When we first discovered that Buddy Bear was allergic to dairy, my first thought was “You mean I can’t have ice cream???” Ok, actually my first thought was “He’s dying! My baby is dying!” *hyperventilate* But after I settled down and realized that Buddy Bear wasn’t actually dying, then I mourned the loss of my daily ice cream habit. For 3 whole weeks.
But I’m a tricky mommy, so I haven’t just sat down and taken the blows dealt to me and give up on ice cream forever. I love my little Buddy Bear, so I wasn’t willing to just ignore his symptoms/discomfort and have my ice cream anyways. So I put my thinking cap on and set to work on finding a way to have ice cream and a happy boy.
I tried that age old frozen banana in a blender trick. And it was good, but without the Oreo pie crust and chocolate sauce/ganache and everything else delicious in Penny’s Chunky Monkey Pie, it was essentially just frozen bananas. And not ice cream.
I tried sorbets, like this Mango Sorbet at Annie’s Eats. Fresh mango, lime juice, it was delicious! But ice cream it was not. And mango season was almost over anyways. So the hunt continued.
I thought maybe it was the creaminess that I was missing and not ice cream per say, so I tried coconut panna cotta. After 3 tries I finally got it to work. For only having 5 ingredients you’d think it be easy to make. Not so much for people who can’t follow instructions (me). But when it did work, it was delicious! I especially liked this recipe. But it was more like a creamy, chocolate jello, and I still wanted ice cream afterwards…
So I got tricksy and even more tricksy and took…
The smooth texture of the banana trick
+
The method from the mango sorbet
+
The creamy coconut milk in the panna cotta
=
Yum….
It only took 6 weeks, but I found a way to have my ice cream and still be dairy free! I love it!
Peanut Butter Banana “Ice Cream”
These measurements are all approximate, so feel free to play around with them and personalize it to whatever works best for you. Like adding crushed Oreos. Those would definitely be awesome.
Frozen Bananas (if your freezer makes them very hard, let them sit on your counter for a little while and soften up, just a little bit)
A big gob of peanut butter
A squirt or two of chocolate sauce (check the label to make sure its dairy free)
A splash or two of coconut milk (Or another dairy free milk, coconut is my favourite)
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend together until nice and creamy, about 30 to 45 seconds. Stir in any additional toppings and mix-ins. Serve immediately. Repeat.
Suggested Variations:
Chocolate pieces
Coconut Flakes
Oreo Pieces
Frozen berries instead of the peanut butter and chocolate make a delicious and even healthier combo!
What would you add to make this “your speciality”?
This sounds perfect to me! I love banana and peanut butter!