Mint Chocolate Chip "Nice Cream"

08 August 2016

So, a long time ago I was looking for healthy alternatives to ice cream,  (DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE THAT STUFF EVEN) and I came across this one-ingredient version of basically, a banana ice cream.  It's banana -- chopped, frozen, and blended into a soft-serve consistency OR it can be frozen for a firmer ice cream.  And as I learned...it's appropriately called "nice cream." IT'S NICE FOR YOU YO.  AND SO GOOD TOO.


July was National Ice Cream Month, but even though it's over, I'M STILL EATING ICE CREAM SO.  I made a lot of ice cream last month, and I experimented with a few different "healthier" versions of ice cream.  First version was frozen, blended banana.  Second version was a better take on the famous two-ingredient ice cream.  I made my own homemade dairy-free condensed milk and beat that with whipping cream.  Third version was THIS  one.  I found it on the Minimalist Baker site and it's a vegan, no-machine chocolate ice cream.  (SO SO GOOD.)  I actually do have a ice cream maker, we just packed it up a month ago when we were packing.  Obviously that was a bad decision. 

So all of those ^^^ were so so delicious and and incredible.  But I probably made the nice cream the MOST.  It's so easy, tastes really good, and is the BEST okay.  'nuff said.   Personally, my favorite way to eat it is with hot fudge sauce swirled in it or loaded on top (blissssss), but I'm thinking that this mint chocolate chip version is coming pretty close to being my favorite.

 There are so many variations that you can make with this ice cream, and THIS ONE IS SO SO GOOD.  I kid you not.  I experimented on this recipe like 4 times to get it right.  I didn't have any peppermint extract on hand when I started, so I decided to try something completely random and use fresh mint leaves.  Best decision everrr. It took awhile to finally get it to look right and TASTE right, but this nice cream is perfectly mint-y, creamy, bursting with flavor, delicious, and studded with chocolate chunks.
 Of course, if you want you can use mint extract, but I highly recommend that you try it out with fresh mint leaves.  The nice cream has a really nice fresh, strong flavor from it, which I don't mind, but just so you know that you can adjust the amount of mint to fit your preference! And I definitely recommend chopping up the mint beforehand unless you have a really strong blender.  I used a Vitamix, so I didn't, but I had small pieces of mint in my nice cream, which I didn't really mind.  And just a note, this isn't going to taste like your typical store-bought ice cream.  But the fact that it's really good for you and tastes good is like...the best thing ever.


Also I don't think you guys realize how happy and excited I am right now because GUYS I'M WRITING A FOOD POST I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER. *tears of joy* Not sure why but food blogging brings me great joy.  I might not be the very best at it (PSHH I'M NOT.) but it's SO. MUCH. FUN.  And obviously because exhibit ABC.  I'M JUST REALLY HAPPY RIGHT NOW.


MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP NICE CREAM

Ingredients
  • 3 bananas, chopped and frozen
  • 1/4 c. mint leaves, finely chopped
  •  2-3 T. almond milk (or any other milk)
  • 1/4 c. chocolate chips
  • food dye (optional. I used a natural food dye)

Directions
1. In a blender, add in your frozen bananas, fresh mint leaves, almond milk, and food dye.  Blend on high speed or until a fluffy, soft-serve texture forms and all the ingredients are mixed together.  It's fine if there are a few little pieces of mint leaf.
 2.  Stir in your chocolate.  At this point, you can either immediately scoop it out and serve or pour into a container and freeze for several hours until desired consistency. 

SOOO are you going to try this out? ALSO DO  YOU KNOW HOW FRUSTRATING THE LAYOUT OF THIS POST HAS BEEN URGHHH.  I was very, very very frustrated at this post for the longest time....and I think I'm still a ltitle.  That's like the only con of making a recipe post...the layout is so tough.  Agh.

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But what did you think? Have you ever heard of "nice cream"? Are you going to try it out? (pssst you should.  Summer's still here for a little ;) What's your favorite ice cream flavor in general? What do y'all think of me doing recipe posts like this? yay or nay? (I suppose I'll be fine if you say nay.) How's August going for you so far?

- autumn

45 comments:

  1. You should do more recipe posts. I liked this one. Thanks for sharing!

    ~Ashley

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    Replies
    1. EEEEP THANK YOU ASHLEY! Your feedback means a lot :)

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  2. I can't decide how I feel about this! It sounds super interesting, but does everything taste like bananas??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Umm...sorta? I don't know, I've been eating so much of it that I got used to it. But hey if you're going to try it out for the first time you should try it with cocoa powder and peanut butter because that is the best.

