salted banana peanut butter ice cream with chocolate caramel sauce

confession: i high fived myself when the above happened in the kitchen this weekend.  do you know how awkward that is, a grown woman high fiving HERSELF?  terrible.  but do you know what the complete polar opposite of terrible is?  THIS ICE CREAM.  which, as is stands, contains neither ice nor cream.  but instead is a mixture of unicorn love, bananas, peanut butter and salt.  {ok, one of those ingredients is the best thing ever totally made up}

i should mention that i high fived myself not because i invented this banana peanut butter faux cream, but because i bettered it!  i’ve seen the recipe floating around a bunch, first on a friend’s instagram and then pinterest, tumblr…everywhere i turned it was calling my name.  but when i made it as i’d seen the recipe call for- frozen banana, peanut butter, mix, serve.  it was just sort of meh.  at least, meh in my book. because in my opinion it was missing TWO VERY IMPORTANT THINGS…. salt, and unicorn love chocolate caramel.  so, proceed below for more about this why this is my new favorite dessert and the recipe after the jump!

here’s why this is my new favorite dessert:  1.) it’s easy  2.) it’s insanely delicious  3.) it’s so easy!  AND if those three reasons weren’t enough there’s also this: it’s dairy free, gluten free and has no refined sugar. plus you don’t need a fancy ice cream maker.  WHAT?!  so there you go my friends.  make it, love it, tell your friends about it.  xx- sarah

ingredients

for the ice cream:

3 bananas

2 tablespoons unsweetened, unsalted peanut butter

1/4 teaspoon sea salt (more if you’re like me and you like your sweets salty!)

 

for the chocolate caramel sauce:

4 tablespoons of brown rice syrup

2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder (i used this brand)

chopped peanuts for garnish (and they don’t just make it look pretty, they add a nice and necessary crunch!)

 

preparation

– slice bananas as you would for cereal and freeze overnight in a sealed container (ziplock or i prefer glass tupperware)

– pull the bananas out of the freezer and defrost for a few minutes.

– while the bananas are defrosting heat put the brown rice syrup and cocoa powder in top of double boiler (if you don’t have one here is an alternative using what you most likely already have!)  heat on low while you’re blending the ice cream, checking on it to stir and make sure there’s not burning.

– in a good processor or high powered blender like a vitamix combine the bananas and peanut butter on low speed to avoid burning out the engine on your food processor or blender, take breaks and stir with a spoon!  when mostly mixed, add salt a little at a time and adjust to your taste (i prefer SALTY!)

– scoop ice cream into a small bowl, pour melted chocolate caramel sauce over top and sprinkle with chopped peanuts

– enjoy!

*this recipe makes enough for two servings, plus a few extra bites of the ice cream for your pup

Post a Comment

  • (will not be published)

Reader Comments

  1. Hayley|

    I totally just tried out a banana peanut butter ice cream recipe last night. I wish that I'd seen yours! It looks so good. Mine got really frozen because I put it back in the freezer. Does it matter if I blend it on high? (I used a food processor) I'm gonna try yours out really soon!

    Reply
  5. Latrina|

    Oh my gosh. You are brilliant! ..and it is truly healthy, I thought you were just fooling us. 🙂 I will have to try this! 😀

    I secretly add bananas to my yogurt with granola & nuts.. and it tastes just like banana pudding! You know, the one with waffer cookies. 🙂

    Reply
  6. sarah yates|

    thanks shauna!

    @ christin and @latrina, you two keep throwing around words like "brilliant" and "genius" i'm going to turn into an egomaniacal monster! haha! 🙂

    thanks lauren! let me know if you like it better (i hope you do!)

    Reply
  14. Carole|

    Hi there. The current Food on Friday on Carole's Chatter is collecting links to posts about ice cream and sorbets or anything similar like gelato. I do hope you link this in. This is the link . Please do check out some of the other links there are a lot of good ones already. Have a great week.

    Reply
  15. Jackson|

    You've managed to condense heaven and paradise into a single recipe, a single blog post. Everything in this recipe is my favorite and I can't wait to try it. Some years ago Haagen Dazs used to produce a peanut butter vanilla flavor. After this, they introduced a bunch a crazy tricked-out flavors that were like crackhead versions of their most popular flavors. I recently saw a peanut butter chocolate that looked okay. The above looks amazing. And I'm especially thrilled it's dairy free. I'm lacto ovo, but try to avoid dairy, so this will work out wonderfully. Can't wait to try it.

    Reply
  16. sarah yates|

    hi hayley! if you blend it on high you may burn out the motor on your blender. just start slow and see how it goes (partly depends on how frozen your bananas are). good luck!

    Reply
  17. Loren|

    You are a food genius! Why I never thought of adding salt is beyond me – it's soooo good. Probably too good.

    Reply
  18. cke|

    is it possible to make a larger amount and freeze it so it's ready when wanted? thank you

    Reply
  19. Just A Question|

    Is there another way to make the caramel sauce? If no, then what other sauces taste good with the ice cream?

    Reply
  20. Lola|

    Just made this with my 9 year old….YUM!! We loved it. My daughter said, “why would anyone buy ice cream and chocolate syrup at the store??” This recipe really hit the sweet spot. Thank you so much.

    Reply