Healthy Ice Cream With a Chocolate Shell

This, my friends, is so unbelievably decadent, rich and totally hits the spot. When you finish the bowl, you are satisfied mind, body and soul.

This recipe is designed for one. Double, triple or quaduple when needed.

You need:

1 frozen banana

1 tbsp almond butter (I use raw almond butter)

1 tsp maple syrup (honey would work as well)

1 tbsp melted and cooled coconut oil (If it’s hot, it will melt your ice cream)

1 tsp cacao powder (cocoa powder would work too but cacao is healthier)

First, you need 1 frozen banana. To freeze bananas, you want to peel them first, wrap them individually in a layer of saran wrap. Then place in a freezer bag.

So you take the banana, almond butter and maple syrup and put it all in your high powered blender. I use a vitamix. (Worth every penny! I have a friend who has had hers for 20 years!)

Scoop out the mixture and place into a bowl. It will look like this:

Now take the coconut oil and cacao powder and mix them together in a separate bowl.

Then drizzle it over your ice cream.

This is seriously amazing and really healthy. 1 extremely large banana will clock in under 150 calories. (Find out more about bananas NOT being detremential to your weight here.) Contain 26% DV of vitamin B6 (helps relieve morning sickness btw), 17% DV vitamin C, 12% DV fiber (helps reduce bloating) and 12% DV of potassium (heart healthy). Almond butter is a great source of blood sugar stabalizing protein and fats. And let me just get on my soap box for a second…FATS DON’T MAKE YOU FAT!! Whew, I feel better. Fats make you feel full and satisfied. Your brain and nervous system live off fats…healthy fats. Almonds (and nuts in general) are a great source of healthy fats, protein and fiber. These three things keep your blood sugar stable, make you feel full and satisfied after a meal. (This ice cream would make a delicous breakfast next summer…just saying.) Maple syrup is a great alternative to honey or table sugar. It lend a rich flavor, satisfies the sweet tooth. Also, two teaspoons of maple syrup contain a incredible 22% DV of manganese. Manganese is an essential cofactor in a number of enzymes important in energy production and antioxidant defenses. Coconut oil is a medium chain fatty acid. Our bodies do not store medium chain fatty acids. They are instantly converted to energy. Yay! The fats in coconut oil extremely beneficial to our health. The versatility of coconut oil is amazing, but more on that later. Finally, cacao, the raw, unprocessed form of chocolate. A-mazing stuff. Raw cacao is full of magnesium, and other essential minerals including calcium, sulfur, zinc, iron, copper, potassium, and manganese. Polyphenols called flavonoids, with antioxidant properties. Vitamins: B1, B2, B3, B5, B9, E. Essential heart-healthy fat: oleic acid a monounsaturated fat, protein and fiber. Like I said, amazing.