Chocolate nice cream is a healthy chocolate ice cream made with frozen banana, cocoa powder and cinnamon. This easy 3-ingredient recipe is naturally dairy-free, vegan, and refined sugar-free, yet has a rich, creamy texture that's surprisingly similar to soft-serve ice cream. Ready in just 5 minutes, it's one of the easiest healthy frozen desserts you can make.
Recipe Summary: Healthy Chocolate Nice Cream
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: None!
Servings: 2
Key ingredients: Frozen banana, cocoa
Nutritional highlights: Low-fat, no added sugar, 100 calories per serving
Allergy info: Dairy-free gluten-free, nut-free, vegan
Convenience: Very quick and easy to make, ready to eat immediately
What is chocolate nice cream?
Chocolate 'nice cream' is a kind of instant healthy ice cream made with frozen bananas. Bananas are low in water and high in a type of soluble fibre called pectin. When frozen and blended, this creates a smooth, silky texture which is very similar to soft-serve ice cream.
Ripe bananas are also a natural sweetener. So whereas traditional ice cream is made with sugar and cream, nice cream is simply made with frozen banana. And as the banana is already frozen, nice cream is ready to be eaten immediately, with no further freezing or churning.
It tastes delicious, and it's 'nice' for your body.
What you'll love about the recipe
- The perfect excuse to eat ice cream whenever you want. Whether this is for you or your kids, it's going to make someone very happy:)
- Chocolate cinnamon nice cream is incredibly satisfying. Cocoa adds a rich chocolate flavour and cinnamon is a natural sweetener
- Homemade chocolate nice cream is dairy-free, vegan, gluten-free, low-fat and nut-free. It also has the benefit of whole fruit with fibre
- A low-calorie frozen dessert with just over 100 calories for a generous serving
- This no-churn healthy chocolate ice cream is ready to eat immediately and it's a super easy way to make sugar-free ice cream. It is also perfect for using up overripe bananas
You might also like this healthy no-churn kiwi sorbet, or berry nice cream recipe.
Ingredients
Frozen ripe banana. Using frozen banana as an ice cream base means this instant ice cream can be eaten immediately without further freezing.
Fully ripe bananas are at their peak of sweetness as the starch breaks down into natural sugars. An unpeeled ripe banana should be yellow with brown spots, but you can also use fully brown bananas for this recipe (as long as the banana inside the skin hasn't gone brown or bad!)
In the summer, I find bananas ripen very quickly in a warm room, so I regularly slice them up and pop them in the freezer, ready to make this delicious, healthy frozen dessert.
If you can get yourself a bunch of reduced, overripe bananas, even better. You can also use them in this blackcurrant smoothie or a healthy banana bread.
Freezing bananas
Peel the bananas before freezing, and cut them into slices. Thinnish slices, about 5mm thick will be easier to process than thick chunks.
Pop them in a single layer in a plastic tupperware container so they are easy to remove once frozen. I make sure to always have some frozen banana ready to make healthy ice cream over the summer months.
Cocoa. Note that this is unsweetened cocoa powder rather than drinking chocolate. Unbelievably, for something so delicious, cocoa powder is healthy and a good source of antioxidants.
Ground cinnamon. I love the flavour of cinnamon, and it's a perfect complement to chocolate. It adds a little extra natural sweetness to the recipe. Cinnamon has also got health benefits. If you prefer, it can be omitted.
How to make healthy chocolate nice cream
If you've got a super high-powered blender, that's ideal for making chocolate nice cream. Otherwise you can use a regular food processor. If your food processor is quite large, I'd recommend doubling the recipe quantities so that it's easier to blend.
Add the banana, cocoa and cinnamon to the blender and blitz until smooth. You might need to scrape down the sides of the blender a couple of times.
Stop the processor as soon as the mixture is smooth, otherwise it'll start to heat up and soften.
If you're using a regular food processor, you'll need a little more patience and might need to wait a couple of minutes for the banana to soften slightly before it will break down. Try pulsing the mixture before turning the processor on fully.
Variations
You could also try one of these other variations of the recipe
- Double chocolate nice cream: Stir in a handful of dark chocolate chips or shavings. Or simply sprinkle them over the top. You could also serve with a drizzle of melted dark chocolate
- Chocolate fudge nice cream: Add a tablespoon of peanut butter (or another nut butter) to the recipe. Chocolate peanut butter ice cream has a richer, fudgy flavour and texture
- Choc and nut nice cream: Stir in your favourite chopped nuts. Almonds are especially delicious with chocolate:)
- Chocolate and cardamom is also a lovely combination - omit the cinnamon and add a quarter teaspoon of ground cardamom
- Chocolate mocha nice cream. Omit the cinnamon and add a teaspoon of instant coffee. If you are using coffee granules, grind them into coffee powder in a mortar and pestle before adding to the mixture
If you want your chocolate nice cream to be a little sweeter, add a spoonful of honey.
You can also add a few drops of vanilla or almond extract. For an easy, healthy mint chocolate ice cream, add a few drops of natural peppermint extract.
Serving
I like to serve this chocolate cinnamon nice cream immediately as it has the perfect creamy soft serve texture.
However, you can also place the ice cream back in the freezer for as long as needed. If you do refreeze it, allow it to soften on the side for 10 minutes before serving.
In the picture above, it looks rather soft, but of course it was melting as I was fiddling around taking the pictures!
You could also add a healthy sauce if you are serving chocolate nice cream for dessert. Why not try one of the following?
You could also add a few healthy berries on the side or a sprinkle of nuts.
Frequently asked questions
I'd be lying if I said that this chocolate nice cream is identical to a full-fat, full-sugar ice cream recipe. But it really is very similar to a soft-serve ice cream. Cocoa gives a rich chocolate taste which masks the banana flavour, and if you've never tried banana-based nice cream, you are in for a pleasant surprise.
Yes, chocolate nice cream is a healthy treat. Not only is it made without added sugar or fat, but it also contains whole fruit with the fibre, vitamins and minerals that are naturally present in bananas.
Other healthy summer desserts
All of these healthy no-bake summer desserts are sugar-free, gluten-free and dairy-free.
You might also like to browse these other healthy chocolate recipes.
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Recipe
Chocolate Nice Cream (Healthy Banana Chocolate Ice Cream)
Equipment
- High powdered blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 2 sliced frozen bananas
- 10 g cocoa powder or 2 dessertspoons
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Add the slices of frozen banana, cocoa powder and ground cinnamon to the blender or food processor.
- Blitz until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides and reprocess if necessary.
- If you are using a food processor, you may need to wait a minute or so for the banana to soften slightly before you can get a smooth and creamy texture. Try pulsing the mixture before turning the processor on fully.
Cathy says
The best nice cream I’ve made. The flavour is very chocolatey, the texture softly smooth, and with a hot spell forecast it’s a great use for rapidly ripening bananas.
Wendy Faulkner says
Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. I've been making a portion most afternoons when it's sunny:)