01 Mar Banana Hemp Cashew Ice Cream

Posted at 00:00h in Recipes by

I like ice cream. A lot. Me, who is ALWAYS cold, has been known to come in from the cold and reach for a bowl of ice cream instead of a warming tea – I know…..

The trouble is, try finding an ice cream without the dreaded carrageenan (and we haven’t even begun to speak about the hazards of dairy!). Carrageenan is an emulsifier and thickener that is added to many processed foods. The problem is that, while it lends a lovely creamy consistency to food, it comes at quite a cost to our health. The measured Dr. Andrew Weil references respected research articles on the dangers of carrageenan. Carrageenan is pro-inflammatory, and inflammation is pretty much agreed upon as being linked to heart disease, many cancers, Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons to name a few.

Staying away from Carrageenan is what has motivated me to make my own ice cream and nut milks.

Bananas are perfect for homemade ice cream. They are naturally sweet and creamy when blended.

There are many health food sites that feature homemade banana ice cream. However, many of the recipes have you blend chunks of frozen banana in your food processor. Have you ever tried that? Now, while my food processor is a 30-year old workhorse, when I try to process frozen banana chunks, not only does my poor beleaguered food processor dance around the counter doing the worst version of the “chicken dance”, but the noise is unreal! There has to be a better way! Guess what? There is! Being the rebel that I am, I decided to process chunks of banana BEFORE freezing – gasp! Now, simply freezing blended banana would be boring, and likely be similar to eating ice cubes. To help it stay soft, I added cashew butter, hemp seeds for added protein, vanilla extract (just because) and local honey for added sweetness. My team of brutally honest testers gave it two thumbs up. This would also likely be good in popsicle molds as well. It’s easy, tasty and doesn’t have Carrageenan – yay!

Banana Ice Cream

4 1/2 cups of banana chunks – this was 7 bananas – all about “average” (or so they said)
1/4 cup raw honey
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup (30 ml) hemp seeds
1/2 cup cashew butter (or other nut/seed butter)

Process all of the above until well incorporated and creamy. Pour into container for freezing. Once set – enjoy!