BANANA "ICE CREAM"

Last week I did a post about the 5:2 diet / the fast diet and some of my low calorie recipes. One thing I find very tough on my "2" days is not having any sweets or chocolate as I have to stick to foods that are really low in calories…..like salad, soup, fish and fruit. One of my lovely friend's Caroline recently sent me this recipe for banana ice-cream - basically if you freeze a banana and then whizz it in a blender it becomes ice-cream like - I thought this sounded too good to be true so I had to give it a go.

Ingredients for 1 person:

1 ripe banana

Cut it into coin sized pieces - you don't have to be accurate but try to keep them as even as possible.

Put the bananas in an air tight container like this Tupperware or a freezer bag.

Freeze the banana pieces for at least 2 hours but ideally overnight if you can.

Put the frozen banana pieces in a food processor and start to blend.

Keep blending and the banana will look crumbly or smashed. If necessary scrape down the food processor so it is all at the bottom by the blades.

Keep blending and the banana will become gooey, mushy, porridge-like and then suddenly the magic will happen!! It will become creamy and soft. Keep blending for another minute so completely lump free.

If you are saving it til later, put it back in an air tight container in the freezer and freeze until you are ready to eat. If you are an impatient piglet like myself, just pop it back in the freezer in a bowl for 15 minutes or so….you want it solid like traditional ice cream. Enjoy!

I had this on a 2 day and it definitely hit the spot when I was craving something sweet. My banana was about 80 calories. If you are not counting calories, you can add several mix-ins to make it even sweeter such as a spoonful of nutella, a drizzle of honey or maple syrup, a handful of chocolate chips or a dollop of nutella, a tablespoon of cocoa powder or half a teaspoon of cinnamon or ginger….the list is endless! You would add these after the banana has become smooth and creamy and before you refreeze. 

This is no Ben & Jerry's but I have to say it was better than I thought - I will definitely be making it for my vegan sister when she next comes round….without nutella obviously!