Summer is coming! It is, it is, it is! I know that some of us eat ice-cream year-round, but for those of you who don’t (who are you??), I think I can say with certainty that it’s time to get started again, rain or no rain. If we act like summer is here, it will come. Okay?? And…according to the always-reliable weather forecast, it is going to be in the 70s and 80s all next week. So let’s celebrate with some 5-minute homemade gelato!
This gelato is seriously delicious. It contains no dairy, no eggs, and no sugar. The secret? Frozen bananas and a Vitamix! Yes, you can be skeptical…but I urge you to try this before passing judgment. It really does taste like gelato and…IMO…banana is not the central flavor. I mean, it’s there – don’t get me wrong – but you don’t have to be a banana lover to like this; you just can’t be a banana hater. (Actually, I gave some of this gelato to my mother and asked her to guess the base, and she didn’t even realize there was banana in it!)
Okay, so let’s get to the five ingredients: we need two ripe bananas which have been frozen solid (to the point where you can’t cut into them to peel them unless you let them sit out for a few minutes), hazelnut oil, coconut cream (which you can buy or obtain by just scooping the cream from a can of refrigerated full-fat coconut milk), a pinch of cinnamon, and mesquite powder. Oh – a pinch of sea salt is also nice, but I’m not counting that in the “5-ingredients” because c’mon, it’s salt!
Have you heard of mesquite powder? It’s a superfood made from the seeds of the mesquite plant, which grows in desert areas, and has been used by indigenous people in Mexico and the Southwest for a long, long time. It has a sweet, caramel-like flavor, a bunch of awesome vitamins (calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium, zinc…), and some protein to boot! It’s wonderful in smoothies, hot drinks, baked goods, raw cookies…and this gelato, of course. In short, I highly encourage you to get some and try it out!
Also, this gelato is amazing with cacao nibs mixed in or sprinkled on top – yum!!
A couple notes about the recipe:
-While there is no added sugar in mesquite powder, a chemical analysis of it reveals that it is 40 percent sucrose. That fact, plus the sugar content of bananas, means that I wouldn’t call this gelato sugar-free; however, it does not contain any actual table sugar or typical non-refined sugar sweeteners like maple syrup, honey, etc.
-I’m calling this gelato rather than ice-cream because of its creamy melt-in-your-mouth consistency. One of the other main differences between ice-cream and gelato is that gelato has less butterfat – since the base of this is bananas and not cream and eggs, the same is true here.
-If you have any leftovers, you can place them in a freezer-proof container and store in the freezer. Just be sure to let the gelato sit out until it is the same consistency it was when it was first made – this could take a while (30-40 minutes) so just be patient. You probably won’t have any leftovers, anyway!
-This recipe will yield about 1 cup of ice cream.
5-Minute, 5-Ingredient Hazelnut Gelato
- 2 ripe bananas, frozen
- 2 tablespoons coconut cream (scoop from a refrigerated can of full-fat coconut milk)
- 1 tablespoon mesquite powder
- 2 teaspoons hazelnut oil
- pinch of cinnamon
Directions:
If your bananas were frozen in the peel, let them sit out for about 3 minutes, until you can cut off the ends. Cut each banana in half, and score the bananas down the center so that you can slip off the peel. Combine the bananas, coconut cream, mesquite powder, hazelnut oil, and cinnamon with a pinch of sea salt in a Vitamix. Blend, using the tamper, until smooth and creamy. Enjoy immediately!
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