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  3. Oh my goodness, this looks AMAZING! I am so bad at cooking, but I want to try it out. Every time I do try out recipes, though, I fail, so who knows what will happen? But it looks so good; I can't believe it's mainly just bananas and almond milk. That's crazy! I say more cooking posts. TEACH ME YOUR WAYS :D

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    1. AAAAH THANK YOU, ERIN!! Dude, I love cooking/baking so much, but honestly half the time they come out as flops....ugh. I know right? It's so amazing how a frozen banana resembles ICE CREAM of all things. YOU ARE SO NICE <3

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  4. Okay I'm definitely going to try this...I've made peanut-butter banana "nice" cream before but this looks amazing! Thanks for sharing!
    xo,
    -Anna
    www.demigodsandunicornsblog.weebly.com

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    Replies
    1. Oooh yeah, banana pb/chocolate ice cream is the best stuff ever. It's bad how often I eat that stuff :) But hey at least it's not unhealthy ^_^

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  5. that looks SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good! gosh, you're fantastic!! A friend challenged me to do 2 weeks of no sugar with her starting today -- so yeah, this is probably going to be made really soon xD

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    1. THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH! Haha, Julia, whenever I think of you I always think of no sugar diets now...xD But that's a really good thing though :) YOU'RE SO HEALTHY. EEEK!!

      Delete
  6. I've tried nice cream before (a peanut butter and chocolate version) and didn't /love/ the banana flavor, but not I think I must try it again!

    What I did love was a sherbet of sorts made out of frozen strawberries and honey. It was FAB!!!! I also made a peach one that tasted great!

    Your layout rocks, so it was worth the frustration.

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    1. Seriously? I guess everybody has different taste preferences, which is awesome :) At first, like the very first time I tried nice cream I pretty much hated it...but idk I guess I got used to it and I pretty much love that now ^_^

      MMMMMMM OK CAN YOU LIKE MAKE THAT AND BRING IT OVER That sounds sooo good!! Sherbet is so good <3

      THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

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    2. Maybe I need to make it again then!

      Delete
  7. This LOOKS SO GOOD. Mint chip is my favorite!!! Like, can you virtually lend me some of your cooking powers? I've broken so many cooking appliances I'm not even allowed to pull stuff out of the oven now. DX

    xoxo Morning

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    Replies
    1. IT WAS. I like mint chip in regular ice cream, but i don't think it's my favorite ^_^ UM I COULD COME MAKE SOME FOR YOU IF YOU WANT. lol dude that was me too once. xD

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  8. This looks so good!! I love how you photographed everything and I'm definitely going to give this a try :)

    love,
    arushee

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  9. I need to try this, it looks so good and is probably much healthier than your average ice cream!

    Lauren ♥ | Sincerely, Lauren Emily

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, it's a fine vegan substitute for ice cream :) You should try it out!

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  10. MY MOUTH IS WATERING SO MUCH. it's a nice summer afternoon and it just rained, but i've been craving ice cream all day. this looks absolutely fab. and i'd love to try it someday. or, you know, you could come be my personal chef and i'd pay you in love and poems??? xx

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    1. AAAH REALLY THAT'S THE BEST COMPLIMENT EVER. hmmm while i do think you should head to your kitchen and whip this up asap, i'm also contemplating visiting colorado and making you mountains of food. DUDE YEAH I'D LOVE TO BE YOUR PERSONAL CHEF. That is such a cool job.

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  11. It looks delicious! Yes, I have made 'nice' cream before, but never mint flavour, so I'll obviously have to try this recipe out! :)

    My favourite flavour is probably mocha like this recipe:http://thevegan8.com/2013/12/13/mocha-ice-cream/ It's honestly the best dairy-free ice cream I've tasted.

    And I say 'yay' to you doing more recipe posts! Actually, I say 'yay' to all your posts, girl. :D

    ReplyDelete
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    1. YES!! Thank you! Oooh, I'm so glad that you've tried it before. It's so yummy!
      That recipe look so good <3 Coconut milk is the best substitute for dairy in ice cream :)

      AW THAT MADE MY DAY THANK YOU JESSICA <3

      Delete
  12. I love nice cream! My mom found a recipe for banana icecream a while back and I've wanted to make more ever since!

