Pumpkin & Pomegranate

Ice cream cravings have hit me with a vengeance. Since I shy away from agave and sugar, I have been left to my own devices. This isn’t new to me, as while I was on my big fat loss way I would often whip up a batch of “ice cream” made from frozen banana, almond milk, vanilla, and sometimes a little bit of cinnamon. But this is a whole new ballgame people. The rules have changed and it is time for some serious action. I was reading Averie’s blog and saw that she added 2 things to my favorite home made frozen dessert, and I took notice. peppermint extract and chocolate chunks. WHAT??? Cue mint chocolate chip craving. Unfortunately for me I didn’t have any peppermint extract. That’s ok! Instead I made chocolate chocolate chip, and then topped it with some sunflower seed butter. It was very like chocolate-PB ice cream, enough to satisfy me at least! The nifty thing about this is that because it isn’t loaded with refined sugar, you actually don’t feel like you need to eat an entire pint of the stuff. I truly get enough from a serving. Mind you I don’t skimp on my servings, but it definitely isn’t a pint. After I am full, satisfied, and feel no guilt at all.

I highly recommend keeping a huge supply of frozen banana slices on hand at all times. I always buy bananas when I go to the store. I am kind of picky about my bananas and try to stick with the GROW label bananas as they are fair trade, so when I see them (at the co-ops usually) I buy as many as I can fit in my freezer. This makes for easy smoothie prep and now for ice “cream. I have found that they work best when you let them ripen until they begin to get speckled, then slice them and put them either on a waxed paper covered cookie sheet, or a silicone mat covered cookie sheet. that way the bananas are easy to pry off when they are frozen. I then jar or bag them for easy use!

I have since tried a few combos:

1. I did the mint choco. chip version, but found that the peppermint wasn’t enough to override the banana flavor.
2. I did chocolate mint chocolate chip and that was quite good, the extra chocolate helps mask the banana some (but you never truly get rid of it and that is ok for me).
3. Chocolate chocolate chip with Poudre Douce. This is the recipe I am sharing with you lovelies. I had been wanting to try my poudre douce, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Seriously good. If you want to make your own I am sure you could come up with a winning combo. The ingredients are cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Since I purchased this baggie i don’t have the measurements, but I assume that when this is finished I will mix my own. Yum.

Spiced Chocolate Chocolate Chip Ice “Cream”

Ingredients;

• 2 C. Frozen Banana Slices
• 1/4 C. Faux Milk (coconut, hemp, almond, etc.)
• 1 1/2 T Cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. Poudre Douce
• 1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper (optional)
• 2 Big Chunks of Dark Chocolate

Method:

1. Blend together the banana, milk, poudre douce, and cayenne until combined.
2. Toss in the chocolate and pulse a few times to break into little chocolate bits.
3. Serve!

Unfortunately this does not re-freeze well. I tried, but i assume the water content is too high and I would need a real ice cream maker to get it to a consistency where the ice crystals wouldn’t freeze so close together (or however the physics of that work). The point is, eat this RIGHT AWAY.

I also have served this avec one of my gluten free chocolate muffins from the vegan bake sale last month. Not grain free or sweetener free, as it was made with rice flour and maple syrup. Honestly, it didn’t need it. The ice “cream” is fine on its own, and the muffin was so unnecessary.But here is a photo anyway ;-) Oh and I topped it with sunflower seed buttah of course.