One of the challenges I enjoy most–both as a coach and with friends–is persuading newcomers to raw foods that there is a divine-tasting natural equivalent for for every man made concoction on earth. For every bottle of Gatorade there is a cup of young coconut water; for every dab of cream cheese there is a smear of avocado and salt; for every glass of chocolate milk there is a cup of carrot-romaine juice; for every muffin or cookie there is a soft, satisfying bite of baked kabocha squash (HEAB, I know you’re grinning right now).
To me, nothing embodies this truth more than the following recipe. I hesitate to call it a recipe, even, because it’s so damn simple.
Back in my pre-vegan days, I, like so many girls, was obsessed with “healthy” soft-serve ice creams – Tasti-D-Lite, Crema Lita, etc. (I’m sure that if I would have loooved Pinkberry, too, but it appeared on the scene long after I went vegan!) If my friends and clients are any indication, the stuff is like crack for many NYC ladies! And that’s OK: it’s definitely a healthy upgrade from, say, Haagen-Daaz. But it’s still not necessarily the best or most natural snack option out there—especially since lots of women tend to eat it as a meal in and of itself! (Note to my sistas everywhere: a cup of froyo is not nourishing enough for a meal!)
Well, if you’re into the pinkberry or Red Mango, boy, do I have a treat for you. It’s the best soft serve ice cream you’ll ever taste, but it’s 100% raw, 100% vegan, 100% unprocessed, and 100% delicious. It’s also kid-friendly and ridiculously simple to make.
Friends, behold banana soft serve.
That’s right. Who knew that frozen bananas could, if given a spin in the food processor, rival the best fro-yo in town? Well believe me, they do. Once you try this recipe, I guarantee you’ll crave it instead of your usual ice cream—at least some of the time.
It couldn’t be more simple. Take 2-3 frozen bananas (you can freeze them in ziplock bags or in tupperware), like so (this was about 2 and a half):
And throw them in your food processor (I’ve tried this in a Vitamix, but the results weren’t great — you could also use certain juicers). Then turn the processor on and let it run for about five minutes, stopping every now and then to scrape it down. The bananas should get increasingly light, fluffy, and smooth. By the time you’re done, they’ll resemble a creamy bowl of soft serve, like so:
Scoop them into a bowl and prepare to marvel!
If you’re really feeling decadent, make some raw chocolate “syrup” by combining 2 tablespoons of agave nectar with 1 tablespoon raw or dark cocoa powder:
Drizzle it on top of the frozen bananas, and voila:
It’s a dessert or afternoon treat to rival the best sundaes and scoops out there. Really, I can’t begin to do justice to how delicious this is! Even if you don’t eat a lot of fruit, it’s worth treating yourself to this one every now and then. Trust me. It’s also a sweet treat you can feel great feeding your kids. Dairy and soy and preservative free ice cream? Yes please!!
So what are you waiting for? Stop reading, and start freezing those bananas you’ve got sitting on the counter.
You guys can thank me later 
Have a beautiful, sunny Saturday.
xo
I'm a Certified Clinical Nutritionist, a former book editor, and a post-baccalaureate pre-med student at Georgetown University. I'm passionate about helping people to discover and enjoy plant based foods in a simple and healthy way. My name is pronounced like "Jenna."
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I Love your blog;thank you very much for the interesting ideas.|I really like your blog;thanks for the great ideas.}
The Vitamix is the ‘perfect’ appliance for making this soft serve. That is one of the common uses for the Vitamix. You simply need to use the tamper while the machine is on high—pushing the frozen banana down into the blades. Perhaps this is the step you missed (?). It’s super easy and you will have your soft serve in less than 1 min. —also, just so you know, agave nectar is not a “natural sweetener” and it has more concentrated fructose in it than high fructose corn syrup. There has been a huge misconception regarding agave nectar and so many people don’t realize. If you research this, you will find this to be true. Try raw honey for your sweetener for this soft serve instead.
1 tbs. honey, 1 tbs. organic coconut oil, 1 1/2 – 2 tsp. raw cacao, and 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract makes a great (and healthy) choc. topping. Fill a small skillet with about an inch of water, place all ingred. in a ramekin, place in water and turn on high heat. Soon as it starts to boil, shut off heat (to keep topping from reaching over 118° to keep raw) and stir until completely melted.
Honey isn’t vegan!
No, it isn’t!
And I think the alarmism about agave is somewhat…well, alarmist. It’s no health food–no syrupy sweetener is–but there are still some reputable makers, and in moderation it’s not an enormous health risk
Hi there. Me again. I should have given you the link to this eye-opening article on Agave Nectar.
http://www.foodrenegade.com/agave-nectar-good-or-bad/
Cheers and live awesome!
