Hazelnut Cacao Ice Cream (v, g-f)

I'm back with the most summery and delicious recipe I've made these past weeks. Needless to say my blog has been neglected because I've been beyond busy, tired and stressed...nothing a couple (or three) of ice cream scoops can't fix!

Ice cream, oh how I love you! Wether it's winter or summer I'm always ready for some frozen delight. :-p

Since I'm on a hazelnut butter kick I thought it'd be a good idea to create a delicious combination of cacao and hazelnut in ice cream form. As usual it's a vegan recipe, free of gluten and refined sugars. Much more healthy than any store-bought ice cream, it's unbelievably creamy and kinda addictive, but you can eat as much as you want because it's made only with good-for-you ingredients!

The ripper the bananas, the sweeter the ice cream; zero added sweetener...plus you won't need an ice cream maker for this one, how awesome is that?!

Go treat yourself to some yummy ice cream, add lotsa toppings and enjoy!

Receta en español en la web de Ecocesta

Hazelnut Cacao Ice Cream (vegan, gluten-free)

Ingredients

- For the ice cream:

5 ripe bananas, frozen.

1 cup full-fat coconut milk.*

6 tablespoons raw cacao powder.

6 tablespoons unsweetened hazelnut butter.

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla bean powder.

2 Medjool dates, date paste or date sugar, to taste (optional).

- Toppings:

Cacao nibs.

A drizzle of hazelnut butter.

Hazelnuts.

A small piece of chocolate.

* Notes:

If you want to make a low-fat version use 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk.

Directions

Make sure your bananas are quite ripe so you won't need to use any sweetener. Peel, chop and freeze bananas.

Place frozen banana coins in the bowl of your food processor and add in coconut milk, pulse until almost all pieces of banana are broken. Add in the rest of the ingredients: raw cacao, hazelnut butter, and vanilla powder (you can use 1 or 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract instead); process until a creamy mixture forms, it should look like soft serve.

Taste and adjust sweetness if you have a really big sweet tooth, but if bananas are very ripe you won't need to add anything else. I recommend using a couple Medjool dates, date paste or date sugar, to taste.

Transfer the mixture to an airtight container, cover the surface with plastic wrap and put the lid on.

Let the ice cream set in the freezer until it has a scoopable consistency, preferably overnight.

Keep in mind that all homemade ice creams are rock solid straight out of the freezer, but worry not! Simply let it thaw at room temperature until its' creamy again and ready to serve.