Vegan Salted Caramel Banana Ice Cream

With warmer days upon us it’s officially nice cream season! Yes, “nice” cream. This frozen dessert is similar to ice cream but it’s made using frozen bananas as a base and can be dressed up in a million different ways. My version of sweet and salty banana ice cream is a very easy, whole-foods alternative to high-fat, refined sugar-packed products on the shelves. It is naturally vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, low-fat, and oh-so satisfying.

If you haven’t had banana ice cream yet and you’re stuck deciding what kind to make, START HERE! This salted caramel banana ice cream is thick, very sweet, and unique because of the hint of salt. Also, I should note that while nice cream is a natural dessert, I also find it makes a sweet and satisfying breakfast (and when eaten for breakfast this recipe makes more like one serving, versus two for dessert.)

When you pick up the ingredients, be sure to choose soft dates. There’s nothing worse than old, solid dates that won’t blend and just make hard chunks. If you only have solid dates, you can soak them in warm water for three to four hours before you want to blend them and that will help some. But I really recommend getting huge, soft dates for a true caramel experience. I also use a touch of toffee stevia drops, but it is not 100% necessary, just recommended.

Recipe and photo by Kim Capella, author of the blog The Coconut Diaries

By Kim Capella
Published on May 30, 2016