The classic Neapolitan combination of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla gets the nice cream treatment by using frozen bananas rather than heavy cream as the base of this fresh and fruity frozen dessert. Be sure to use bananas that are fully ripe — spotted or even brown fruit will create the sweetest, silkiest nice cream.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 12 hr 45 min |
| Active: | 45 min |
| Yield: | 9 servings (about 4 1/2 cups) |
Ingredients
- 3 large ripe bananas, peeled
- Seeds from 1 vanilla bean, or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 large ripe bananas, peeled
- 3 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil
- 2 large ripe bananas, peeled
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
Instructions
- For the vanilla banana ice cream: Cut each banana into 6 chunks and freeze until rock solid, preferably overnight.
- Put the banana chunks and vanilla bean seeds in a food processor and process. Hang on, your food processor may jolt in the very beginning! The bananas will look crumbly at first, then gooey and eventually light and creamy- just like ice cream. Stop the food processor frequently to scrape down the sides of the bowl and break up any clumps. Transfer to a bowl and put in the freezer.
- For the chocolate banana ice cream: Cut each banana into 6 chunks and freeze until rock solid, preferably overnight.
- Put the banana chunks, cocoa powder and coconut oil in a food processor and process. Stop the food processor frequently to scrape down the sides of the bowl and break up any clumps. Transfer to a bowl and put in the freezer.
- For the strawberry banana ice cream: Cut each banana into 6 chunks and freeze until rock solid, preferably overnight.
- Put the banana chunks and strawberries in a food processor and process. Stop the food processor frequently to scrape down the sides of the bowl and break up any clumps.
- To assemble the Neapolitan banana ice cream: Scrape the vanilla-banana ice cream into 1 end of an 8-by-5-inch loaf pan so it fills about 1/3 of the length of the pan. Use a rubber spatula to push it back a bit if you need to before adding the chocolate-banana ice cream next to it, filling the middle third of the pan (it’s ok if they run together a bit). Scrape the strawberry-banana ice cream into the other end of the pan. Serve right away or freeze until ready to serve. To serve, run an ice cream scoop down the loaf pan to make 3-flavored scoops.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 136 |
| Total Fat | 2 grams |
| Saturated Fat | 1 grams |
| Cholesterol | 0 milligrams |
| Sodium | 2 milligrams |
| Carbohydrates | 31 grams |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 grams |
| Sugar | 16 grams |
| Protein | 2 grams |
Reviews
I wanted to like this recipe. It was more labor intensive than I thought and not worth the effort.
Hh
i made the chocolate one. it wasn’t as sweet as i’d preferred because i didn’t let my bananas ripen more. i added SF vanilla syrup and a tablespoon of choco syrup – oopsie! don’t let the coconut oil seizing up put you off – scape and blend, scrape and blend… it eventually comes together. yummy and great consistency!
Chocolate one was not great as the coconut oil went chunky in the cold of the frozen bananas. My food Processor quit on my a few times trying to blend this so beware. I will try the same recipe with fresh bananas next time and freeze after to see if that solves the coconut oil and food processor problems.
It all seems worthwhile – that healthy ice-cream. I fudged a tad and added some pure Canadian maple syrup to the strawberry recipe and doubled up with the pure authentic vanilla extract . . . very nice – the ripe frozen banana really does fill in for the creaminess and sweetness. Just be sure to have a powerful processor because my little one started to smell like overkill burnt rubber. It;s all good. This is good healthy stuff.
Great idea and it was GOOD!! Definitely need the food processor though 🙂 My Ninja didn’t handle it very well, so thank goodness for the stick blender!!
Sounds yummy. Will try this soon.
Super easy and super yummy for those of us wanting a healthy treat!