Scott loves ice cream.
And Skylar loves avocados, especially locally grown avocados.
And I like using up extra bananas I have laying around.
I have a whole What to Make with Ripe Bananas post, too
But back to that “ice cream” and the recipe, you see, Scott loves the real kind of ice cream…
…But what I made isn’t the real kind.
But he still loved it.
Just blend everything together and either eat immediately or freeze extras for later. Easy.
How does it taste? Wonderful!
Would I call my “ice cream” Ben & Jerry’s? No.
I would call it better than Ben & Jerry’s. Yes!
I am very picky with desserts. I have a raging sweet tooth, I love fattening, sugary, buttery, rich, decadent, creamy, luxurious desserts and this passes muster.
The avocado really makes it oh-so-creamy and the sweetness from the banana and the sugar help it to really become “ice cream”.
If this recipe looks similar to you, it’s because it’s a spin-off of my Vanilla Avocado Banana Smoothie In A Bowl
The ice cream, however, is sweeter and much thicker than the smoothie. As ice cream should be.
Even if you don’t like avocados, it’s ok. You will still like this, I promise.
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Vanilla Avocado Banana Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 medium banana, previously frozen in chunks is optimal
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ c milk (nut milk, vanilla flavored nut milk, milk, cream, vanilla Coffeemate
- ½ c sugar (add/reduce/omit as desired, or use stevia or vanilla NuNaturals stevia drops
- 1 cup ice cubes, optional
Instructions
- Blend everything in Vita-Mix or blender until smooth.Vita-Mix Tips: If you are using a Vita and the mixture is extremely thick, add more milk/agave/splash of water until blending is easier and blend on High. Don’t be afraid of High. Better to do this on High for shorter duration than lower speed/longer duration.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Questions
1. Have you ever made your own ice cream or “ice cream”?
I hesitate to use quotation marks once around “ice cream” because for me this recipe is just as good as real ice cream.
I cannot eat real ice cream; something about the dairy in ice cream or frozen yogurt just kills my stomach. I can drink cream in my coffee, but I just can’t eat ice cream.
But since the avocado in this recipe adds such a layer of creaminess, and it’s well-sweetened recipe, I didn’t miss the real ice cream. Nor did Scott who’s the pickiest person when it comes to ice cream!
And for anyone who doesn’t like avocados, I promise tt doesn’t “taste” like an avocado.
Nor does my Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse
It’s kind of like people who say they don’t like tofu. Really?
Follow these tofu preparation & cooking steps and then tell me if you still don’t like tofu. I bet you’ll change your mind.
2. Do you like avocados?
Yes, in all forms!
I have Cheater’s Guacamole in case you’d rather keep your avos savory rather than sweet.
3. Best thing you’ve ate or done this weekend?
Being on the beach in Aruba with Skylar for me has been awesome.
Happy Memorial Day and if you’re just catching up on posts from the weekend, here are mine since Friday:
Amazing! I am one of those people with a standoffish relationship with avocado. It is not the taste that bothers me (I agree, it is mild) it is the texture. I can only eat avocado if it is paired with something really crunchy. But this recipe was fantastic I only had plain kefir so that is what I used for the liquid. No avocado issues at all. I am regular raw banana ice cream maker. I am going to have to add this into rotation.
Thanks for the glowing report and comment. I always tell this to people; even those who aren’t “that into” avocados tend to really like this recipe & glad you fall into that camp!
Looks delish! Averie, how do you stay so svelte with all those sweets?
Moderation. A bite, a taste, a piece. I don’t need 7 bowls of ice cream or a half pan of brownies. They will always be there; I indulge in what I want, then, move on. Not a biggie, actually.
Made this tonight in my ice cream maker. I used almond milk (unsweetened) and sugar in the raw. It came out fine. It was a bit sweet, though! Tastes pretty much like banana-vanilla-y to me…can’t tell anything avocado about it. Great recipe!
Glad you enjoyed it and I like my ice cream sweeet. But of course, scale back on the sweetener, to your taste. Plus everyone’s avocados and bananas are different ripeness and sweetness levels so sweeten to taste. Thanks for LMK you made it!
hi averie!
i have tried to make this twice and while i LOVE the flavor, it gets really icey in my freezer and even though i let it thaw 10-15 minutes before eating, it is still icey =( so we have been enjoying it as pudding, right after we make it. any ideas on how to make it creamy, like how yours looks in the photos?
thanks!!
