Roasted Banana Coconut Ice Cream- Dairy Free.

Last week when I made my yummy lavender and honey ice cream I got a comment from Julie saying that one of her daughters has a dairy sensitivity and my friend Kate also mentioned her dairy sensitivity. Julie and Kate (and all the other lactose intolerant people out there) this ones for you!!!!

This recipe is from Elana's Pantry. It is dairy free, and uses no refined sugar ( I love that part!).

Ingredients
4-5 ripe organic bananas
2 dates, pitted
2 tbsp. organic coconut oil
1 13.5 oz. can coconut milk
1 tbsp. organic vanilla

** I use organic ingredients whenever I can. In this case I could not get organic dates or organic coconut milk.

The great thing about this recipe is that it gets all its sweetness from roasted fruits, bananas and dates. Peel your bananas, pit your dates and throw them all into a glass baking dish.

If you have never used dates before don't be afraid. Dates, in this case, are dried fruits from date palms. They are very sweet and my family loves snacking on them. You can find dates in the produce section usually in a plastic container. If you can't find them there you can get them in the dried fruit section although they don't taste nearly as good as the fresh ones.

Coconut oil is a great alternative to olive or vegetable oil. It is very mild in taste and has many health benefits. It's a bit expensive but well worth the splurge in my opinion. It is a solid substance right out of the jar so you will have to microwave it for about 15 seconds in a small bowl to melt it.

Pour some vanilla extract into the melted coconut oil. It will have a vinegar and oil effect. Just stir it really fast to mix it up and pour across the bananas and dates.

Bake at 375* for 35 to 40 minutes. When it is done it will look like this:

While in the oven, make sure to check the bananas often. If you burn them they will taste like crap and the whole recipe will be ruined.

Pour the can of coconut milk into your blender and then throw in the bananas and dates. Be sure to use all the juice in the bottom of the baking dish. It is loaded with natural sugars and makes the ice cream even more delicious.

Blend until smooth.

Now you can either pour the mixture directly into your ice cream maker or you can cool it first. I prefer to cool everything first so that it freezes faster. Just personal preference, you can do it however you like.

Let the mixture spin around in your ice cream maker until it has a soft serve consistency (30-40 minutes), transfer your ice cream into a freezer safe container and freeze until solid- about 3 or 4 hours.

So there you have it. A dairy free, naturally sweetened ice cream. Enjoy!!!!

Notes:
If you don't have an ice cream maker you can still make ice cream. Just let the mixture cool, pour into a container and place in the freezer. Go back every hour or so and stir it up until it is soft serve consistency then let it sit for 3 or 4 hours to harden up. It takes longer but it is worth it.

Your composter would love all those banana peels so toss those in there.


Put the date seeds down your garbage disposal and turn it on. They will help sharpen the blades.


Before throwing the coconut milk can into the recycling bin remove the bottom of the can with one of those can openers that does not leave sharp edges. Put it (and the top that you are going to dig out of your trash can right now) in the craft box. You can make garden markers or Christmas ornaments with them.