)!

It tastes like fine ice cream and keeps me on my feet until noon ....

Lisa, I LOVE your posts, keep them coming!

I would recommend slicing the banana BEFORE freezing it, much easier. And I've made a yummy mango sorbet in the Magic Bullet using frozen mangoes, raspberries and a splash of OJ.

I also discovered this from Oh She Glows; I put the banana in the food processor with some peanut butter and cocoa powder for a very nice treat! I think the food processor keeps it from being too much like a smoothie. I love the portion control- one banana is just enough to eat before it melts and gets slimy. I can't wait to make this more in the summer when I crave ice cream, it really does help with those cravings!!!

I have a vitamix and can make frozen banana ice cream with frozen bananas and adding one non-frozen banana helps it to blend up into a nice smooth mixture.

i also have an ice cream maker and make vegan ice cream with coconut milk, avocado, lime and a little sweetener (e.g. agave or rice syrup).

I finally did try this and it was fantastic! I used a Magic Bullet to blend up the frozen banana. It did have a little bit of difficulty, but I kept at it and it worked. I added a little squirt of Hershey's chocolate sauce before blending, but not enough to really taste it. Oh well. I'll try the cocoa powder next time since that might thicken it up a little too.

The Yonanas machine is AWESOME. I don't even like bananas and I like this stuff. You can add all sorts of fruits and flavors too. It's VERY healthy and you don't need sugar, milk or anything -- strictly fruit. The machine changes the consistency and it's just like ice cream. I love it. It's worth the 50 bucks!

I've made this and added a tablespoon of peanut butter. Heaven!

Is there a way to do this without the bananas being overly ripe? I like my bananas more on the starchy, slightly green side. Once they're yellow, they start SMELLING like banana--and I love the flavor of banana but not the nauseatingly sweet odor--I'm not a fruit fly!

I keep a plate of sliced strawberries in my freezer. I put a few in my Magic Bullet with a splash of either unsweetened almond milk or skim milk and 1 packet of Ideal sweetener. Delicious! I tried the bananas and wasn't thrilled even though I like bananas. Last night I put a few sliced peaches in to freeze and can't wait to try my peach ice cream!

I got the Yonanas machine for Christmas and used it only twice before the plastic started stripping off the grinding part and into our ice cream. Cheap machine, better off investing in a Vitamix or single auger juicer to get more use out of one machine. But banana-mango 'ice cream' is awesome!

Wow! I just tried the frozen banana in my mini $10 food processor. I used one banana,1 packet of truvia and about 2tbs water. YUMMMMMMMYY!!! Thanks!

I found a recipe in a toddler recipe book that was just bananas and avocado. Just a little avocado adds a healthy fat and excellent creaminess. Just blend and freeze. My husband was so nervous to try it and was really surprised at how yummy it was.

I've made this in the food processor. Then used (there is a brand; don't know if you allow me to name it) Zero Calorie Chocolate sauce. On days when I have a few calories to spare, I add a few peanuts. "to die for"

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