Almond butter banana fudgesicles
When I did the South Beach thing, I was always looking for ways to still get in dessert. As a girl with a major sweet tooth, I was scary excited to see all of the sugar-free options out there. Not all of them were South Beach-approved, but an easy way to get in my chocolate fix: sugar-free fudgesicles. I thought they were the best thing ever, and always looked forward to the nights I enjoyed one or two as a sweet treat.
The pops were a dessert staple, until I learned the truths about artificial sweeteners and started to clean up my eating to include more whole foods. I discovered the glory of full-fat foods (so did my skin and hair!), the satisfaction of eating smart portions of the “real” stuff, and how to get in dessert without derailing my weight loss results.
I also learned that real desserts are often more delicious and satisfying- “fake” and “healthy” don’t have to go hand in hand.
As far as the fudgesicles go, I like to think I’m making up for lost time.
Almond butter banana fudgesicles (or ice cream)
1/2 bag of chocolate chips
1 T coconut oil
1/3 C unrefined sugar (I used maple sugar, but Sucanat or Stevia would be lovely too)
1 can coconut milk (I used light because that’s all they had at TJs- regular would probably be even better, depending on your preference)
1 banana
2 T almond butter
1 t vanilla
pinch of sea salt
1. Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler. Stir in sweetener and coconut oil. Remove from heat.
2. In a high-speed blender, add the following: banana, almond butter, coconut milk, vanilla, sea salt, and melted chocolate mixture. Blend on high until well-mixed and tap on the counter to reduce the amount of bubbles.
3. Resist the urge to grab a straw and take care of things from here.
4. Get really excited about the popsicle molds you have, and take them out for a test whirl.
Realize that they’re intended for children, the size of about 1 bite. Make some anyway.
5. Turn the rest into ICE CREAM! Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker
and churn for 20 minutes, or until this happens:
6. Enjoy with whipped cream of choice, topped with almond butter, more chocolate chips, anything your heart desires.
This was an awesome, healthy treat- the Pilot and I couldn’t decide if the texture was more like frosting or Cool Whip. It’s light, fluffy and decadent. Hope you love it as much as we did!
And now, I have some baby popsicles to eat 😉
xoxo
Gina
*No ice cream maker or popsicle molds? Pour the mixture into silicon baking molds and freeze. Pop one out when you’re in the mood for dessert, add to a smoothie, enjoy atop a warm cookie or brownie… the possibilities are endless….
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This looks heavenly! I don’t have an ice cream machine, but I think if I blend up real nicely, and then store it in the freezer like you suggested, it will still work perfectly.
Oh.my.gosh. I may have to buy a ice cream maker so I can exactly reproduce that bowl. Yours looks nice and small – what brand is it?
It’s a Cuisinart, I have the same one and it works great 🙂
yep!
I love the idea of using ice cube trays instead!
oh. my.
THIS made my day. Thank you!
This looks SO amazing – I need to start keeping coconut milk at home for recipes like this!
Love this! Can’t wait to give it a try. Thanks for sharing : )
I bought an ice cream maker two years ago and have used it twice. It might be time to break it out again. Sounds delicious!
Dear Santa,
Can you bring me an ice cream maker? And can you bring it now?
Love, Pinky
ps.com you can blame Gina for this ASAP request! 😉
I can’t even think of words to put in this comment to express how excited I am to make this!!!!!
Umm… this looks AMAZING! I will be trying this soon… need to buy an ice cream maker now!!!
That is pure awesomeness right there!
YUM I’ve seen a lot of banana / coconut milk ice cream recipes this year but none that used chocolate chips. I bet this is rich and delicious yet the texture looks so light and fluffy. Definitely need to try.
Holy, that looks AMAZING!
I make a variation of this, except w/o the banana. I’ll have to try this one! 🙂 look drool worthy.f
FYI, freeze banana bites dolloped with raw almond butter and drizzled in dark chocolate then freeze again! Yum!!
This looks so tasty. Gonna try it as soon as possible. Thanks! 😀
WOW! This looks great and totally reminds me of the big bowls of chocolate ice cream I devoured as a kid – just the more grown up version!
So this post prompted me to look up vegan ice cream shops, and there’s not one, but two, ten minutes from my office! Needless to say, I inhaled my mexican spiced chocolate and salted caramel pecan snack 🙂
Definitely going to be making this 🙂 I am doing the whole no dairy thing so this is perfect!
