Paleo & Vegan-Friendly Dairy Free Chocolate Banana ‘Nice’ Cream Recipe

You rarely see the words paleo and vegan in the same sentence together, but sometimes there are food and dessert recipes that meat and non-meat eaters alike can enjoy. This creamy and decadent chocolate banana “nice cream” recipe is one of them!

I first came across the concept of “nice cream” about four years ago when I was in my Paleolithic prime! I can’t even remember the original recipe, but over the years I’ve perfected it and turned it into my own version. I’ve decided to put it out on the internet for all to enjoy! If you want to hear about my paleo to raw to vegan to keto food journey, I blogged about it here.

But first, what is it?

Great question. Let me explain! It’s really simple actually. Nice cream is a healthy, dairy free alternative to ice cream using frozen banana as the main ingredient. When you put frozen bananas in a food processor, they blend into a consistency that is exactly like soft-serve ice cream, sans dairy, sugar and other junky processed additives. Hence why it’s adopted the “nice” nomenclature.

And for this specific recipe, in addition to the bananas, I add raw cacao powder, vanilla extract, almond or some other nut butter and a dash of sea salt. You can add raw honey or some other sweetener but to be honest, you don’t need it! Sometimes I will drizzle raw honey or maple syrup on top if I feel like some extra sweetness.

If you serve this to your non-paleo or non-vegan friends I guarantee they will 1. Beg for seconds 2. Ask for the recipe 3. Insist that this is more than just bananas.

Healthy is delicious.

How do I make it?

First, the ingredients you’ll need:

• A food processor
• 1-2 frozen bananas. Make sure they freeze for at least 12 hours and the more ripe they are when you freeze them the better and sweeter it will taste.
• 1-2 tablespoons raw cacao powder (I’m a fan of Navitas Organics). Sometimes I even use 3 tablespoons!
• 1 tablespoon almond butter (I make my own in the Vitamix) or your choice of nut butter
• Dash of vanilla extract (I love Frontier Co-op brand because it’s organic and sustainably sourced, and you can find it at Whole Foods!)
• Pinch of sea salt
• Toppings of choice. I love raw coconut flakes, more nut butter, cacao nibs (Navitas for me), berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries are my fave). Sky is the limit really!

Directions

1. Place 1-2 frozen bananas in the food processor (in small chunks)

1. Add your cacao, nut butter, vanilla extract, sea salt (and option honey)

1. Start processing! Now at first, it will feel like nothing is happening and you’ll lose all hope but stick with it! I promise, magic is in the making. You may need to stop the food processor to scrape the banana down from the sides of the container or break up chunks but keep the food processor going until you achieve a soft serve consistency.

1. Spoon the mixture in a bowl, add your toppings and enjoy! And share with others if you must 😉

You can freeze any leftovers but you’ll need to allow 30-40 minutes to defrost and the consistency won’t be exactly the same, but it’ll still taste like heaven.

This makes about two generous servings. I usually make this for me and my boyfriend and we scarf it all down, guilt free!

I will say that if you want to double this, you may want to do two separate batches. It doesn’t seem to process very well if you have too much in the processor.

And if you add honey to this, it won’t be vegan but I really mean it when I say it doesn’t need any additional sweetness, especially if your bananas were hella ripe when you froze them 🙂

Nutrition facts