Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter “Ice Cream”

Those who know me are keenly aware of my fondness for ice cream! (I actually have some very funny stories that center around this beloved frozen treat…will have to get into that later!) Anyway, to satisfy my nightly cravings, I have developed a pretty fabulous chocolate smoothie but am always on the lookout for other creamy, sweet alternatives. Last night, I reworked a recipe I saw using frozen bananas and Nutella to rave reviews from my toughest crowd–my kids! I substituted chocolate peanut butter that I found at our local farmers market and added a couple other things to heighten the chocolate flavor and improve the creaminess. I loved it, and my older son–who doesn’t even like bananas–wanted seconds!

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter “Ice Cream”

3 bananas, cut into chunks and frozen
1/2 cup chocolate peanut butter (see note)
chocolate milk for thinning (almond, soy, or regular)
1 rounded tablespoon cocoa powder

Place bananas and peanut butter in food processor and process until the mixture starts to blend. Drizzle chocolate milk through the feed tube while machine is going. I used approximately a quarter cup but this may vary depending on the size of the bananas and the consistency you prefer. Add cocoa powder and stir into mixture slightly before processing to fully incorporate. This will prevent the cocoa powder from wafting up and sticking all over the sides of your food processor!

At this point, it will be a soft-serve consistency and is ready to eat. A couple hours in the freezer and it will have the consistency of regular ice cream and be “scoopable”. It will eventually freeze very hard and will need to sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften.

Note: You could substitute Nutella. I was also thinking a honey-flavored peanut butter would be good. You could try that with or without the cocoa powder.