This vegan  strawberry ice cream recipe is free of dairy and added sugar and full of flavor–and it even has a few secret ingredients.

Cool down and slim down in the summer, even with dessert! Frozen bananas and other fruits make for the best base to a vegan and raw ice cream recipe that satisfies your sweet tooth without packing on the pounds. That way, you don’t have to feel deprived when attempting to slim down and offer your body a boost of nutrition.

This recipe includes an avocado for extra creaminess and balancing taste. It also adds a dose of healthy fats, so you feel completely satiated. The spinach is just a small, but worthy, increase in green nutrients. You do not have to add a sweetener, but I find it adds just the right about of touch. I list agave and maple syrup, but you can also use honey (to make a non-vegan version), coconut sugar or any other sweetener of your choice.

Enjoy!

Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe

Serves 3

Ingredients

• 1 banana, peeled, chopped and frozen
• 3/4 cup frozen strawberries
• ½ avocado
• Small handful of spinach
• 1 tablespoon agave or maple syrup
• Up to 4 tablespoons water

Directions

Add the chopped frozen bananas to a high-speed blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Add the strawberries and blend until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and add water only to smooth out the blending process and achieve more of a soft-serve consistency.

Eat immediately or scoop the ice cream into a plastic wrap-lined pan and place in the freezer. Remove 10 minutes before serving and let the pan sit at room temperature. Scoop out like ice cream and serve!

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This vegan Neapolitan ice-cream cake recipe will melt you in all the right places.

Ice cream cakes literally takes the cake when it comes to the best part of childhood birthday parties. Sure, a fluffy, light cake has its virtues, but when it comes down to it, nothing can beat the dense, cool flavors of ice cream cake. Unfortunately, regular ice-cream cake is best left as a happy childhood memory, as it can be incredibly heavy and easy to overeat. But alas, the tragedy ends here, as I’ve experimented with a ice-cream cake that lets you have it all. The follow Neapolitan ice cream cake recipe is light, fruity and so good you can have piece after piece on any day, not just on your birthday. Enjoy!

In the average ice cream cake, there are some 400 calories per serving, 15 grams of fat, 60 grams of carbohydrates – not the kind of stats you want to hear when you’re already married to your third slice. Even worse is that few of us actually make our own ice cream cake, so we are often left consuming one that is prepped by an ice cream store that uses artificial flavors, preservatives, hydrogenated oils, colorants and emulsifiers. These add-ins come in the form of guar gum, mono and diglycerides, carrageenan, soya lecithin, fructose, algin, sodium phosphate, disodium phosphate and caramel color. Nutritional profile aside, an ice cream cake isn’t your best bet for a cool-down summer treat.

But, I wouldn’t bust your mood without offering an alternative! The following recipe is for a Neapolitan ice cream cake that is vegan, sugar-free and full of flavor. It also bears the same texture to regular ice cream cake. In a classic Neapolitan, there is a vanilla, chocolate and strawberry layer, but please feel free to swap the strawberries for any other berry and to play around with other add-ins. For example, you can add dark chocolate chips to the chocolate layer and chopped walnuts to the vanilla layer. There are endless possibilities, so have fun with them!

Neapolitan Ice-Cream Cake

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

Strawberry layer:

• 1 cup frozen strawberries (or any other berry)
• 2 medium bananas
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon agave (optional)
• Dash of sea salt

Vanilla layer:

• 2 large bananas
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon agave (optional)
• Dash of sea salt

Chocolate layer:

• 2 large bananas
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon agave (optional)
• Dash of sea salt

Directions

As far as prep is concerned, it is important to freeze the bananas before making the cake. You want to use overripe bananas; you know, the ones with the unattractive brown spots? Those are the sweetest of the bunch and are perfectly safe to use.

