Strawberry-Chocolate Dairy-Free Ice Cream

You don't have to be dairy-free to appreciate this simple and delicious dessert.  "Nice cream", ice cream made with a frozen banana base, is an absolute favorite in our household.  We make vanilla bean, chocolate, and peanut butter cup versions as well as this classic combination.

Strawberries are one of my most favorite fruits and chocolate, well, I am a HUGE chocolate fan so it was a no-brainer to give this a try.  It's so refreshing, delicious and satisfying.  It is the smooth, creamy feel of ice cream without the fat and calories.  We buy a lot of bananas every couple of months so that we can freeze many of them for this special treat.

You need to have a powerful food processor or blender in order to make this.  Otherwise it will struggle and you'll end up needing to add to much milk, resulting in a rather thin milk shake.  Not a bad result, but it's not ice cream.

5 Ingredients + A Blender Is All You Need!
Frozen Bananas - if you don't currently have any in the freezer, once you have a few ripe bananas (they are the most creamy and flavorful if you wait until they are fully ripened), peel them and lay them on a parchment or freezer paper-lined cookie sheet and pop that in the freezer for a couple hours.  You can then store them in any freezer-safe container or bag in the freezer until you need them.

Frozen Strawberries - sliced frozen strawberries are easiest on your blender, but whole will work.  Again, if you don't have any currently in the freezer, you can wash and dry a handful, place them on a parchment or freezer paper-lined cookie sheet and pop that in the freezer for a few hours.  Transfer them to any freezer-safe container or bag and store in the freezer until needed.

Milk - use non-dairy if you would like to keep this non-dairy, any milk will work (dairy, nut, oat, etc.).

Sweetener - this is optional, but a little bit does add the perfect sweetness.  You can use honey, maple syrup or date syrup.  If you only have granulated sugar, you would want to make a simple syrup and add it after completely cooled. (simple syrup = equal parts hot water and sugar, stirred until granulated sugar is completely dissolved)

Chocolate - chunks, chips, broken up chocolate bars, whatever you've got or prefer will work here.  Use non-dairy if you'd like to keep this non-dairy.

Strawberry-Chocolate Dairy-Free Ice Cream
makes 2 cups

2 frozen bananas, cut into chunks
2 1/4 cups frozen strawberries slices
1-3 tablespoons milk (any non-dairy or dairy will work)
1 tablespoon liquid sweetener (maple syrup, honey, or date syrup), optional
1/4 cup chopped chocolate (chunks or chips will work)

Add bananas, strawberries, 1 tablespoon of the milk and liquid sweetener (if using) to either a food processor bowl or to a high-power blender.  Mix.  Add an additional 1-2 tablespoons milk if necessary to get the fruit to blend.  Stir in the chocolate.

Serve or store in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 1 hour.

Strawberry-Chocolate Dairy-Free Ice Creamwas originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)