I was brainstorming with my daughters for this week’s post, as we were left with only a few days (as I was held up with coordinating an international online event held to promote mother languages). My elder daughter came on to the rescue, with a super easy dessert, relevant to Valentine’s day special with absolutely no hassle, and involves zero baking and zero cooking. Are you thrilled like me!!! I can feel it. If you are super busy with your household and office schedules, don’t panic or feel bad that you couldn’t surprise your loved ones for this special day. This recipe is so breezy, you can do it effortlessly, it only just needs freezing time.
I can strongly vouch that this is a guilt-free ice-cream option, as it’s completely packed with fruit and as it has its own sugar content, it’s absolutely sugar-free unless you coat it with chocolate for this extravagant occasion. This dessert is comparatively healthy to real ice cream. So, if you’re planning on treating yourself, why not opt for a healthier and sugar-free sweet.
It can be converted as lactose-free friendly by adding almond milk, we also used the same milk. Similarly, you can make it vegan friendly by avoiding the chocolate dipping (or choosing vegan chocolates). Apart from these add-ons, it’s No-Cook, No-Bake, Quick and easy dessert. It needs only planning as it requires overnight freezing. I believe with this Valentine’s Day falling on a Sunday, you can surprise your loved ❤ 💕 ♥ ones, by preparing this on Saturday in a jiffy.
Also, it’s kids friendly as any frozen treat is a feast to them. This recipe is a gift to moms, whose kids are fussy eaters when it comes to fruits. What else is stopping you, come on, let’s get into the recipe?
Click here to jump to recipe card!
Cut your bananas into thin slices, seal them in a zip lock bag, and pop them in the freezer. Let it stay for a minimum of 2 hours. In a blender, add the frozen bananas.
Add instant coffee powder,
Add half of the milk,
Add honey
vanilla essence
Pulse till a smooth thick paste.
Gradually add the balance milk
Grind it again into a smooth paste.
Pour the mixture into a lined tray and freeze it for a minimum of 8 hours to overnight.
Texture and consistency should be similar to this
Take the ice cream out of the freezer and cut it into your desired shape.
Double boil the chocolate (refer notes)
Add coconut oil.
Once no lumps are there, switch off the flame and bring it down to room temperature.
Coat the pieces with chocolate and immediately put them back in the freezer.
We are adding red colour here, adding food colour is optional. Let it rest for about half an hour in the freezer/
And then treat yourself with this healthy ice cream.
Recipe card
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 0 minutes
Cuisine: International
Category: Dessert
Yields: 16
Author: Varunika
Ingredients:
Sliced Bananas – 1 ½ cups
Instant powdered coffee – 3 tbsp
Vanilla essence – 1/8 tsp
Honey – 1-2 tbsp
Whole milk – ¾ cup
Coconut oil – 3 tsp
Chocolate – 300 grams
Instructions:
- Cut your bananas into thin slices, seal them in a zip lock bag, and pop them in the freezer. Let it stay for a minimum of 2 hours.
- In a blender, add the frozen bananas, half of the milk, honey, instant coffee, and vanilla essence. Pulse till a smooth thick paste.
- Gradually add the balance milk , grind it again into a smooth paste.
- Pour the mixture into a lined tray and freeze it for a minimum of 8 hours to overnight.
- Take the ice cream out of the freezer and cut it into your desired shape.
- Double boil the chocolate and coconut oil (refer notes). Once no lumps are there, switch off the flame and bring it down to room temperature.
- We are adding red colour here, adding food colour is optional.
- Coat the pieces with chocolate and immediately put them back in the freezer.
- Let it rest for about half an hour in the freezer and then treat yourself with this healthy ice cream.
Notes:
- The recipe is not too strict with the ingredients. The only thing you must be diligent about is the bananas, apart from that you can manipulate any of the other ingredients.
- You can adjust the amount of honey you use. I like the bitterness of coffee to come through, so I put in only 1 tbsp, but if you’re not a fan go ahead and add 2 tbsp. It’s the same with coffee and vanilla essence; add how much ever you’re comfortable with. These are flavouring agents, so there is no stringent rule.
- The mixture must be thick, only then will it hold shape after being frozen. This also depends on the variety of bananas and milk you use, so adjust the milk accordingly to ensure the texture is right.
- You may substitute the whole milk with almond, soy milk, etc., to make the dessert vegan/lactose-free.
- Coating with chocolate is optional too. Its primary purpose is to hold the shape as this ice cream melts very quickly.
- Here, we tried with different chocolates like white and dark. For the Valentine’s day concept, we added red food colour to white chocolate. You can unfurl your creativity to surprise your loved ones..😍😍
- But try to use gel colour, if you use liquid colour, make sure you don’t add too much as it shouldn’t affect the consistency of the chocolate dip.
- Double boiling: Place a vessel filled with water on the stove, then put another vessel on top and switch on the stove. This is done so that the food is not exposed to direct heat from the stove, but is rather gently heated from the steam.
- You can substitute the coffee with other frozen fruits(strawberry, mango, etc.). Although, be mindful of the water content from those fruits, and reduce the milk added to maintain consistency.