Peel, chop and place banana pieces in zip-lock bags. For this recipe, put the pieces of two bananas in one bag. Each layer requires two bananas, so this allows you to quickly use one bag per layer instead of guessing how many pieces make up two bananas. Toss the bags into the freezer and let them freeze completely – this step will take about 3 hours. I like to do this the night before so I know I’m ready when the time comes to blend.

When the bananas are frozen, remove them from the freezer and let them sit for about 15-20 minutes before use. Meanwhile, line a loaf pan with plastic wrap. This will prevent the ice-cream from sticking once it freezes.

Now, for the blending part. Let’s start with the strawberry layer. Place the frozen pieces of two frozen bananas in a blender or food processor with the berries. Pulse a few times and then add the almond milk, vanilla, agave and sea salt. Blend until smooth and fluffy. Scoop the strawberry mixture into the bottom of the loaf pan and use a spatula to even it out. Place into the freezer while you prepare the next layer.

Rinse the blender container, dry it and then add all the ingredients for the vanilla layer. Blend until smooth and fluffy. Scoop the mixture on top of the strawberry layer in the loaf pan. Use a spatula to even it out. Place into the freezer while you prepare the chocolate later. Rinse and dry the blender container.

Lastly, add all the ingredients for the chocolate layer and blend until smooth and fluffy. Add to the loaf pan as the final layer. Use a spatula to make the top of the chocolate ice-cream flat and smooth. Cover with Saran wrap so that it clings to the ice cream, leaving no room for air.

Place into the freezer until it freezes – about 3 hours to be sure. Invert the loaf pan and the ice-cream log should simply pop out. If it doesn’t, run some hot water along the edges of the pan (not the ice-cream top) to help release the ice cream’s frozen hold on the pan.

Use a powerful knife with jagged edges to cut slices. Enjoy!

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Photo Credit: wikipedia

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As the summer months approach, ice cream ascends the list of foods you crave. And while there is nothing wrong with enjoying the occasional dairy ice cream, a daily jaunt to your local ice cream parlor isn’t doing your bikini body any favors.

Make no mistake; the only other option is to not deprive yourself of summer’s iconic treat. Instead, enjoy it in a different way – a quick-fix, no-fuss vegan way. The following four recipes are basic ice cream recipes that give you the ice cream experience without the heaviness and hard-to-digest dairy. Free free to change them up, adding different textures, such as nuts and dried fruit, as well as additional frozen fruits, such as mangoes and berries.

1. Banana-Based “Ice Cream”

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

• 2 bananas
• 1 tablespoon sweetener (optional: agave, maple syrup, or sugar)

Directions

Peel the bananas, cut them into chunks, place into a zip-lock bag and freeze. Once frozen, add the bananas to a food processor and blend until smooth and fluffy. Pulse in the sweetener for extra sweetness, if desired.

2. Avocado-Based “Ice Cream”

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

• 1 banana
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/4 cup nut milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons sweetener (agave, maple syrup, or sugar)
• Handful of ice cubes (optional)

Directions

Peel the bananas, cut them into chunks, place into a zip-lock bag and freeze. Once frozen, add them to a blender with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth.

3. Coconut Milk-Based Ice Cream

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 can (14 ounces) full-fat BPA-free coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons sweetener (agave, maple syrup, or sugar)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• Dash of salt

Directions

Blend the coconut milk with the other ingredients until smooth. Pour mixture into a freezer-safe container. Freeze. Remove from freezer and let sit at room temperature until softened just enough to be scooped with an ice cream scooper.

4. Cashew-Based Ice Cream

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup of cashews
• 1/3 cup water or nut milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-2 tablespoons sweetener (agave, maple syrup, or sugar)
• Dash of salt

Directions

Cover cashews with filtered water and let them sit in a bowl for up to 8 hours, or overnight. Drain and rinse. Place cashews in a blender or food processor with the water and blend until smooth. You can add more or less water, depending on how thick you want the result to be. Add the vanilla extract, sweetener and salt. For a chocolate version, add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Let chill in the refrigerator or freeze.

Photo Credit:  stevendepolo

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