Oh….my….God….Thank YOU, Gina! I will be trying this TONIGHT!
OH. MY. GOD. I should not have read this at work when I’m far from my kitchen. I’ll be thinking about this all day!
Think I can sub canola oil for the coconut?? The oil is the only ingredient I’m missing…
You can skip it 🙂
Oh. Wow. I’m going home to try this asap. Thanks for the recipe!
That looks delicious! I want (but absolutely don’t need) the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid.
Did Olivia have some as well? I know she would love them!
nope- no sugar or nuts for that little lady yet
Oh wow Gina- does that ever sound lovely (and simple to boot!), I’ll have to give that a go!
You mentioned your days doing the South Beach Diet. Is that what jump started your weight loss? I am exercising regularly eating healthy, but have not stuck to an official plan. I feel like I should be losing weight with my routine, but just can’t seem to. I’m wondering if you would suggest sticking to a plan like that for a while before getting more comfortable eating healthy fats like I do incorporate the same way you do into my diet. I just am getting a bit frustrated and want to see if you had any suggestions to drop about 15 lbs that seem to have crept on over the past few years 🙂
Also- you mentioned that the healthy fats have helped your hair. Watching your hair blogs I have total hair envy since you have such THICK hair!! Did those fats help thicken your hair over time, or have you always had a thick mane? 🙂
Love your homemade fudgsicles – I made some earlier this summer with Nutella & PB and now you have me craving them again. Your ice cream/fudge pops just look so creamy & perfect!
That sounds amazing!!! What are the benefits of using coconut oil?
it makes the chocolate silky smooth when it heats, but you can skip it and still get a nice texture.
These look amazing!
I need popsicle molds. I wonder if you could blend something similar up in a food processor and freeze like with banana soft serve.
Can I just how genius you are?! Thanks for another awesome recipe!
Can you achieve the ice cream feel without an ice cream maker???
maybe if you freeze and then put your portion through the food processor before eating?
I just read this post before hitting my mat with a workout, and instead of thinking of making something AFTER my workout, I got SO hungry that I snacked on carob chips and a peach… still have that ice cream on my mind, so I guess I just have to make it 🙂
Oh WOW! This looks/sounds awesome! YUMM. I am a big fan of chocolate + AB
yum yuuuum!
You are amazing!!!! I cannot wait to make these ASAP!!!
Is there a way we can achieve the frosting ice cream consistency without the ice cream maker? I’m not much of a fan of popsicles but loooove ice cream/frosting 🙂
if you freeze it in a bowl and set it out to defrost for a little while before eating, it should work. it would be quite as light or fluffy, but the taste will be there. you could even add your frozen portion into the food processor and blend it up a little?
I love you for this! this is such a childhood memory of mine – fudgsicles. this recipe looks amaaaazing. thanks, lady!
So cruel to post this in the morning so try I’ll be thinking about it all day 😉 Thanks for the recipe!
Um yum!! I’m starting to wish I had bough chocolate chips earlier this week! Looks so good.
let me know what you think!
Amazing! I am going to try making this tonight, thanks for sharing the recipe. 🙂
This looks amazing! Could a skip the banana and almond butter?
i wouldn’t skip the banana because it helps with the fluffy texture
holy smokes… i’m drooling… alas i do not have an ice cream maker so i will just resort to making them the fudgesicle way (i make that sound like its a bad thing but any way to get chocolate in my belly is a-o-kay)
Yummy Yummy YummY! You are too right, diet desserts aren’t worth the 100 or so calories in them. Better just to go for the real thing every once in a while!
Oh my, YUM! I had been making banana “ice cream” for a while so this excites me very much!
Looks great! I want to eat it now! 🙂
Can you taste the banana in this one? I absolutely can’t stand the taste unless its blended well into the flavours!
not at all- it’s more of a texture thing
Time to invest in an ice cream maker! Your’e so right about fake and healthy not having to go side by side.
Healthy CAN be delicious and great for you!!!
Cathy Trails
That looks fantabulous and very dangerous for this froyo addict! 😉
Where do you find the chocolate chunks? Can’t wait to make this for my lactose intolerant ice cream lovin’ hubby!
the health food store- most will have them!
I would be drooling on the keyboard right about now except that I had a GF english muffin with nutella (!!!!) for dessert. I think the fitnessista icecream is a bit healthier – next time! Btw, whatever weird stuff is in nutella was soooo worth it 😉