Your opinion…
I know science can hurt the brains of alarmists reading random un-credible websites and blogs by “nutrition experts” but they have no idea what the biochemical pathways used to metabolize fructose actually are or what biochemistry is for that matter. They throw random words at you like ” amino acids, vitamins, minerals, pectin, and fiber” NONE of which are needed in the metabolism of simple sugars into energy. those are all made inside your body and most are replenished easily and quickly enough anyways. That whole page is irrelevant to the concern of fructose. Be aware, I’m about to throw some science at you! By the looks of your posts you may need to take a breather every sentence or so to take this all in and make sure you are following along. All of this is readily available information on how fructose is metabolized. Look it up, not on a random health blog tho.
The initial breakdown of fructose is sometimes referred to as fructolysis, like glycolysis, the catabolism of glucose. In fructolysis, the enzyme fructokinase initially produces fructose 1-phosphate, which is split by aldolase B to produce dihydroxyacetone phosphate and glyceraldehyde. Unlike glycolysis, in fructolysis the triose glyceraldehyde lacks a phosphate group. A third enzyme, trioskinase, is therefore required to phosphorylate glyceraldehyde, producing glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate.
Break time, SO in case you were unaware, phosphorylation requires a molecule of ATP to push the reaction in the direction needed. So we are two steps in and we are already using energy to digest fructose!!! Can you feel all that fructose just burrrrning up? I can!
The resulting glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate is identical to that obtained in glycolysis and can enter the gluconeogenic pathway for glucose or glycogen synthesis, or be further catabolized through the lower glycolytic pathway to pyruvate.
So let’s recap. After two reactions the EVILLLLL concentrated (Scary word there!) fructose is no different than your average glucose molecule. Glucose is the monomer of every carb you heath alarmists eat. Even your veggies, your whole grain pastas and rice. As a new constituent of many pathways available to it, its residing location will be determined by YOU.
Worked out recently? BAM straight into your muscles for conversion into glycogen to fuel that exercise or just basic walking around.
Blood sugar low? BAM straight into the bloodstream to keep your brain happy at 5mM.
Sit on your butt all day trolling health forums? BAMALAM! straight into ya beer bellyy!
Conclusions, It doesn’t matter the TYPE of sugar you eat. No one cares and neither will your body. The only difference is how MUCH you eat. With some being sweeter than others you may consume less fructose or glucose from one syrup than the other. And your current energy demands. It all comes down to ATP baby, everything you eat =ATP that little molecule that keeps your body movin and grovin. So is Agave or any other high fructose whatever scary name you call it good for you? Depends on how active you are. Very active people need to add in extra carbs as simple fructose and glucose to refuel after a tough workout. So don’t go spouting your nonsense because everyone’s needs are different. That “raw” honey you have can still be bad for you if you don’t need that energy. EVERY macro-nutrient (sugars, carbs, fats, proteins) can be broken down into pyruvate and stored as fat. With the exception of fats, they just get broken down to fatty acids and stored as fats, either way.
Ahhhhh rant over! lol
Hahaha. Thanks, Chris. Agree re: sugar alarmism. The fury over agave seems to be predicated on the idea that it was considered a health food in the first place, which it’s not. I like using dates because there may be some marginal added benefits (fiber, etc.), but really, a sugar is a sugar is a sugar — and some sugar is necessary.
Love this, so easy and tasty!
Regarding replacing healthy food/drinks, I was with you until, “for every glass of chocolate milk there is a cup of carrot-romaine juice.” What?! Carrot romaine juice is so not a good, satisfying equivalent to good chocolate milk! You’ll scare people away from eating better with suggestions like that, LOL!
I highly recommend sugar-free chocolate almond milk, or soy milk. Very good, and I doubt your kids will even notice that it isn’t dairy. I also love Horizon’s Organic Lowfat Chocolate Milk. It’s my favorite. I could down that stuff all day long. However, it still comes from a cow’s udder.
This is AMAZING!! I am sooo making.this in the summer haha. Thank you Gena!
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My kids grew up on this. (Now in late 20′s) I put the frozen bananas in the blender with some juice or soymilk. Frozen grapes, strawberries or peaches are good with the banana. I once tried sneaking a few frozen cherry tomatoes in once but my oldest, the tomato hater, noticed.
If you don’t have a food processor I make this by mashing the banana with a fork then freezing, you can add coconut cream for a bit of indulgence
I love your recipes. I see your in Pinterest, but there is no Pin It button on your post. Am I missing something? I would really like to Pin some of your post.
Wow! This is amazing! I just discovered your website and I love love LOVE all of your recipes so far! I also think your story is amazing! So excited to have found you and am looking forward to trying more of your yummy recipes!
Thank you so much!
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