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I am always looking for ways to make my kids think they’re getting a treat without using a lot of sugar or carbs. This fit the bill perfectly.
A recipe is making its rounds on the blogosphere and I saw it on Pinterest. A frozen banana mixed with a little cocoa powder and peanut butter in the food processor until smooth and it comes out like ice cream.
Boy, does it!
I peeled my ripe bananas, broke them into chunks and stashed them in a zip-top bag in the freezer last night. This afternoon I put 3 bananas, 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and about 1 Tbs of peanut butter in the food processor and I ran it on high speed until smooth and creamy. It’s perfect. They think I made ice cream!! It bought me 20 minutes of silence. 😀 I told them it would take up their daily piece of fruit instead of them eating the banana fresh and they’re not complaining. It comes out very thick.
Other blogs are saying you can do it with the banana and peanut butter alone, or even just with the banana alone. I’ll try multiple variations. You might even be able to squeeze an avocado in there and them not know it.
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This is how I make smoothies for my kids. Milk, frozen bananas, and some type of frozen berry or sometimes a tablespoon of peanut butter. We all love it- tastes exactly like a thick shake. It’s amazing how the frozen bananas thicken it so well. I’ll have to try it with cocoa powder for a chocolate “shake”.
I have been making this for years with just banana, cocoa powder, and nuts (with a splash of milk or water). It’s really yummy!
I do prefer using under-ripe bananas so the chocolate isn’t over-powered by banana.
But the consistency is wonderful!
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I’m curious about limiting the pieces of fruit. Is it because of the sugar? My son is almost three and loves his fruit. My husband thinks he eats too much fruit. My son has tons of energy, but he is a 3 yr old boy!!! However, sometimes it can be a little much…
Shannan, fruit has some vitamins and minerals but it is full of sugar. If I didn’t limit it with my kids, they’d each eat 4-5 pieces a day. We limit them to one piece of fruit and multiple servings of vegetables.
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You can also take room temp ripe bannanas and cocoa powdwer to make choc pudding 🙂
I made this today and it turned out wonderfully. So easy to make. I did add a splash of milk to get the mixture moving as it was ceasing up my food processor without. This treat is definitely a keeper in our home! I also plan to try it with room temperature bananas to make more of a pudding. Thanks for posting!!
This is my standard smoothie recipe around here, I just add some milk, cream, almond milk or coconut milk to it to thin it down to a thick milk shake consistency. If I make it for myself I love almond butter and cacoa nibs in it. The nibs give it some chew (I am weird I don’t like completely smooth things) and it tastes like frozen liquid cookie dough.
What if your kid hates peanut butter? Any other substitutions?
Yogi, you can leave the peanut butter out without a problem.
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I suspect you could leave out the peanut butter and cocoa, and sub strawberries and maybe some vanilla for strawberry “ice cream?”