    But first I have to finish the Breyer's I have in the freezer. :P

    I'm not that great at eating healthy! But I try!

    Allie D.
    www.alliesblogdesigns.blogspot.com
    www.friendlovesatalltimes.blogspot.com
    www.sevenbloggersandtheirdolls.blogspot.com
    www.sincerelyallied.blogspot.com
    www.spreadingmyjoy.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Aww, so glad to hear!! Nice cream is the best stuff <3
      HAHAHAHA I HAVE THAT PROBLEM TOO. Hey, healthy eating doesn't happen overnight, believe me. I'm still working on that cake :)

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  13. YEEEEESSSS! Okay so I was trying to read this post but every time I clicked the link there was a problem. SOO now that it finally worked I am super duper happy.I make banana nice cream all the time but I need more flavors to try and will for sure try this one out. I LOVE your blog!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. AGHH BLOGGER IS SUCH A FRUSTRATING THING SOMETIMES.

      Awesome! It's so cool to hear that other people love it as much as I do <3 GAHHH YOU ARE THE BEST ♥ *hands you virtual nice cream*

      Delete
  14. OOH THIS SOUNDS AMAZING THE WAY YOU DESCRIBED IT. (I can't really say that it looks as amazing with the greenishness? xD But the chocolate and the mint leaves and how you took the photos are aaaamazing)

    I really want to try this. o.o I want to try out a LOT of recipes, but ice cream is awesome and mint ice cream is even better, so I must do this. *nodnod*

    // katie grace
    a writer's faith

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    1. AWWWWW SORRY. I just added the food dye to make it look more authentic, but it definitely doesn't look like the original. THANK YOU THOUGH <3 That's like the biggest compliment everrr.

      SAME DUDE SAME. Yes you should :)

      Delete
  15. I've never even heard of nice cream before! But I do believe we'll have to try this some time. *salivates in anticipation*

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    1. Yes, you should! It's so so good....MMMMM.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous8/10/2016

    YOUR PICTURES ARE ALL SO GOSH DARN BE-GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!<3
    YES YES YES YES!!! YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY START BLOGGING MORE ON FOOD!!!!!!!!
    ( Your exhibit A, I think might need to be made soon in my kitchen. ;) )
    Also, I have heard of nice cream, but hadn't found any sort of helpful resources or recipes! This one looks SOOO YUMMY THO!!!!!! I think I'll need to make it. ;)

    http://everythingisbetterwithpolkadots.blogspot.com/

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    1. Yayy! Thank you, Hannah! You should definitely try it!

      Delete
  17. Ooh, I really really want to try this! In fact, after I comment, I shall pin!

    ReplyDelete
  18. 100% going to attempt this! Guilt free Icecream? Who doesn't want some?

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    1. YYYYYYEEEESSS!!! I know right? so good.

      Delete
  19. I LOVE nice cream!! I have never tried making mint chocolate chip though, so this I must try. And tis the season I guess, because there's bucket loads of mint growing in our garden. Ok I'm trying this.

    Also I feel. Ice cream is comfort and love and beauty in this earth. :') <3

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    1. hahah, abbie actually had mentioned it once on instagram and that really inspired me to start trying it out more soooo :) aaah do try it! mint is in such an abundance right now it's great.

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  20. Gotta admit, I'm not usually into healthy versions of ice cream, but this one looks so refreshing and delicious! Also, I love your new blog theme. :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. UGHHHH LADY
    PLZ COME LIVE WITH ME SO I CAN TAKE PHOTOS OF YOU AND YOU CAN MAKE ME FOOD

    ReplyDelete
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    1. RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT THIS SHOULD HAPPEN.

      Delete
  22. OMG I WANT TO EAT THIS WHOLE POST IT LOOKS SO DELICIOUS. I am a huge fan of banana ice cream! I grew up eating it as a kid. I am like 80% banana ice cream and 20% human bean probably. Ohhh, but my parentals used to have this delicious recipe for frozen bananas plus macadamia nuts plus chocolate chips. The nuts just made it so so delicious. Like they were totally ground up, so not chewy, but they made the texture really full and divine. AHHHH. I'M HAVING A CRAVING.😍😍😍

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  23. I love nice cream. Using the ice cream scoop made it so pretty.

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