I had a crazy craving for pistachio almond ice cream after my run yesterday. I wasn’t going to go to the store to just pick up ice cream, so I decided to wing it and make something similar. I’m a pistachio ice cream lover and whenever I’m at the ice cream shop, I always choose pistachio.
My favorite creamery is in Waxhaw, North Carolina. I get ice cream there at least once a week. They make all of their ice cream right there in the store. You can always tell when ice cream is natural by the colors. If you order pistachio ice cream from Baskin Robins or a grocery store, it’s usually bright green. Natural pistachio ice cream is a light creamy green.
You better believe I’ll be going to Waxhaw sometime this week to get my ice cream fix, but until then, I’ll stick to my healthier pistachio almond banana freeze.
Remember my two ingredient banana walnut freeze? I make this a lot because bananas have a similar texture to ice cream when they’re frozen. By adding some more ingredients, you can transform it to taste like your favorite ice cream. And that’s what I did yesterday.
Ingredients: *1 Medium Banana, *1 teaspoon almond extract, *2 tablespoons raw almonds, *1 tablespoon baking stevia (or 1 1/2 packets stevia), *3 tablespoons pistachios with shell, *1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk. (garnished with maple syrup)
Add all ingredients into the blender. Blend on a low speed until the banana is smooth. Don’t fully crush the pistachios and almonds.
Add the blended mixture to a dish.
Do some tastes test. If you need more almond extract or stevia, stir it in.
Cover the dish with foil and freeze for about an hour. You don’t want to leave it in there too long or it’ll be too hard to scoop. If you do happen to leave it in there too long, you can let it defrost in the refrigerator for about twenty minutes.
The maple syrup gives the dessert a nice touch. Honey would be good too!
I used an ice scream scooper to place the ice cream on the plate and topped it with almonds for extra pizzazz! This dessert was soooo good. It almost tasted like the guilty stuff. Plus the bananas, nuts, and almond milk give the dessert extra nutrients. This dessert is dairy free, gluten free, vegan, has no sugar added, and it’s paleo.
Now, which ice cream flavor should I do next?
Anne says
I’m so happy you are back!! I missed these recipes!
You are the best!
Taralynn McNitt says
Thanks Anne! Glad to be back 🙂
Cami says
What a great idea! I love your dessert recipes without the guilt. I can’t wait to see what sort of French influences come out in your next recipes- glad you had a safe trip 🙂
Camelldalynn.com
Taralynn McNitt says
Thanks, Cami!
I have a lot of inspiration from France that I can’t wait to bring to my kitchen.
🙂
Jessica says
I can’t wait to try this out – it looks delicious!
Taralynn McNitt says
Thanks! I hope you like it 🙂
Jennifer says
I am glad you are back! I really enjoyed your adventures in France, but I bet it is nice to be home.
Taralynn McNitt says
Thank you, Jennifer! It was definitely fun and a life changing experience! But home is always a comfortable place to be! xo
Linda @ TheFitty says
Looks like a great portable snack.
Ariel says
This would be deliciousss with dried cherries! cherries+pistachios=love
jayde says
strawberry ice cream with chunks of strawberries would be amazing
Taralynn McNitt says
I agree! yum!
Jen D says
Hi Taralynn! I just made this and it was super delicious! I used honey instead of maple syrup to drizzle and it was just perfect. I lucked out and had frozen bananas already in my freezer so I just blended in the food processor and could enjoy right away (no waiting for it to freeze) 😀
Thanks for the yummy idea!
Katie says
This looks delish! It says 3 tablespoons of pistachios with shell? Should it be without shell?
Taralynn McNitt says
hahaha yes! sorry:) without!
Callahan says
Going to make this tomorrow!!! Thanks for the awesome recipe and for being a fellow pistachio ice cream lover. 🙂