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It sounds weird, I know. Banana Avocado Ice Cream…. trust me, if you have not tried avocado in a sweet preparation, it is time you do. When Roy and I were making one of our first meals together, I put sliced avocado on the side and noticed he saved it until the end and sprinkled coconut sugar on it as a dessert. Of course I tried some of it too and was actually pretty impressed! I had previously tried a lovely chocolate mousse with avocado, coconut oil and milk as the base and LOVED IT. I had assumed that the reason avocado was so delicious as a dessert could be attributed only to the fact that it was hidden with copious amounts of sweetener and chocolate in that particular recipe. I was very wrong-it is actually a lot more versatile than that in sweet applications.
After having our son in May of 2015, my ability to tolerate regular consumption of dairy rapidly disappeared, much to my dismay. I tried to deny it but our son’s symptoms were also pointing to the obvious need for eliminating dairy. Naturally, as his pediatrician expected, eliminating dairy resolved his issues and actually was very beneficial for me as well. I elaborate on that in my original post for dairy-free vanilla ice cream. This recipe is actually a simpler variation of the original. I wanted to offer something with less sugar and more allergy friendly. Oh yeah, it happens to also be vegan for my vegan peeps!
We use this coconut cream and coconut oil. The recipe can be pretty sweet when using overripe bananas and the full 1/4 cup of sweetener, or a whole lot less sweet with green tipped bananas and completely omitting the sweetener. We have this Ice-cream maker and it can handle making the full amount of ice cream in one batch. I believe the maximum capacity for that model is 6 cups. It is possible to make without an ice cream maker! Use the “food processor method” in the recipe. Both methods are best eaten immediately as it gets pretty rock hard after storing. Minimize the thawing time by storing in a wide shallow container that allows the ice cream to be about 1-2″ thick and remember to thaw for awhile before serving or just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to quickly thaw if you are like me and want ice cream asap when the craving hits 🙂 Feel free to garnish with whatever sounds amazing, I put sliced ripe banana and avocado, chia seeds, hemp hearts and cacao nibs in the picture to make it more like a smoothie bowl! Yes, the Banana Avocado Ice Cream ends up looking a little green and the avocado flavor is present. If this is a problem for you, try adding the cocoa powder and including the full amount of sweetener, as well as using very ripe bananas and garnishing. Enjoy and as always let us know what you think in the comments and on Facebook and Instagram!
- 2 cups coconut cream
- 1 and a half small or 1 large avocado (about 1½ cups total)
- 3 large bananas (anywhere from green-tipped to overripe depending on sweetness desired)
- ¼ cup coconut oil (refined unless you loooove coconut flavor)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp-1/4 cup maple syrup, honey, sugar or other sweetener (optional-for sweeter ice cream)
- 2 tbsp-1/3 cup cocoa (optional for chocolate flavor)
- ICE CREAM MAKER METHOD:
- In a blender, combine all ingredients and blend until completely combined.
- Quickly add softened or melted coconut oil and blend until fully incorporated, If possible, do this through the hole in the lid while the blender is on:
- Put in ice cream maker as directed by manufacturer. If 5 cups is too much for your ice cream maker, do this in two batches.
- For the model we have (link above) this amount works just fine and takes anywhere from 10-30 minutes to get to the right consistency, depending on how warm the mixture got in the Vitamix.
- If you prefer, chill the mixture before adding to the ice cream maker if it warms up during blending.
- FOOD PROCESSOR METHOD:
- Slice and freeze bananas on a baking sheet (optionally lined with plastic wrap or wax paper to help prevent sticking)
- Blend or food process all other ingredients, saving the coconut oil for last and adding while blender is on if possible. Ensure that the oil incorporates thoroughly and chill mixture in the fridge.
- When bananas are frozen, add them to the food processor and pulse several times to chop them, add mixture of remaining ingredients and food process until it turns into a lovely ice cream consistency.
