Once more with the nice cream! What can I say, I just can't seem to get enough of it!
First it was raspberry nice cream, followed by blueberry-mint nice cream. And yes, I have tried several other flavor combinations, but they just haven't been good enough.
But I must confess: I am a certified chocoholic. So, I knew I could not rest until I developed a nice cream to satisfy my chocolate cravings. I'm super happy with the end result, and I'm sure you will be too!
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Why I Love this Recipe
Creamy and smooth with a rich chocolate flavor. That was my goal, and I wasn't going to rest until I achieved it.
Usually, whenever you add cocoa powder, you need to balance that with some sugar. But I really try to avoid added sugar, especially in nice cream. The whole concept of using bananas is so you can use the natural sugars in that fruit.
However, my final combination does include a little Nutella spread. And yes, that means it does have some added sugar as well as dairy: both ingredients are typically not in nice cream.
I guess that makes this "a little bit naughty" nice cream, but I'm sorry, the end result is truly worth it.
If you need this to be sugar and/or dairy-free, see variation options in the FAQ section below.
🍨Ingredients Needed
How to Make this Chocolate-Banana Nice Cream
Just like my other nice cream recipes, I use a food processor. I'm so happy I can make this without a high-speed blender! But a large food processor is called for, none of the mini sized ones here! You need enough power to really mix the fruit well.
It starts with frozen bananas. Peel your ripe bananas and slice or break them into chunks. This makes them easier to process later.
Freeze the bananas for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
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If the bananas froze overnight, they will need to sit out at room temperature for about 20 minutes before beginning to make the nice cream.
Then, place the bananas in the food processor and pulse a few times. The bananas will start to break up a little.
Now add cocoa powder (Dutch processed) and Nutella. I use Dutch processed as it has a less bitter taste profile than conventional cocoa powder. And I use Nutella because - YUM!
Pulse the mixture in the food processor, stopping to scrape the sides as necessary. I usually try to add the cocoa powder and then cover it with a little banana before processing, in order to minimize the dust cloud of cocoa powder that gets created.
Once the cocoa powder looks mixed in and the bananas are mostly processed, you can turn the processor to "on" so it is steadily processing the nice cream into a smooth and creamy delight.
In just a few minutes, your nice cream is ready! Give it a quick taste (cook's privilege!) to make sure you didn't leave anything out!
The nice cream can be eaten right away as soft serve, but I always freeze it for later. After a couple hours in the freezer it will be a perfectly scoopable semi-frozen delight!
Expert Tips/FAQ
I tried quite a few combinations to get to this flavor, and I love the result. If you'd like to try some variations, here are a few options for you:
Coffee - because coffee enhances chocolate flavor, I tried adding some to my nice cream. I ultimately rejected this because it also gives an icy texture to the frozen nice cream, which I didn't want.
More cocoa - be careful with this, I found that too much cocoa powder makes the nice cream taste "chalky".
More Nutella - I haven't tried this but I do think this would be incredibly delicious. But also more naughty than nice. Just sayin.
Sadly, no. Nutella is made from milk.
Happily, there are vegan/dairy-free options available for chocolate-hazelnut spreads. I was pleased to try tbh brand spread and was delighted with the results. (it also contains no palm oil) I think this nice cream is "extra-nice" when made with tbh spread!
There are several keto-friendly chocolate hazelnut spreads. My favorite is Belgian Choco Hazel, sweetened with maltitol and Stevia. Of course, you'll still have the natural sugars from bananas but at least you're not adding more!
The limitation here is the size of your food processor. I have a 14 cup Cuisinart, and it can handle a double batch of this nice cream, meaning I start with 6 frozen bananas. But that is pretty much its limit. So if you want even more or if you have a smaller food processor, make it in 2 batches that you put into a big container for freezing. Each batch only takes minutes, so this will actually be quite simple to do.
More Delicious Recipes to Try
Feeling a little more naughty than nice? Here are some more no-bake desserts that will satisfy your sweet tooth!
📖 Recipe
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Chocolate Nice Cream
Ingredients
- 3 ripe bananas peeled and frozen in chunks
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder Dutch processed
- 2 tablespoons Nutella chocolate-hazelnut spread
Instructions
- Remove bananas from freezer to soften slightly at room temperature for 20 minutes.3 ripe bananas
- Place bananas in food processor and pulse several times until the bananas begin to break apart.
- Add the cocoa powder and Nutella and pulse again to mix. Stop and scrape the sides of the food processor as needed.2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons Nutella
- Once the nice cream appears to be evenly mixed, blend continuously for 30 to 60 seconds until smooth and creamy.
- Transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
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