Banana Cardamom ‘Ice Cream’

Banana Cardamom ‘Ice Cream’

As long as you have frozen bananas ready to go in the freezer, this dairy-free ‘ice cream’ can be prepared really quickly to be served immediately. It can also be made ahead and stored in the freezer.

Make sure you freeze bananas pre-chopped and in portions you need for individual recipes, as they’re not easy to separate. There are hundreds of versions of this recipe online. I prefer to use more almond butter and cardamom than most, and Finn agrees.

Ingredients

4 large or 5 medium, ripe bananas

2 tablespoons smooth almond butter (ideally homemade, using pre-soaked and dehydrated almonds for digestibility, but shop bought works)

10-12 whole cardamom pods

Coconut smiles to serve (I use these), or whatever toppings you fancy.

Instructions

Peel and chop bananas.

Place in a container suitable for the freezer (I use glass Tupperware).

Freeze until solid.

Using a coffee grinder, process 10-12 cardamom pods into a fine powder. Set aside.

Place frozen bananas into a food processor (I use a Magi Mix)

Clean and dry the container you froze the bananas in, ready to load your ice cream into if not serving immediately.

Pulse a few times, then process the bananas until smooth. You will need to stop a few times to scrape down the sides. It will take a few minutes but it will all combine into a smooth, creamy mixture.

Add almond butter and process into the bananas.

Add cardamom powder and process until smooth.

The ‘ice cream’ can be served immediately or stored in a freezable container with a lid. When ready to serve, remove from the freezer a few minutes before to soften slightly before scooping and serving. We like to top this one with coconut smiles (they’re thicker than coconut flakes). Chopped nuts and cacao nibs also work very well.