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If you aren’t usually a fan of gluten free baked goods, I challenge you to try this recipe and let us know what you think. Follow it EXACTLY and try it. Better yet, have someone else randomly make them and surprise you with them without telling you they are gluten free. Then you will truly understand what I am telling you-that they are THE ABSOLUTE BEST SOFT AND CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE-and they also happen to be gluten free.You will love them, assuming you love soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies. I am telling you this based on the reviews I have gotten from my gluten eating, gluten loving test subjects who I did that very thing to. Unsuspecting cookie lovers beware-somebody may be trying to get your opinion on a gluten free recipe that they are refining for their food blog-there may be a catch when someone randomly brings you cookies. Omitting the vanilla is fine but if you are pretty sensitive to coconut flavor I would suggest including it. The only time that anyone said that they tasted coconut was a coworker of mine who can smell EVERYTHING. I happened to omit the vanilla in that batch. The texture of this cookie is pretty good, soft and chewy without too much graininess even with the flours used. I will add that flattening them is a necessary step to help obtain the optimal texture and shape. Be gentle with the initial removal from the baking sheet, as they are fragile until a little more cooled off. We have found 7 minutes to be the golden time in the oven for that golden browned, almost fully cooked in the middle, pliable, chewy soft cookie. We use this coconut flour, rice flour and tapioca flour. More often than not we find it in bulk section at the local supermarket, where unless there has been a change, I am told it comes from the same source. I love Kerrygold for this but any butter would do just fine. I have not tried with coconut oil but I am sure it would yield favorable results as well. If you try, please let us know how it goes! As far as gelatin goes, I use Vital Proteins but have also used Great Lakes. I do know that some health food stores are now stocking other brands of grass fed gelatin as well. There are actually a bit more options for grass fed organic gelatin than there used to be! I am sure any gelatin or coconut sugar would work just fine. For a sweeter cookie use the option for 1/2 white sugar and 1/2 coconut or brown sugar.
- 1 cup coconut sugar (or ½ cup white and ½ cup brown sugar)
- 1 cup tapioca flour
- ¾ cup slightly softened cold butter (if using Kerrygold, right out of the fridge is perfect)
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips
- ½ cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup white rice flour
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp gelatin
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (optional-they are great without it too)
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- Preheat oven to 375
- Cut butter into ¼" chunks
- In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat sugar and butter until creamy
- Add eggs and vanilla then beat until well incorporated
- In a separate bowl, mix together all other ingredients aside from chocolate chips
- Slowly add dry ingredient mixture into wet ingredients, about ¼ cup at a time until well mixed
- Gently mix in chocolate chips
- Drop 1 tbsp of batter for each cookie, space about 2" apart
- Flatten to about ½" tall rounds
- Bake for 6-8 minutes
- Remove from oven and let sit for 2 minutes, then carefully move to a wire cooling rack (or platter) for 5-10 minutes
- Cookies should be slightly soft in the middle and golden brown on the bottom
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I’m sure all of you have heard about bone broth by now with all of the media attention it has gotten. There are a plethora of blog posts about the amazing benefits of bone broth, many people swear by it for boosting the immune system, keeping their skin and hair looking and feeling great, maintaining a healthy digestive system and more. I encourage you to do your own research if you are interested in learning more about exactly why and bone broth is good for you!
Aside from the health benefits of broth, it is pretty versatile and always adds extra flavor to most dishes. If there is one thing that we use with almost every meal, it’s a nice homemade stock or broth. We also enjoy it plain with salt and pepper when we’re feeling sick.
We typically use it instead of plain water when cooking meat on the stovetop, oven or in the instant pot, check out our favorite beef ribs, for example. It can be used to make a gravy, obviously can be used in soup, as the part or all of the liquid for cooking beans or grains, to steam veggies or just to drink on it’s own. We use it so much that we almost always have a container in the fridge with extra in the freezer. It is actually quite simple and very economical to make at home. I recommend roasting a whole chicken (or buying a pre roasted one!) and removing most of the meat for use in other recipes, then using the bones to make the stock. Before we had our pressure cooker, we used a crock pot and cooked this same recipe on low for about 12 hours. I really, really REALLY like the Instant Pot
better. Rather than waiting a whole day to have your broth, it is EASY and can be done in as little as a few hours, start to finish. Please let us know how you like the recipe and follow our cooking and eating adventures on Instagram!
- 1 chicken carcass
- 3 carrots, roughly chopped (or scraps from a 1 lb bag of carrots)
- 3 celery stalks, roughly chopped (or the scraps of 1 bunch of celery)
- 1 small onion, cut into quarters (or the scraps of 3-5 onions)
- 2 cloves garlic (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp vinegar (I like ACV)
- water to cover ingredients
- Add all ingredients to the IP and cover with water, making sure not to go above the max fill line
- Set to "soup" function and adjust to 60 minutes
- Allow to naturally release and strain when cooled
- Optionally you can make more broth by using the same bones and veggies, adding additional salt, pepper and vinegar but setting to 120 minutes this time.
- Repeat until bones are spent
- *For crock pot, add all ingredients and cover with water
- Cook on low for 8-10 hrs, strain and repeat process if desired, increasing cook time, until bones are spent.