Healthy + Heavenly Chocolate Ice Cream

I suppose you can’t technically call this ‘ice cream’ since there isn’t a bit of cream in the recipe.  There is, however, a bit of almond milk, so I’m going forward calling it ice cream. Last summer when I was doing the whole 30, I kept a lot of the habits I learned during those 30 days and still like to make a lot of recipes that are dairy, soy, and grain free.  This week, I was craving some ice cream and although I didn’t have any in the freezer, I knew I had a few things on hand that would make a good (and good for me) ice cream in about 10 minutes. There are a couple secrets in this sauce, so to speak, and I think one of them might freak you out a little… How’s that for a segue? 

The big secret in this recipe is the avocado.  Ok, don’t freak out.  I know it sounds strange, but hear me out.  Avocado has a very creamy, velvety texture and pretty much no discernible flavor.  Blended together with a banana and almond milk, the base of the ‘ice cream’ is created.  There is one caveat here.  The banana has to be very ripe.  VERY ripe.  We’re talking banana bread level ripe.  You know the kind of bitter plant-y taste that you get when your banana is under-ripe?  That comes through in the ice cream, so don’t do it. Go get yourself some bargain bin, clearance nanners and let’s get going.

This recipe originally came from a chocolate shake recipe from Danielle Walker.  I just love her book and her recipes, they’re wonderful.

Dairy Free, Soy Free Chocolate Ice Cream (Paleo)

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 an avocado
• 1 full banana (very ripe)
• 1 tablespoons unsweeted cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• gallon freezer bags (x2)
• Ice
• 1/4 cup salt

Blend the first five ingredients until smooth in a blender.  Then transfer to a gallon ziplock bag.  In the other gallon zip bag, put about 4 cups of ice and the salt. Drop the bag containing the chocolate ice cream puree inside of the ice bag.  Make sure the chocolate mixture bag has a very secure seal. Shut the ice bag making sure to eliminate the air. Wrap the bags in a couple of kitchen towels, then shake, knead, and generally massage the chocolate mixture inside of the ice bag for about 10 minutes.  Open the ice bag, then remove the chocolate bag and test for proper ice cream consistency.

A lot of you might be looking at this thinking that it’s totally nuts and a much better option would be to hit up the grocery store later.  Think about this, though… This ‘Ice Cream’ is basically a health food.  All whole, clean foods went into creating a creamy, cold summer snack, and I think that is a great thing.

p.s.  if you blend the first five ingredients with ice, you’ll get a pretty amazing chocolate ‘shake’ too.