Healthy peanut butter and banana ice cream

When you taste the velvety smoothness of this rich ice cream, you’ll find it hard to believe that it contains no cream or eggs.

It’s just an exquisitely simple (and almost completely guilt-free) combination of blended frozen bananas, peanut butter and honey. It’s utterly delicious, but given it’s lower calorie content, you can happily have a second helping.

It’s a wonderfully healthy pud for the kids too, so make a double portion, it won’t be around for long!

Ideas for serving

Serve this in bowls, cones or dolloped on top of little ginger biscuits with a dusting of the candied nuts to serve as a gorgeous finger-food dessert.
If you’re feeling decadent you could add in a spoonful of Nutella along with the peanut butter for that extra ‘wow’  factor.

Take a look at the helpful step-by-step gallery for the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 large ripe bananas, peeled and roughly chopped
1 Tbsp peanut butter, I use sugar-free
1 Tbsp honey or maple syrup
1-2 Tbsp cold milk/yoghurt or just water for dairy-free

For the candied nuts
(These have butter in which is dairy, but you could leave it out)
Note that this makes more than enough for 2 people, so you will have some left over which you can store in an airtight jar for later use. Alternatively halve the recipe. For the butter-free, healthier version, just chop some roasted nuts and use those for your topping.
100g nuts of your choice, either raw or roasted are fine
3 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp maple syrup (or ordinary syrup if you don’t have maple)
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Method
1. Place the bananas in a freezer-proof container and freeze for at least 3 hours.

2. Meanwhile, prepare your candied nuts as follows:
If not roasted, toast in a heavy-based pot over medium heat until golden brown.
Add the remaining mixture, stir until well coated and then stir over medium-low heat for a further 5-10 minutes, or until the sugar has dissolved.
Remove the pot from the heat and pour the ingredients onto a non-stick baking tray or silpat mat, then set aside to cool before breaking or chopping into rough pieces.

3. Once the banana pieces are frozen, place in a blender with the remaining ice cream ingredients and blitz until you have a smooth consistency.
Serve immediately with a scattering of candied nuts, or return to the freezer for 15-20 minutes to firm up a little more if you prefer.

Sarah Graham blogs at AFoodieLivesHere and is a cookbook author and TV cooking show host.