While this topic is coming a bit early, we can’t deny that the Christmas season is sneaking up on us. Candy canes and peppermint candies are everywhere; in every candy dish, in people’s coffee, their hot chocolate, hanging from absolutely everywhere possible. While there are tons of ideas out there on how to use up leftover holiday candy canes, most of those suggest making more desserts and candy with your candy! For me, after a holiday I’m usually looking to cut back on the sweets. So how to use up all this peppermint in a healthy way? Here’s a simple idea. Use leftover peppermint to make healthy, banana-based peppermint ice cream. You won’t believe how delicious and easy this dairy free peppermint ice cream is to make.
Homemade Healthy Peppermint Ice Cream
I recently discovered that one can make healthy homemade ice cream- that’s right, actually healthy ice cream! No milk or sugar added, because the only ingredient is banana! Who first thought to put frozen bananas in a blender? I tip my cap to them, because check this out:
This becomes this!
Perfect and creamy.
So with this easy banana ice cream method in mind, I decided to make homemade peppermint ice cream. With this recipe I can use up some of my extra peppermint candies, and heck, I’d even save a few just for this Healthy Peppermint Ice Cream!
All you’ll need are two or three frozen bananas, a few candy canes or some peppermint candies, vanilla extract, and for fun, some red food coloring. Put all of this in a blender and voila! Delicious, healthy peppermint ice cream that doesn’t leave you with regret.
The hardest part of this recipe is just freezing the bananas before hand. So next time you have some ripe bananas that are starting to get a couple of brown spots on them, just peel them, place them in a freezer bag, squeeze out the air, seal shut, and let them sit in the freezer until you are in the mood for ice cream.
Healthy Peppermint Ice Cream Ingredients
Makes 2 servings
- 3 Bananas (peeled and frozen)
- 2 Peppermint candy canes or 8 peppermint candies
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 drops of red food coloring (optional)
How To Make Dairy Free Peppermint Ice Cream With Bananas
Pound peppermints until crumbly, then add to blender along with the bananas, vanilla extract, and food coloring.
Pulse frozen banana chunks until smooth.
Scoop your healthy peppermint ice cream out and serve immediately if you enjoy soft serve style. Or place your homemade dairy free peppermint ice cream into a reusable plastic container and let it harden up for 30 minutes to an hour, if you like hard scoops.
For the photo of healthy peppermint ice cream above, I did not use food coloring and I did let it harden in the freezer for about 30 minutes before scooping.
Printable Dairy Free Peppermint Ice Cream Recipe
Dairy-Free Peppermint Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 3 Bananas (peeled and frozen)
- 2 Peppermint candy canes or 8 peppermint candies (pounded to small pieces)
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 drops of red food coloring (optional)
Instructions
- Add peppermints, bananas, vanilla extract, and food coloring to blender.
- Pulse frozen banana chunks until smooth.
- Scoop and serve immediately if you enjoy soft serve style.
- If you prefer hard scoops, place dairy free ice cream into a reusable plastic container and let it harden up for 30 minutes to an hour, before you scoop and serve.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Dairy-Free Peppermint Ice Cream
Serves: 2
|
Amount Per Serving: 2 scoops
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 208.51 kcal | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 3.57 g | 5.5% | |
| Saturated Fat 1.97 g | 9.9% | |
| Trans Fat | ||
| Cholesterol 0.0 mg | 0 | |
| Sodium 3.03 mg | 0.1% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 46.29 g | 15.4% | |
| Dietary Fiber 5.1 g | 20.4% | |
| Sugars 26.94 g | ||
| Protein 2.31 g | ||
| Vitamin A 0.58 % | Vitamin C 16.78 % | |
| Calcium 1.21 % | Iron 4.26 % | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Family Focus Blog
This is ice cream your kids can have seconds of and you won’t worry. Have you ever tried the banana ice cream trick? How do you use up your peppermint holiday candy?
If you enjoy healthier dessert options, you may also enjoy this recipe for undevlish devil dogs!
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