28 June 2010

Simple Frozen Decadence

Since the beginning of my weight-loss journey over two years ago, I became a huge fan of smoothies. I had my basic recipe:

  • 1/4 cup frozen fruit/berries
  • 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup liquid (soy milk, almond milk, or some kind of fruit juice)
Easy peasy, but sometimes I'd add "eyeball" the amounts incorrectly and end up with a smoothie that was way too thick. It would sometimes just get stuck around the edges of my blender and I'd have to add more liquid to it just to make it pour-able!

Little did I know, what I was actually doing was making a frozen yogurt-like dessert! I've read on many blogs and websites of dairy-free "frozen yogurt" that uses frozen bananas, however I never tried it until Saturday. In the past three days I've made two versions of it (each amazing in their own way) and plan on making more!

The base of the recipe is simple:

  • 1 frozen banana
  • a splash (approx. 2 tablespoons) of liquid, such as soy milk, almond milk, or juice
To make it into your own custom creation, just add some mix-ins!

Here's my Tropical Freeze version:

  • 1 frozen banana
  • 8 pieces Trader Joe's Frozen Mango Chunks (approx. 1 cup)
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
  • a splash Trader Joe's Unsweetened Soy Milk
Blend it all together until it's nice and smooth!


For something a bit more decadent, I also made an Almond Cocoa Freeze:


  • 1 frozen banana
  • a splash of Trader Joe's Unsweetened Soy Milk
  • 1 heaping teaspoon almond butter
  • 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
  • slivered almonds, optional (as a topping)

This one was so rich and chocolatey, I could barely taste the banana flavor.

My boyfriend absolutely despises bananas (and, believe it or not, he doesn't like any fruit *gasp!*) to the point that he can't even see them without thinking the room smells foul. I've read many places that this banana frozen treat doesn't taste much like bananas, but I definitely can taste it. I hope to find a way to camouflage the flavor so my boyfriend can enjoy this healthy alternative to ice cream! I'm also hoping to make ice pops out of this stuff, and maybe even swirl some kind of syrup, jam, jelly, or honey in it to make it more like the confections in shoppes and supermarkets!

What combinations or varieties would you like to see? I will try to make some of them and feature the recipe in future blog posts!

2 comments:

  1. ooo! Those sound awesome! I am going to have to try the chocolate almond version soon. I make that all the time. The last time I did it, I added chocolate chips and strawberries. I've never added liquid though.. Does that just combine everything faster?

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  2. Kelly - I add a little bit of liquid because I like it a bit creamier/softer. For some reason the first time around that I made it (the tropical version) it was really stiff and icy.

    Thanks for the comment! I'll definitely try to add some solid mix-ins next time!

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