Healthy Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

posted on August 5, 2011 by Cate
11 comments »

I wasn’t kidding around when I said that I intended to eat well on this cleanse.  I mean, mint chocolate ice cream.  Really?  I suppose the most important part about doing a cleanse is finding one that works for you.  I got my start with cleanses when my naturopath and my allergist both recommended I do an elimination diet to see whether I was allergic or sensitive to anything besides gluten.  I ended up doing a hybrid of the elimination diet from the good folks over at Whole Life Nutrition and Dr. Junger’s Clean program, which gets high marks from Gwenyth as well as a bunch of folks on Amazon.

This time I’m loosely following Natalia Rose’s Detox for Women (Kimberly Synder’s The Beauty Detox Solution is similar).  Natalia stresses lots of vegetables but gives the green light on limited amounts of raw goat cheese (yum!) and dark chocolate (double yum!).  That’s a cleanse I can get behind.

You’ve may have seen one-ingredient banana ice cream in the blogosphere before.  OK, but a little on the boring side in my opinion.  In one of Natalia’s earlier books, she has a recipe for “banana mint,” which is like a soft serve mint ice cream.  I lightened it up with a bit of ice and processed some chocolate in there with it.  It’s pretty amazing what you can get when you combine a bunch of mint leaves, a small amount of chocolate chips, and some frozen bananas.  I have a feeling that I’ll be whipping up variations of this long after this cleanse is done.

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Healthy Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

Yield: 2-3 servings

Ingredients:

* 3 very ripe bananas, peeled, cut into chunks and frozen
* about 15 fresh mint leaves
* 1 1/2 cups ice (optional)
* 1/4 cup bittersweet or dark chocolate chips

Directions:

If using a high speed blender such as a Vita-mix or Blendtec: Place the bananas, mint leaves and ice, if using, into the blender container. Turn on the machine and quickly increase speed to high. Use the tamper to press the ingredients into the blades while processing. Once everything is slightly combined, stop the machine and add the chocolate chips. Turn the machine back on and again increase the speed to high. In about 10-30 seconds, the sound of the motor will change and mounds should appear in the mixture. Stop machine immediately or melting can occur.

If using a food processor: In a food processor combine the bananas and mint leaves. Process until almost smooth. Add the chocolate chips and process until well combined.

Serve immediately.

Note: You can also freeze the mixture to get a harder ice cream, but you'll have to let it sit out and thaw for a couple minutes before you'll be able to scoop it.

Adapted from Raw Food Life Force Energy

posted in Dessert, Detox, Healthy, Ice Cream & Frozen Treats
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11 Responses to “Healthy Mint Chocolate Ice Cream”

  1. #
    1
    Heidi @ Food Doodles — August 6, 2011 at 1:41 am

    Mmmm, looks delicious! I love making ice cream out of bananas and fresh mint is an awesome addition.

    Reply

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    2
    leaf (the indolent cook) — August 8, 2011 at 2:42 pm

    Loving the short list of ingredients – and how wonderfully guilt-free!

    Reply

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    3
    Kelly — August 9, 2011 at 7:56 pm

    Nice, I have been loving the frozen banana ice cream recipes but didn't think of this flavor combo! Can't wait to try!

    Reply

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    4
    Kate — August 16, 2011 at 10:12 pm

    What difference does the ice make? I've done the banana thing before, but mint's my favorite flavor . . . will have to try this!

    Reply

  5. #
    5
    CATE — August 17, 2011 at 3:19 am

    Hi Kate, the ice just lightens it up a bit and makes it a little less dense. It's good either way!

    Reply

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    6
    myhappyhappenings — September 2, 2011 at 6:36 pm

    Thank goodness there's a way to make mint chocolate iced cream without an ice cream maker! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  7. #
    7
    CATE — September 3, 2011 at 9:24 am

    You're very welcome :) Hope you enjoy it!

    Reply

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    8
    Faye @ RawLawyer.com — September 18, 2011 at 5:21 pm

    Thanks for this great recipe! I processed it a little differently, but it was amazing. A new staple! I reviewed it below. Yum!

    http://www.rawlawyer.com/2011/09/mint-chocolate-soft-serve-ice-cream-raw.html

    Reply

  9. #
    9
    CATE — September 21, 2011 at 7:09 am

    So glad you liked it Faye :)

    Reply

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    10
    Katie @ OhShineOn — April 26, 2012 at 4:16 pm

    Looks quick and tasty. I love me some chocolate.

    Reply

    • CATE — April 27th, 2012 @ 4:25 am

      Yep… even when I'm on a cleanse I still have to have it :)

      Reply

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