Guilt Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana"Ice Cream"

Oh my goodness, have you ever read a recipe and thought to yourself, "there is no way that could be that easy and absolutely no way it could really taste that good?" Well that's what I said when I stumbled onto this guilt free ice cream recipe. It only has 3 ingredients and they are all healthy. How could it actually be that healthy and taste like ice cream? But guess what? It totally does!! I was absolutely shocked when I tasted it. I even called both my sisters and told them about it so they could try it. I was lucky that I had over ripe frozen bananas on hand, so I didn't even have to wait until my bananas were frozen. I always keep some in my freezer in case I get an urge to make banana bread. Now I will have to keep extra in my freezer for sure, for this ice cream! The only drawback is I'm pretty sure this would be too hard to make without a food processor. I guess you could try blending it in a blender, but unless it is an industrial strength blender, I just don't see how you would blend it to the right texture.

 Original Recipe found at: http://thenotquitevegan.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/guilt-free-ice-cream/
Are you ready for this big ingredient list? Here it is:

3 frozen bananas
2 tsp unsweetened cocoa
1 big spoonful of peanut butter
( I have no idea how much peanut butter I used, but I took a spoon from my utensil drawer and heaped it full of peanut butter)

Slice your frozen bananas into rounds that are about 1/2 inch thick. Place all the slices into the bowl of your food processor. Turn it on and stand back and watch it do it's magic. At first it will look "grainy" but just be patient. Pretty soon it comes together and looks fairly smooth. At this point, put in the cocoa and the peanut butter. Keep processing it and in just a little bit, you will have a smooth ice cream like consistency. Serve and enjoy!
(If you decide to put  it in the freezer, it will firm up quite a bit. I think it's better as a soft serve directly from the food processor, but it's still good even when it firms up)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

All my life, my favorite ice cream flavor has always been anything with chocolate and peanut butter. I think the servers at Baskin Robbins just know to start scooping it when I walk in. I love eating all the chocolate first and then finishing by eating all the chunks of peanut butter. I know, I eat it like a 5 year old, but hey.....there has to be some area that I can revert back to childhood. Besides 5 years old was only a few years ago...*cough, cough*.
My mom got me an amazing Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker for Christmas last year that makes ice cream in 23 minutes. Yes you heard me right..... 23 MINUTES! Sure, I did have to make the recipe and chill it first, but come on people, 23 minutes? This could be some serious trouble for me.
Today was the first time I used the new ice cream maker since Christmas. I know we've had an awfully warm So Cal winter and spring, but today was the first time that I actually thought to myself that it seemed hot enough to go for it! I'm so happy I did and honestly I could begin drooling, just looking at this picture! This recipe, doesn't have the ribbons of peanut butter chunks through it, but it has the peanut butter mixed in. Oh my goodness, this taste to me, almost exactly replicates Basin Robbins peanut butter chocolate ice cream. Thanks to Tracy over at the following link for posting this recipe. It's amazing!!
http://traceysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com/2010/06/chocolate-peanut-butter-ice-cream.html

As the weather warms up, I'm sure you will tire of me posting ice cream recipes, but I probably won't be able to help myself as this was too easy and oh so yummy!

2 cups half and half
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup peanut butter

In a large pan, combine the half and half, cocoa powder, sugar and salt.  Whisk this mixture a bit and then heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil. (the mixture will begin to foam up a bit when it's at a full rolling boil).  Remove the pan from the heat and add the peanut butter, whisking to blend thoroughly.
Refrigerate the mixture to chill it completely. Freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions

Frozen Cappucino Cups

It seems lately that I haven't been creating as many of my own dishes and I've been trying a lot of  new recipes I have found here, there and everywhere on the Internet. This is another idea taken from Pinterest and oh boy...is it ever wonderful!!! I made these with the intent of having something small to eat when a sugar craving hits, but now the task will be to just eat one and  not eat the entire making of them ;)
The hubby tried one out tonight and really liked it. Since he is not much a sweet eater, this is saying a lot for him to like this. I can't wait to have one tomorrow night. I am too full from our wonderful dinner to even think about eating one tonight!
I know this picture is terrible of this dessert. The camera broke again and I really needed to pop these back into the freezer quickly to get them solid again after topping them with the cool whip and cookie crumbs. Tomorrow I will try to take a picture of one cut in half so you can see all the yummy goodness....

15 Oreo cookies
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 pt coffee ice cream, softened

1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
cool whip
Oreo cookie crumbs
* you can also top it with chocolate syrup or any other "fixins" you like

Crush oreos in your food processor. Place into a bowl and stir in the melted butter. Mix thoroughly. Place cupcake liners into a muffin tin and place a small amount of cookie mixture into the bottom of each liner. Press down with the back of the spoon until it's flat and evenly pressed down.
In a bowl, place softened ice cream with the cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir and mix well. When it's all mixed, place a small amount of the ice cream mixture on top of the cookie crumb mixture in each cup. Top with cool whip and extra crushed cookie crumbs. Place in freezer until frozen.

Oreo and Fudge Ice Cream Cake

Last night we had company over and unfortunately it was the last time we will get to hang out with them for a long time. Our dear friends are moving to Oregon and we will miss them so very much!! It was a very hot day so I decided to make vegetarian sandwiches for a light dinner. I guess I wasn't thinking light when it came to dessert haha! All of us really enjoyed it and I would recommend this for a summer dessert.

Here is a link to the recipe online.
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/oreo-fudge-ice-cream-106562.aspx
** I think next time I make this, I will buy a bigger cool whip as I felt it needed more topping to cover it better.
**Also I think I would try different additions to the center:
chopped heath bars or
salted peanuts or
peanut butter.
chopped peppermint patties
Oh my goodness, the possibilities are endless!!!

Chocolate Banana Sherbet

Who doesn't love chocolate and bananas? That's like an American classic combination. This sherbet is so refreshing, and a great way to end a meal if you are looking for a dessert that is light and still tastes great.
I made this earlier today and it's in the freezer right now and I can't wait to serve it to John after dinner tonight. I think this will be my new summer "stand by" dessert because it's so easy to make. It's a little time consuming in that it has to be in the freezer for awhile, but so, so easy!!

Here is a link to the Hershey's recipe. It even has the nutrition info on there if you are interested.
http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/8571/Chocolate-Banana-Sherbet.aspx

Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream Cake

Today we had our Christmas pot luck at work. I signed up to bring a dessert. Since I had never made an ice cream cake, I thought it would be fun to try. I loved the taste of this dessert, but next time I will definitely try to make the crust thinner as the cookies got to thick around the inside bottom of the crust and it was kind of difficult to cut through. The candy brittle on the top was fun to make and made for a nice design, but next time I think I will just sprinkle some crushed candy canes or starlight mints on the top and save all the hard work and effort that went into the candy brittle.