Oh man, I can’t tell you guys how glad I am to be posting this recipe. Ever since I finally got the hang of making ice cream with bananas last year, I’ve been experimenting it ever since.

And now here we are with this little number.

Seriously, who doesn’t like cookie-dough ice cream? Whether you’re a die-hard Ben & Jerry’s addict or just love the idea of making your regular banana ice cream more exciting, this one’s for you.

This recipe is not just a healthy take on your standard cookie dough ice cream. It’s also vegan, raw, low in fat and can be made gluten-free – just tweak the ingredients as suggested.

I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I have been over the last few weeks…

A note about banana ice cream

I decided to use bananas for the ice cream base in this recipe, for a couple of reasons.

a) It’s faster to make

b) Bananas are cheap

c) They’re also low in fat.

Thanks to the high carbohydrate content of the bananas, this ice cream will be less heavy on the stomach and more giving to the brain, heart and pretty much the rest of your organs that thrive on glucose and potassium.

Hello energy.

For those of you who are about to click off the page because you now know this recipe uses bananas, I urge you to pause a moment.

Banana ice cream (or nice cream, as it’s often called), doesn’t exactly taste like regular bananas. The pectin in the fruit is released when blended which, in a frozen condition, happens to make a damn good imposter for ice cream. This ice cream isn’t quite as thick or firm as your usual coconut or cashew-based ice cream. But it’s definitely creamy, sweet and delicious.

That’s pretty much what we all want from ice cream, right?

Low fat; gluten-free

There are actually two ways you can make this recipe. I like offering variations to things because it means they can be enjoyed by people on various diets and lifestyles.

You can use oats to make the cookie-dough pieces, or you can use almonds. Oats is good if you’re trying to keep your fats low (or are allergic to nuts); the almonds are a good choice if you’re grain-free or gluten-free.

Each version will give a slightly different taste to the cookie dough bites. The oats will make them taste more like oaty cookies but the almonds will make them gooier and more moist. Everybody has different preferences, so see which you prefer.

I personally think this recipe is best when you use a 50:50 blend of the two – so 25g oats, 25g almonds. That way you get the ‘biscuitiness’ of the oats with the moistness of the almonds.

Finally, I will also note that if you want to keep this 100% raw, then use raw chocolate cut into chunks. However, if you don’t care about that (which I personally don’t), then dark chocolate chips are fine.

Raw Vegan Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Serves: 1

Ingredients

For the ice cream:

1-2 bananas, frozen overnight (may only need one if bananas are large)

2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp vanilla powder

For the cookie dough bites:

(Makes about 14 balls)

50g oats OR 60g almonds (or 25g of each)

4 medjool dates, pitted

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp raw chocolate, chopped into chunks (can use dark chocolate chips)

Method