Habiba Tunau MD

As the weather heats up we crave something cool and if you are like me you sometimes want something sweet as well.  I love ice cream and could eat it everyday!  My favorites are strawberry ice cream, butter pecan,  rocky road, pistachio ….basically I love anything creamy with slivers of chocolate, nuts or pieces of fruit.  

Now obviously if I gave in to my cravings maintaining a healthy weight would be a major challenge, not to mention a sure way to uncontrolled diabetes . 

I will be honest after weeks of quarantine & the stay at home order because of  the COVID 19 pandemic I was excited to get out in the North carolina sunshine  and get some ice cream from a local store that had a drive through.  At least three times over a two week period my husband and I sat through long lines as we waited in the car for ice cream.  Up until this point I had been doing fairly well with my low sugar, low salt , low carb, high fiber,  no artificial ingredients lifestyle. The commercially produced ice cream tasted great but it had a ton of sugar,  artificial ingredients and to be honest the dairy gave me a stomach ache.  

Sometimes what seems convenient and tastes good is not good for us ! Case in point one scoop of store bought or commercial regular ice cream usually means up to and often more than  200 calories!  One scoop! Keep in mind most of us don’t just  get one scoop or half a cup serving. Plus there is the added calories of the processed toppings!     I decided it was time to start making my own guilt free, no added refined sugar, non dairy ice cream better known as ” Nice Cream” from the comfort of my own home.  I used to do this a couple of years ago and it was so easy and still is ! 

Best of all I can have so much fun making different flavors, adding different toppings and personalizing it for everyone. 

Ingredients : Can you believe the “base” to make this all natural ice cream consists of 2-3 frozen bananas,  3-5 dates that have been soaked overnight and half a cup of coconut milk . Three ingredients,  that’s it ! 

 How to make : Place all three ingredients in a strong blender until smooth and there you go, thick, creamy and delicious!   For a firmer cream freeze for an hour or more after blending. 

Tips:

 Add real vanilla to your base while blending  if you want the taste of vanilla ice cream.

Add fruit : blend base with berries of your choice like strawberries and blueberries which are all heart healthy.  The juice from the fruit will make your base more like a smoothie so you will need to allocate time to freeze your ice cream.  You can also try tropical fruit like mangos and pineapple.  

If you want a thicker ice cream add less coconut milk and  make sure your bananas are frozen before blending.

Coconut milk is available in the carton or can.  I prefer using the thicker, creamier canned version.  If you can’t find coconut milk you can soak and blend cashews to form a milk  or try almond milk but your base ice cream may not be as thick or creamy.

Instead of dates  which are one of nature’s candy, alternative natural sweeteners you can use are:  raw honey, maple syrup and stevia. 

I would love to know if you have tried this recipe or if you have an alternative way to make a healthier version of the traditional ice cream.

Thanks for reading and feel free to share this with someone ! 

Watch me make Nice cream here : https://youtu.be/Fv8tBqvg1uE