Healthy Homemade Banana Chocolate Ice Cream

Kaley’s here today with one of our family’s favorite snacks. My littles totally think of this as dessert, which I love because it’s really nothing more than bananas.

Be sure to read to the end for some of Kaley’s favorite flavor variations as well as a list of MPMK’s all-time favorite healthy kid snacks.

I am trying to figure out why my daughter will only eat half of her banana then leaves the rest to get mushy and brown. And speaking of brown, if it has even one tiny brown spot, forget it. It will never get eaten.

After throwing one too many bananas in the compost bin, I came up with a way to use the leftover bits of banana to make a delicious and fun snack that is super healthy, too.

Instead of tossing the leftover or unwanted bananas, slice them and thrown them in the freezer. Then you can whip up some delicious home made chocolate ice cream in just a few minutes!

You will need:

3 bananas, sliced and frozen
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
a food processor or blender

Directions:

Put your frozen banana slices in a food processor or blender and blend until it starts to get creamy and smooth. If you are using a blender (like me) instead of a food processor, you will have to keep stopping to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.
Add in the cocoa powder and continue blending until everything is combined and is the consistency of soft serve ice cream.
Serve immediately or put it in the freezer for up to an hour or two. (Any more than that and it will be a popsicle…which would also be a fun snack.)

This is so quick and easy, and my daughter always thinks she is getting a special treat when I make it for her.

But, lets say you don’t like chocolate, like me. (I know, I know, crazy!) It is so easy to switch it up by replacing the cocoa powder with other ingredients. Experiment with whatever you have on hand, and see what you like the best.

Here are a few of my favorite varieties: