Just 4 simple ingredients to make this:
Swirly chocolate soft-serve.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen the idea of whipping frozen banana in a vitamix or food processor until it resembles the exact texture of soft-serve ice cream. (If you add a fat source, like peanut butter, it tastes pretty similar to ice cream as well. Or leave the fat out for a refreshing sherbet-like taste.)
I first blogged about the idea back in 2009, and then again in the Vitamix ice cream post, and I’m sure others were making it even earlier than that. The best thing about the concept is its versatility; everyone gets to put his or her own spin on the basic recipe. One of my favorite variations: chocolate soft serve!
With sprinkles on top.
(Just in case you forgot whose blog you were reading.)
Chocolate Banana Soft Serve
(Serves 2-3)
Category: 50+ Healthy Banana Recipes
- 3 medium bananas, the riper the better (for substitutions, see nutrition link below)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/16 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp cocoa or cacao powder (15g)
- optional: sweetener of choice, depending on your tastebuds and ripeness of the bananas
- optional: 3-5 tbsp peanut butter or another nut butter of choice
Ahead of time: peel and slice the over-ripe bananas into chunks. Freeze in a Ziploc-type bag, then combine all ingredients in a Vita-Mix, food processor, or blender. (If not using a Vita-Mix, add 2-3 tsp milk of choice so it’ll blend more smoothly. You might also have to thaw the frozen bananas if your freezer is super-powerful.) If you want the look of ice cream, use an ice-cream scoop to serve! (If you scoop it all into a container and freeze about 10-15 minutes, the texture will also become a bit firmer like ice cream, as opposed to soft serve.) Don’t try to halve the recipe unless you have a tiny food processor, as it won’t blend as smoothly.
View Chocolate Banana Soft Serve Nutrition Facts
Have you ever tried banana “ice cream”?
Any favorite ways to eat it? I almost always add a ridiculous amount of peanut butter, even to this chocolate version. Peanut butter and banana belong together, and the added fat makes it taste more like ice cream than sherbet.
LINK OF THE DAY:
I LOVE banana soft serve. The only thing I find tricky is scaling it down for one person. I have a big food processor, so by the time I account for cleaning the processor, it seems that there’s very little actual softserve!
Yum, I just made almost this exact recipe the other day! Actually, I burned out my food processer because I think the bananas were too frozen and I burned the motor out because I kept trying to blend them. No more soft serve for me until I buy a new food processer. 🙁
I am curious as to how this can be 3 WW points. Bananas are free on the new plan so if you leave out the peanut butter, it should be free. Or is it because 3 bananas all at once are 3 points?
Also, why does a new window open up to show the NI instead of just showing it when you click on it? I love your site but too many windows open up whenever I am on here and I end up getting frustrated! Sorry, I am really not complaining, it’s just frustrating. 🙂
Ooh you’re right! Thanks for pointing that out. I don’t follow a weight watchers plan, so I constantly forget that fruits and veggies are zero points. Sorry for the confusion; I edited my post!
As for the new window thing, I’ve asked before and more people voted that they preferred the new windows because then they don’t have to re-open the recipe when they’re done reading the link. Once again, sorry for the trouble. I try to keep it all as organized as possible, but with so much info I know it can get confusing/overwhelming.
Katie, you are too sweet! No need to apologize! Thanks for the response and for fixing the WW points thing. I just didn’t know if I was missing something there.
I changed it to one point because of the cocoa powder, which still gave some fat and carbs.
If you ever see something that’s off, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I really do appreciate it when people speak up… otherwise I never know to change a mistake. So thank you for taking the time to help :).
I want to make this SO bad! I am going to buy a food processor after work!
Katie,
I know you’ve got a brownie batter frozen yogurt, but I was wondering if you’ve ever though about incorporating your FANTASTIC brownies into a frozen yogurt or ice cream? (I don’t have an ice cream maker, so I am loving this recipe in particular!) I am currently obsessed with Ben and Jerry’s chocolate fudge brownie ice cream, but it’s so fatty and sugary, I’d love to see a healthier alternative, with your brownies of course!
Anyway, I know you are super busy, so thanks for even reading this and I hope you’ll consider it!
Sounds like a great idea to me!
I have made this twice now. Perfect. It freezes well and doesn’t get hard, easy to eat the next morning for breakfast!
OMG… Eating this now with Justin’s maple almond butter. SO GOOD!!
Oh my goodness. I made this soft serve a few hours before my run ( for potassium) and it was so rich and creamy, just litheke soft serve! And I used ripe frozen bananas, but I didn’t find the banana flavor to really affect the overall chocolatey flavor, which I liked. 🙂
What a revelation! Made it tonight even though it’s the middle of winter as I had some old bananas and the kids loved it, even with no sugar added. Already planning it as the secret dessert recipe for summer BBQs, especially since we have a neighbour with allergies to diary. Love your recipes and have been telling all my friends to check your site. Thanks.
Hey!
I love these recipes! For some reason, though, this one keeps turning out oddly tangy. The issue is solved with lots of brown rice syrup and cinnamon and peanut butter 🙂 but what do you think it could be? Are my bananas freezerburnt? Am I not letting them ripen far enough?