Healthy Ice Cream Cake: Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Banana
Try this Healthy Ice Cream Cake recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Healthy Ice Cream Cake recipe, or contribute your own.
- water as needed
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch salt
- brownie layer:
- 1 cup raw nuts (i used walnuts and almonds)
- 8 pitted dates
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder or unsweetened co
- 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- peanut butter caramel layer:
- 1 cup pitted dates
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter (look for versions with just peanuts
- banana ice cream layer:
- 2 large peeled frozen bananas
- chocolate ganache: layer:
- 1 1/4 cup chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- Carbohydrate 30.4954781390022 g
- Cholesterol 0.153125 mg
- Fat 9.64058453790713 g
- Fiber 2.77987499129566 g
- Protein 1.498566563432 g
- Saturated Fat 6.1539872695638 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (49g)
- Sodium 23.289765627441 mg
- Sugar 27.7156031477065 g
- Trans Fat 0.47555775029247 g
- Calories 194 calories
Step-by-step
- In a food processor add all of the ingredients for the brownie layer and mix until a dough forms adding in splashes of water as needed to combined. It should be moist but not overly wet.
- In a 8x8 baking pan lined with parchment paper, press the raw brownie mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan.
- In the same food processor (washed if you wanted or not) add in the ingredients for the peanut butter caramel layer and process until smooth. Adding splashes of water until caramel consistency.
- Top the brownie layer with the peanut butter caramel and using the back of a spoon spread out evenly over the brownie.
- In the same food processor (washed or not) add in the frozen bananas and process until thick and smooth. It will become more solid in the freezer.
- Spread the banana ice cream layer over the caramel.
- Put in the freezer to set while making the chocolate ganache.
- In a double boiler (a bowl over a pan of hot water) melt the chocolate chips, almond milk, and coconut oil until smooth and combined.
- Pour the chocolate over the banana ice cream and gently spread it out evenly over the top.
- Put the cake in the freezer to set fully, about 2 hours.
- Cut into squares.
- Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
How do you keep four distinct frozen layers from turning into a solid block that resists the knife? Building a frozen dessert with raw nuts, dates, and frozen fruit requires careful management of fat and moisture content. Freezing high-sugar purées alongside dense nut meals creates structural challenges unless each tier is allowed to set individually.
Mastering the Freezing and Setting Process
Process the raw nuts and pitted dates in a food processor until the mixture binds into a cohesive dough. Press this base firmly into an eight-inch square baking pan lined with parchment paper to ensure clean extraction later. The peanut butter caramel layer demands patience with the machine; stream in water one tablespoon at a time until the dates liquefy into a spreadable paste. When spinning the frozen bananas, process them past the initial crumbly stage until the blades incorporate enough air to yield a soft-serve consistency. Pour the warm chocolate ganache over the chilled banana layer quickly before the cold surface seizes the melted chocolate. Store leftovers inside an airtight container in the freezer for up to fourteen days to prevent freezer burn.
Adapting Ingredients Efficiently
Purchasing raw nuts and cacao powder individually can strain grocery budgets if bought in small quantities. Substitute standard unsweetened cocoa powder for raw cacao without altering the structural integrity of the base. Swap almond milk for regular dairy milk or oat milk depending on pantry inventory. Verify that peanut butter contains only peanuts and salt to maintain the proper moisture balance in the caramel layer, as added oils will prevent the dates from binding correctly.
