Blender Mint Chocolate Chip Nice Cream

This is another one of my sneaky sweets.  We add some spinach for the green coloring and to boost the nutritional profile without compromising taste.   This is a frozen banana based recipe so this requires freezing your bananas ahead of time.  It’s only (n)ice-cream if bananas are frozen- otherwise it’s just…well…mint cream.  I keep a reusable freezer bag in the door of my freezer at all times, refilling it bi-weekly or whenever I have bananas about to go bad.  I slice them up and add to the bag. So any time I want to make a sweet treat I have what i need.

If you are not hip to cacao nibs yet, it’s time.  Of all the superfoods, cacao is one of my top 3. You will see cacao in so many of my recipes in different forms- powder, butter and nibs.  These little bitty nibs bring texture and crunch to soft recipes and garnish smoothies and smoothie bowls beautifully.  They have a natural dark chocolate bitterness and can be used anywhere chocolate chips are used without the added sugar.  For an added bonus, cacao is loaded with antioxidants and magnesium for heart and brain health.  

Ingredients:

2 large frozen bananas

 ¾ cup fresh spinach

1/8 tsp.- ¼ tsp. peppermint extract (Use less if using pure peppermint oil.  If it is blended with oil, use more.)

2 TBSP coconut cream

Pinch of sea salt

3 TBSP cacao nibs

Instructions:

Add all ingredients EXCEPT the cacao nibs in a high-speed blender and blend until it reaches soft serve consistency.  Add the cacao nibs and blend on low until mixed.  Now you can either serve as a soft serve immediately or pour into popsicle molds and freeze for at least 6 hours or until completely solid.

This recipe was published in The Brick Magazine July 2018.