After School Snack: (Healthy) 5 Minute Chunky Monkey Ice Cream
Have your kids ever come home from school and begged you for ice cream before dinner? Especially with the warmer days approaching ice cream becomes an irresistible treat in the middle of the afternoon. But, you don't want your kids filling up on ice cream every day, even though it's hard not giving in to their cute pleading faces. When my son asks for "tooties, pease" (cookies, please) any time of day I have a hard time resisting because he says it so sweetly and it is just so darn cute! But, I reign in my willpower and usually give in with the sweetness of fruit instead.
Luckily for me my son loves fruit on it's own. But, that doesn't mean that I don't want to give him an extra special treat just because. That's where this 5 Minute Chunky Monkey Ice Cream comes in. With only three ingredients I think this can classify as the simplest ice cream ever. Although technically it's not ice cream since it contains no milk products (Great for those kiddos who are lactose intolerant!). The hardest part is remembering to pop some peeled bananas in the freezer because they are the base of the ice cream.
It is amazing what happens to a banana once it is frozen and pureed. It becomes, remarkably, a lot like ice cream. Your kids will feel like they're getting an extra special treat in the middle of the day, but really they'll be eating fruit. Even when I'm eating this I have to remind myself that it's not ice cream. The texture of the banana as it "melts" in your mouth is not unlike the silky texture of custard. Ever since I ate the Chunky Monkey Supreme version below I have been craving it for dessert after dinner. If it has me fooled into wanting bananas for dessert I'm sure it will be a hit with your kids as well.
5 Minute Chunky Monkey Ice Cream
- 3 frozen, peeled bananas, chopped
- 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chocolate chips
Instructions
Place frozen bananas in a food processor. Process until smooth (scraping down bowl as needed). Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips. Serve immediately.
*If you have trouble pureeing the bananas just let them sit out for a couple minutes and try again. Any chunks can easily be smoothed out with a spatula.
Chunky Monkey Supreme: add 3 tablespoons peanut butter and 1 tablespoon coconut. Puree with bananas.
Makes: 2 servings
8 Comments
I tried this today and it was fab! Will be blogging about it linking back to you of course!! Thanks for a great recipe - my 2.5 year old loved it :)
Sounds great.
Careful with the nuts, though. Many kids are allergic to them and if the child is very young you may not even know it until the reaction happens. To be safe, wait to give your kids nuts until after they turn 6 years old.
Thanks.
Mother of a son with life threatening nut allergies
Sounds so good! I’m thinking Nutella instead of the peanut butter. Who’s with me?!! :)
Chunky monkey is my favorite, cant wait to try this for my kids! also looking forward to the BLT BAcon bites! Love me some bacon!!
LOOKS SO YUMMY
YUM!
This is not only a delicious after school treat for kids - its a delicious after work treat for grownups! I love this idea and can’t wait to try it, once I have some frozen bananas!