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Vegan Chocolate Banana Peanut Ice Cream (No Ice Cream Machine Needed) |
I don’t know about you, but generally speaking I think vegan food gets a bad rap. A very bad, and thoroughly unnecessary, bad rap. Why? I’m not sure really but I suspect that the word “vegan” conjures up images of thin, lifeless hippie drones eating endless salad after salad or miles and miles of wheatgrass fields in the minds of the majority of herbivores. I’m here to say for a fact that such images are more fantasy than reality.
Many moons ago when I was a full-time vegetarian (and even more moons ago when I was in fact vegan for a stint), I was a strapping young athlete. I played basketball in high school and was a vegetarian for my entire tenure as a student athlete. I was strong back in those days-very strong. So much so that I was able to bench press my body weight and squat more than twice my body weight. All during in a time in my life when I was eating meatless full-time.
One of the few foods I missed during my meatless vegan days was real ice cream. Traditionally, real ice cream is made with egg yolks, cream and milk – three ingredients which make ice cream less than vegan friendly. While there were some vegan ice creams out there, many of them left an unappealing soy flavoured aftertaste (think frozen tofu on a stick, covered in vegan chocolate-yuck!). Good thing it’s not like that now of course. More than ten years on and vegan ice cream is light years away from where it used to be.
In Norway (if you can find them), vegan ice creams are usually soy- or rice-based and are heavenly, even compared to many more traditional cow’s milk varieties. While these tasty alternatives do exist, they can cut deep into your food budget if you aren’t careful. They are a pricey luxury in my world so in order to manage this, I did what I do best. I created a cheaper, easy to make vegan alternative to what can be bought in stores. As shocking as this sounds, believe me, no one will ever know that this ice cream is actually sans eggs, milk or cream. It’s made with bananas, 3 other ingredients and is 100% vegan. It’s also wheat and soy free, too.
(*) For those of you new to vegan cooking, vegan food is food made without the use of any animal based food products – including meat, fish or dairy (milk, cream, eggs, butter, etc.) and without food products like honey or gelatine. People who eat vegan food exclusively are called vegans and many people participate in the vegan lifestyle for religious, ethical and health-related reasons. Many vegans do not wear clothes or use other products which are derived from or contain animal products such as leather.
Vegan Chocolate Banana Peanut Ice Cream (No Ice Cream Machine Needed)
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Whitney Love
Recipe type: Vegan
Cuisine: Vegan
Serves: 12
Ingredients
- 5 ripe bananas, cut into bite sized pieces
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) coconut milk (**)
- 85 g (3/4 cup) cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
- (**) Alternatively, use almond, soy, oat or another milk alternative. Cow’s milk can also be used, but then of course, your “ice cream” won’t be vegan.
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth. The mix should be thick but not chunky. If you have any banana chunks in the mix, add a bit more coconut milk and blend again.
- Next, pour the mix into a freezer safe container and freeze for at least 4 hours.
- After 4 hours, the mix should be hard to the touch, which means it is set.
- Serve and enjoy!
To learn more about vegetarianism, veganism or eating meatless in Norway, check out these links:
Norsk Vegan Samfunn – The Norwegian Vegan Society (NVS) was established on 16th December 2009 and is a nationwide and democratic organisation which aims to bring together all those who are practising vegans or wish to become vegan, in Norway.
Norsk Vegetarforening – The Norwegian Vegetarforening (NV) was founded in 1995 and has its roots in Norway’s Vegetarian Association, founded in 1930. NW is now the umbrella organization for all of Norway with an interest in vegetarianism and veganism.
Vegetarbloggen – Written by Mari and my favourite Norway vegetarian blog. Written in Norwegian with lots of tips and tricks to help making living as a vegetarian successful in Norway.
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| Vegan and easy to make! |
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Thanks for the comments Tofy and Deukap! It’s amazing…so refreshing and chocolaty! Yum.
This ‘ice cream’ looks even better than normal ice cream! So yummie and tasty. You have to try vegan chocolate pudding: use an avicado instead of milk!!! Just avocado and cacao: amazing!!!
This ‘ice cream’ looks wonderful and is not just a perfect alternative for vegans but also for those who don’t have an ice cream machine at home…