Sunday, January 05, 2014

Cashew Banana Ice Cream


Arielle and I like this one a lot. It is from Dreena Burton at Plant-Powered Kitchen. I've had SEVERAL recipes I pinned turn up with broken links when I go to use them. I've been disappointed several times lately so I'm going to transfer some recipes I have pinned to the blog. 

Ingredients
3 cups frozen sliced bananas (4–5 medium bananas) (see notes)
1/3 – ½ cup cashew butter (raw cashew butter is especially good; also try a combo of almond butter and
macadamia nut butter)
1/8 tsp sea salt
3-4 tbsp pure maple syrup (or less/more as desired)

My Notes: We used this to make an "ice cream cake" at Thanksgiving and loved it. Dairy Free....but not sugar free. Makes about 3 cups. I add in vanilla - as much as I want. ::grin:: I've never had cashew butter and have used almond butter. 

Instructions
In a food processor, process bananas until they are roughly chopped.

Add cashew butter, salt, and syrup (starting with 2-3 tablespoons) and purée until very smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

 Taste test, adding remaining syrup if desired.

Serve immediately, and store leftovers in the freezer. (This ice cream freezes well, being easy to scoop again within a few minutes after removing from the freezer. In fact, I prefer to freeze it to reharden the ice cream somewhat before digging in!)


Notes from Dreena:
When I have overripe bananas, I slice them, measure 3 cups to a container or ziploc bag, then store in the
freezer so they are readily available to make this ice cream.

The more overripe your bananas, the sweeter this ice cream will be. Also, softer ice cream is sweeter to
our tastebuds than hard, frozen ice cream, so you can adjust sweetness to taste with the maple syrup.
(don’t omit the salt, it enhances the sweetness and also rounds out the overall flavors.)

You can modify this ice cream as you like. I prefer the simplicity of bananas and cashews, but you could
add vanilla extract (or paste), almond extract, cinnamon, and/or nutmeg. Also, try pulsing in some raw
cashews or macadamia nuts, or some chocolate chips.


Choosing Joy!
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~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...