Ice cream is one of my favourite things and since cutting out dairy I have worried about missing it the most.  There are some amazing vegan ice creams out there which I treat myself to but it can really expensive and with my trip to Bali coming up I am trying to keep my spending to a minimum.

I have made Banana nice cream before using berries and it was really good but caramel has always been my favourite so I looked through my cookbooks and online for some inspiration.  This recipe includes a caramel sauce which you can use for lots of different things or even just eat on its own with a spoon!

It’s so easy to make the banana part just freeze bananas and blend.  I am terrible for leaving bananas for too long and when they start to turn brown I can’t stomach them so this recipe is perfect.  Your bananas should be ripe so this is ideal for those bananas that are just a bit too ripe.  Simply slice them up and freeze them!

Ingredients

Serves 2 with lots of caramel left over!

Nice Cream

4 ripe bananas sliced and frozen

Non-dairy milk (I use Koko coconut milk)

Caramel Sauce

20 dates

2 ½ tablespoons almond butter

3 tablespoons Non-dairy milk

(This makes much more caramel than you need but I found that with my food processor if I use any less it just won’t bend properly.)

Method

1. Slice 4 ripe bananas and freeze them in a Tupperware preferably overnight.
2. Soak the dates in boiling water for 10 minutes until really soft.
3. Once soft add the dates to the food processor or high speed blender, almond butter and milk and blend until smooth. Depending on your dates you may need more milk.  You can always add some Himalayan salt at this stage too if you want salted caramel but I chose not to.  Your caramel is now ready so you can remove it from the blender/food processor and clean it, ready for the banana nice cream.
4. Take the banana out of the freezer for 5-10 minutes to soften slightly.
5. Put the banana slices into the blender with 2-4 tablespoons of the milk and blend until smooth.
6. To serve add the nice cream to a bowl, stir in 2-3 tablespoons of caramel (or more if you want as it is so good!!) and top with some raw cacao nibs or any other topping of your choice.

You can store the nice cream in the freezer for a few days and the caramel will also keep in the fridge for a few days.  It may keep for longer but I have never had it around for long enough to know, it is always eaten by day 2!

Enjoy!