Choc Chip Chunk Ice-Cream

A delectable vegan ice-cream that's practically guilt free... Yes please!

INGREDIENTS

For the Ice-Cream:

• 4 large bananas, chopped and frozen

• 1 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup

• 1 tsp vanilla bean powder / paste

For the choc chunks:

• 1/3 cup coconut oil

• 3 Tbsp cacao powder

• 1 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Peel and chop 4 large bananas. Place in a zip lock bag and freeze overnight.

2. Line a cake loaf tin in baking paper.

3. Place all choc chunk ingredients in a food processor and process on medium speed until very smooth. Pour into the loaf tin and freeze until hard.

4. Place all ice-cream ingredients into a food processor and process on medium speed until smooth and creamy (about 30 seconds). If some chunks of banana still remain, scrape down the sides and process for an additional 15 seconds. It is ready once it has reached the consistency of soft serve ice-cream.

5. Remove the chocolate from the freezer and turn it out onto a cutting board. Chop into small chunks and add to the ice-cream mix. Process on low speed until mixed, about 10 seconds.

6. Serve immediently for a soft ice-cream, or return to the freezer for at least 4 hours for a hard ice-cream. Top with Chocolate Sauce or eat as is.
   

TAMARAS' TIP:

To make chocolate ice-cream,add 1/3 cup cacao powder to the ice-cream mixture.

This recipe is featured in the Sweets & Treats eBook, along with 50 others nutritiously raw snacks.

A Word from Tamara Lee

I confess. The inspiration for this recipe came from theVanilla Choc Chip ice-cream at Gelare. It is absolutely to DIE for, and yes on a zag day I would consider indulging in this decadent treat. Once in a very long while. Still, I'm very happy with my raw version and don't get the guilts when I eat it since it's basically just banana, which is arguably one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. Let's take a closer look why that is. Firstly, bananas are a good source of potassium which is an essential mineral for maintaining normal blood pressure and heart function. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, fewer than 2% of US adults met the daily 4700 mg recommendation (1). The recommended daily intake (RDI) for men is 3800mg, and women 2800mg (2). One medium-sized banana contains around 400mg of potassium, so it's a delicious way to bump up your RDI. ​ Secondly, The Imperial College of London collected dietary information from 2,640 children, ages 5 to 10, and found that children who ate just one banana per day had a significant reduction in developing asthma symptoms (3).

This makes it an absolutely perfect school lunch box snack - it even comes in it's own convenient natural packaging! :) ​Lastly, as an interesting side note - Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World, traces the banana back to the Garden of Eden, where he believes it was the banana, not the apple, that was the "forbidden fruit" that Eve offered Adam (4). An intriguing theory for the Christian population to consider! ​ Add some healthy fats from the coconut oil (not too much, it's still saturated fat), a bit of raw cacao which is an antioxidant powerhouse and a touch of maple syrup and you've got healthy chocolate chips chilled to perfection. This is vegan ice-cream in its finest form!