It could be the milk you’re using; some milk is going to ice over more, i.e. cream won’t do it as much as skim or a nut milk
Your freezer could be too cold by a few degrees.
You may not be blending it long enough in your blender. You have to blend for a LONG time to get it creamy….5+ minutes perhaps. I’d try that and make your freezer warmer by a couple degrees; that happens to food to me as well if my freezer is too cold.
LMK what you try!!
Wow…this was good. I used a frozen banana and still felt the need for more ice to make it thicker/colder. I only used 1/4 cup agave and when I scooped it out I added some cacao nibs! Delicious! Toddler approved although he is not a fan of cacao nibs! I think he melts the ice cream in his mouth sorting out the “choco chips” then eating the nibs by themselves which are kind of bitter! LOL I will be making this again and again! I’m always looking for healthy fat recipes that my toddler will like since we eat a whole foods plant based diet, no oil.
Wanted to add, my son is a dipper, he will dip anything into anything. I gave him some Late July classic crackers…he dipped them into the ice cream and said “mmmmmm” I was like let me try….OMG…it tasted so good. The combo of a salty buttery cracker and this decadent ice cream was awesome! We were fighting over his last bite! LOL
So glad you liked it!
Here, https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/recipes/desserts
Under softserve/ice cream section there are a few other ideas and also under frostings/dips/spreads, too
This one specifically comes to mind
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2011/04/chocolate-coconut-cashew-butter.html
Thanks for reading and for the feedback!
Just made this! My stevia was super sweet though, so I ended up adding half again as much of the other ingredients (except for banana – added a whole extra instead of half) to counteract the stevia sweetness and aftertaste. Still pretty sweet/strong. Got any tips?
Other than that, it’s turning out great! Thanks for the recipe!
(found you via pinterest, btw!)
Don’t use stevia then if it’s making it funny..use sugar, agave, maple syrup or something else you like better or play with the ratio of the stevia. Trial and error…have fun taste testing :)
Thanks! Will probly maple syrup it up next time :-)
I was a bit skeptical about avocados in ice cream when I looked at this, but I’m vegan and having been craving a good cup of ice cream for a week. I decided to try it, and it’s DELICIOUS! I swear, I must have eaten a fourth of it before I even got it into the freezer. I mixed some plump raisins into it and some chopped walnuts. It definitely hit the spot, thank you so much!
Glad you tried it and enjoyed it!
Yummy! I like avocados a lot. Found this in pinterest. :)
Thanks for saying hi. This recipe got “active” on Pinterest this past week…it’s been great that new life was breathed into it. If you live avos, earlier today I posted a baked avo and cream cheese bites with puff pastry
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/01/avocado-cream-cheese-and-salsa-stuffed-puff-pastries.html
I just found this recipe on Pinterest and I can’t wait to make it! I am a little sad to hear you say it doesn’t taste like avocado…I love avocado! I could live on them. Love your pic from the beach in Aruba – that is absolutely my favorite place on earth (forget Disneyworld!!). I was just looking at trips online today.
Well, okay, it doesn’t taste like avocado in the savory sense that most people tend to associate avocado with, i.e. guacamole. And really, without anything added, I find avo to be very neutral tasting. It’s CREAMY but it’s fairly mild in flavor if that makes sense. So you get the creaminess and if you reduced the sugar maybe more of the virgin avo flavor would come thru…LMK what you end up doing if you make it.
I reduced the sugar and the banana (because I find banana overpowers everything). I also skipped the ice because I wanted it to be creamier. Loved the taste of it when it was mixed together but the texture is not the same as yours after frozen. What kind of milk did you use? Maybe I’ll try again without changing the banana/sugar or maybe I’ll just make it without the sugar and drink it as a smoothie!
you changed lots of things..the sugar, the banana, the ice…so not sure where to tell you to change it back…but for sure, put the banana back in if you want creamy. Milk…I believe almond? It was a long time ago I wrong that post…keep playing with things til you get it right, for you. There is no really “right” way..as long as you like it, that’s all that matters!
Can you substitute almond/soy milk for regular milk? Or does it need the consistency and thickness of milk?
You can use vegan milks, no problem at all.
cant wait to make this thanks for the recipe!!!