Chocolate Nice Cream
Healthy Chocolate Nice Cream is SO quick and easy to make! It’s a deliciously wholesome dessert that everyone will enjoy because it’s vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, and sugar-free.
There are lots of different flavors of nice cream, and this one just happens to be my favorite, though I also love Mango Lime Nice Cream and vanilla banana nice cream as well. We even have 4 amazing veggie and fruit smoothies from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
We have some delicious healthy vegan desserts that pair well with this nice cream like our chocolate refined sugar-free cake and this crockpot vanilla dairy-free cake.
What is nice cream?
Almost everyone I know loves ice cream, but it’s usually loaded with fat and sugar. Nice cream is basically healthy ice cream made with a base of bananas, and it can even be made with only bananas if desired. We have 6 delicious flavors of healthy vegan nice cream to choose from.
It gets its name Nice because it’s wholesome and complementary to a healthy diet and lifestyle without all of the usual sugary stuff.
Ingredients you will need
- Bananas- Choose overly rip bananas and freeze them to make this vegan ice cream. The bananas do have to be frozen first.
- Cocoa powder- This is a chocolate version, so we use cocoa powder. We have a vanilla banana nice cream recipe as well.
- Vanilla- This extract enhances its flavor by adding a subtle, sweet, and aromatic note that complements the natural taste of bananas.
- Plant milk- I love to use almond milk, but almond, soy, and other varieties work well too. We sometimes use this homemade cashew milk to make nice cream because it is so easy to make and super healthy.
How to make chocolate nice cream
The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.
It really doesn’t get much more simple than this easy vegan dessert. The only thought that has to be put into it at all is freezing ripe bananas ahead of time. Many grocery stores bag up the overripe or ugly bananas that have brown spots on them and sell them for really cheap. That’s when I like to grab them up.
STEP #1: Bring the bananas home, peel each one, place them in a gallon-size freezer bag, and store them in the freezer. Some people slice theirs into circles, but I’ve never had a need for that, and freezing them whole after peeling works great.
STEP #2: When you’re ready to make nice cream, simply place two frozen bananas in your blender or food processor with the cocoa powder, vanilla, and plant milk. The bananas can be broken up into chunks before tossing them in, but I tend to leave them whole because I have a high-power Vitamix 5200 Series. If your blender isn’t pretty powerful, breaking them into chunks will help them process.
STEP #3: Blend until nice and smooth. My blender has a tamper to press ingredients down to the blade while blending. If yours doesn’t have that, you’ll need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times.
It will be a soft-serve consistency which is how I like it. However, if you would like for it to be scoopable, simply place it in a freezer-safe container for a couple of hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
You actually can make nice cream without bananas. I often purchase frozen fruit in a tropical or berry blend and make nice cream without bananas.
Yes, otherwise it’s going to be liquid after blending. You could always freeze it after blending, but my guess is that it would change the consistency a bit.
Absolutely! A dessert of frozen fruit that is naturally sweetened is a terrific healthy snack.
About 5 minutes at my house! Seriously though, it can be stored in an airtight container in your freezer for a couple of months.
More Easy Vegan Nice Cream Recipes
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Chocolate Nice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 overly ripe frozen bananas
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon plant milk almond, soy, etc
Instructions
- Place two frozen bananas in your blender or food processor with the cocoa powder, vanilla, and plant milk. The bananas can be broken up into chunks before tossing them in, but I tend to leave them whole because I have a high-power Vitamix 5200 Series. If your blender isn't pretty powerful, breaking them into chunks will help them process.
- Blend until nice and smooth. My blender has a tamper to press ingredients down to the blade while blending. If yours doesn't have that, you'll need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times.
- It will be a soft-serve consistency which is how I like it. However, if you would like for it to be scoopable, simply place it in a freezer-safe container for a couple of hours.
- Serve as is or top with banana slices, crushed walnuts, dairy-free chocolate chips, or shredded coconut.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer
To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
wowsa!! Just made some for hubby and me..! so, so good.. Thank you Terri for all your recipes..
I made mine with chocolate protein and caffeine free coffee and it was absolutely amazing.
This is absolutely divine! I can’t believe I waited so long to make it. It was so easy and 10 minutes included clean up. I even put some in the freezer for later. Thank you!!
Colleen- That’s awesome! I’m so glad that you like it. It’s so perfect for these hot summer days!
This recipe is awesome! We had to add more tablespoons of almond milk since our blender couldn’t break down the sliced bananas with just one, but the consistency and flavor were amazing! We will definitely use this recipe again with cocoa powder and try different add-ins to create other flavors as well!
I’m not a huge fan of ice cream. That being said:
This is amazing!!!!
I will definitely be keeping bananas in the freezer from now on.
Not only is this delicious it’s easy and fast.
Thank you
What a “NICE” treat
Hi Pam- I agree that it’s crazy how simple this is and how great it tastes! So glad that you like it enough to keep it in your rotation. 🙂
This is fantastic! I usually add chocolate unsweetened almond milk and always have to add more than the recipe calls for. I break up the bananas as that seems to help the Vitamix not get bogged down. I use Hershey’s dark chocolate and this is now a regular dessert for us. Thank you!
Hi Zoey- So glad that you like it, and breaking up the bananas into chunks really does help.