Mint Chocolate Chip Nice Cream

Frozen bananas make a surprisingly smooth and sweet ice cream. You can make it in so many flavors but one of my favorites is mint chocolate chip nice cream. It's creamy, gluten-free, dairy-free, and a breeze to make!

What is nice cream?

Banana nice cream is an "ice cream" made by blending frozen banana chunks until they become smooth, thick, and creamy like ice cream. It's often referred to as nice cream because bananas have no added sugar, dairy, or gluten and are completely plant based. You can however dress them up by adding delicious mix-ins to create different flavors of nice cream.

How Do You Make Nice Cream?

To make nice cream you need a high speed blender and frozen bananas. It's best to peel and then cut the bananas into chunks before freezing. This way they're easier to blend and not so hard on your blender's motor.

Place the cut bananas into the blender and blend until smooth. Some recipes call for almond milk and some don't but I find adding a small amount helps the bananas blend up nicely. Be careful though, if you add too much the ice cream will be runny instead of thick.

Add additional mix-ins or flavorings. You can fold in chocolate chips or throw in cocoa powder for chocolate nice cream. The flavor combinations are truly endless but for this mint chocolate chip version we add peppermint extract and chocolate chips.

Ingredients for Mint Chocolate Chip Nice Cream

You only need 4 ingredients for this mint chocolate chip nice cream. Here's what you need:

• Frozen bananas - Make sure the bananas you cut up are bright yellow or slightly spotted and ripe. Don't use green or under-ripe bananas or your nice cream won't taste sweet and creamy.
• Peppermint extract - Peppermint extract is very strong and pungent. A little bit goes a long way so start out with less because you can always add a little bit more but you can't take any out. If you add too much the nice cream will be bitter and inedible.
• Chocolate chips - I prefer dark chocolate chips but you can use milk or semisweet. I like to chop them or make them into flakes which I'll explain below.
• Almond milk - Any plant based milk will work or If you're not dairy-free or vegan you can use regular milk too. This just helps the bananas to blend.

You can also use green food coloring if you prefer your banana nice cream to be mint green.

Chocolate Chips VS Flakes

You can chop the chocolate chips or make them into flakes. The main difference being the flakes are much thinner and therefore have a less crunchy texture. To make flakes do the following:

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave. Be sure not to burn them. Melt them in 15 second intervals until they can be stirred until smooth.

Use an offset spatula to spread the melted chocolate onto a piece of parchment paper. The thinner you spread it the thinner your flakes will be.

Place the parchment paper into the freezer for five to ten minutes. This will harden the chocolate really quickly so you don't have to wait too long.

Peel the chocolate off of the paper into flakes. Add the flakes to the blender toward the very end. Enjoy!

Recipe Tips & Substitutions

• If you don't have a high speed blender you can use a food processor with an S blade instead.
• If you want the ice cream to be scoop-able you can freeze it for up to two hours then scoop and serve. If you freeze it longer it will freeze hard and you will need to let it sit out some to thaw.
• Start with less mint extract because you can always add more but if you add too much the nice cream will be inedible.

Other Recipes You Might Like

• Banana Peach Smoothie
• Chocolate Banana Popsicles
• Peanut Butter Avocado Chocolate Smoothie
• Chocolate Smoothie Recipe