Craving a little ice cream but want a healthier option that is dairy-free and raw vegan? You clicked on the right recipe! Allow us to introduce you to vanilla banana nice cream, which is a satisfying, easy-to-make alternative to traditional dairy ice cream. It is naturally sweet and uses simple, whole-food ingredients, yielding a creamy texture that rivals its traditional counterpart. Whether you want a clean, plant-based dessert or need to use up some ripe bananas, this recipe ticks every box. It is also fully customizable, should you want to add raw cacao, desiccated coconut, or other raw vegan ingredients.

The reason it is called nice cream is because it is nicer (and healthier) than traditional ice cream. Nice cream is primarily made from frozen fruit, most commonly bananas. Bananas become smooth and creamy when you blend them, almost creating a soft-serve-like texture without the need for dairy. At its core, a nice cream recipe calls for frozen bananas, a blender or food processor, optional flavor add-ins. The simplicity is what makes it so great! When you blend bananas, their natural starch and sugar content yield a creamy consistency. Peaches, nectarines, and mangos have also yield a similar result and offer incredible texture, flavor, and sweetness.

The key to a successful nice cream is frozen bananas. Make sure to peel, slice, and freeze the bananas overnight because you do not want giant pieces of banana. That will create more work for your food processor or high-speed blender. Just make sure to use ripe bananas, as bananas that have a greener peel won’t offer that sweet flavor you want from this nice cream.