Natalie Thomas - Banana Ice Cream

I eat banana ice cream every single day - summer or winter, breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The only exception is when Im traveling, because it makes an abysmal car snack. Smoothies are great, and fresh fruit is delicious, but Id take a spoonful of creamy fruity ice cream over a straw or a fork any day. Some of the recipes in this book are based on classic ice cream sundaes. Others came to me from who knows where. I definitely found a few new and unexpected favorites.

Once theyve been frozen, blended, scooped, and topped, its hard to remember youre eating bananas. Im sure youve heard of banana ice cream. Odds are youve even tried it. I wanted to take simple banana ice cream up a notch, to show that it can be just as decadent, just as versatile, as any dairy-based treat. With mix-ins and sauces, sandwiches and bars, milkshakes and parfaits, there is no end to the creations that can come from this miraculous fruit.

I want these recipes to be accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of diet, tastes, or experience in the kitchen.

I want to keep the ingredient list as short as possible, only adding those things that are truly necessary. I want to encourage you to taste as you go, to develop an instinct for knowing when to add a little more or when its perfect for you. I want to urge you to think outside the recipe - mixing and matching and modifying. I want to inspire you to break out the blender and bananas and bowls in your own kitchen. I want to share the tasty healthy magic that is banana ice cream or nicecream with you! All of these recipes are vegan and raw if you use raw ingredients.

Bananas are practically made for ice cream. Bananas are practically made for ice cream.

They have a low water content, so few ice crystals once frozen, lots of natural sugars, and an unbeatably creamy texture. To preserve that perfect texture, I try not to exceed a 1:1 ratio of banana to cup(s) of other fruit. If possible, I keep the ratio closer to 2:1 (two bananas per cup of other fruit). This works well with really flavorful fruits like berries, but it is more difficult with mild fruits like peaches. Ingredients like dates and cacao powder, which have little to no water, dont alter the texture much at all.

For most of the recipes, I indicate the number of moderately-sized servings they make.

However, I do not usually eat a moderate serving. My typical banana ice cream serving starts with three to four bananas, so the number of servings is just a suggestion. If there is no number indicated, then the treat is probably bite-sized, so the number of servings is arbitrary.

The first step is to freeze very ripe bananas. They should, at least, be spotty without a hint of green visible. Even if they are brown, mushy, fall-off-the-bunch ripe, freeze them.

I recommend breaking each banana apart into five or six chunks and laying them out on a pan with space in between to freeze. Otherwise, the banana chunks will become one large impenetrable block. Once frozen, transfer them to plastic bags or containers. They will last like this for months. To churn the bananas into ice cream, you will need either a blender or a food processor.

If you are using a blender, you will need a tamper to press the bananas into the blades.

The higher the volume of fruit, the easier it will be to blend. Start on low speed and let the bananas bounce around and break apart for a while. Once the blades are spinning aimlessly, and all the fruit is stuck on the sides, stop and scrape down the sides. Then turn the blender back on, increase the speed to medium, and press the bananas into the blades with the tamper. The process isnt instantaneous. To make the crust and cookie components, it is easiest to use a food processor. To make the crust and cookie components, it is easiest to use a food processor.

However, it is possible to make all of these recipes with just a blender. If you try to combine all of the ingredients for the crust or cookie in the blender, they probably wont combine thoroughly. You might also overheat your blender by overusing using the tamper. To avoid this, grind the oats by themselves in the blender, then mix in the rest of the ingredients by hand in a large bowl. It will feel like kneading bread dough, and eventually everything will come together into a cohesive ball of dough.

If you are using a food processor, it is best to let the fruit sit out for five minutes to get a jump start on defrosting.

After the fruit has softened a bit, add it to the food processor, turn on the machine, and grab your spatula. You will have to stop and scrape down the sides of the food processor a few times before the texture changes from chunky to creamy. Once the ice cream is running smoothly through the blades, it is done. The toughest step is not eating all of the ice cream directly out of the machine. Immediately after processing, it will resemble soft-serve, which is delicious. If you want scoopable ice cream, place it in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes depending on your freezer.

At that point, it should be firm.

Every recipe is completely raw as written, which may mean trying ingredients that are unfamiliar to you. Of course, the non-raw substitutes will work just as well and taste great, too. Here are a few ingredients that may or may not be new to you: For the sake of consistency, I use organic, raw, rolled oats as the base for all the cookie pieces or pie crusts or crumbly toppings throughout the book. I like oats for a number of reasons: They have a neutral taste. They are lower in fat than nuts.

They are inexpensive, especially compared to nuts. They can easily be substituted with regular rolled oats if you are not following a raw diet. Raw rolled oats are not available at most grocery stores, but they are available from various online retailers.

To make the vanilla treats raw, I use raw vanilla bean powder. It is made by grinding up the entire vanilla bean. The flavor is potent and sweet and doesnt have an undertone of alcohol like vanilla extract.

I strongly urge you to try it, but it is pricey. You can substitute vanilla extract or the seeds from a fresh vanilla bean in any of these recipes.