Yes, I said “healthy” and “ice cream” in the same sentence! Impossible, you say?! Hear me out!!

First of all, this ‘ice cream’ is not really ice cream… in that there is no cream in it at all! But it looks, feels, tastes and smells (wait, does ice cream smell??) like ice cream. AND it’s good for you!

This ice cream has just two ingredients: Bananas and Nutella. Now, if you don’t like bananas, this might not be the dessert for you… but if you are trying to be good and not eat ice cream every single day, give this a try!

You could also use chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, or peanut butter instead of the Nutella, but I am a Nutella girl, so that’s what I used! Or you can leave it out and go for plain banana!

Healthy Banana Chocolate ‘Ice Cream’ Recipe
This recipe makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:
3 bananas, sliced
1/4 cup Nutella

Directions:
Slice the bananas into 1/2″ rounds, place in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze overnight.

Place the frozen banana slices into your food processor or blender along with the Nutella (1/4 cup is a rough measurement… just drop a few big spoonfuls in there to taste!) Pulse (or blend) until the bananas are smooth and creamy, the consistency of soft-serve ice cream! (This will take a few minutes… be patient!)

(Disclaimer: Your food processor might sound like it is going to explode in to a million pieces when you start processing the frozen bananas. It WON’T! - or at least mine didn’t! :o) - Just give it a few pulses and it will start to calm down…)

You can eat this right away as a soft-serve ice cream, or if you like your ice cream firm like I do, pack it into a tupperware container and freeze for several hours!

I do not love chocolate. But I do love brownies!

Fudgy, chewy, preferably warm-out-of-the-oven brownies.

Weird? Yes. But I’m OK with that.

These brownies are especially good, almost as easy as a boxed brownie mix, and so much tastier!

Try them… you’ll never want go back to the boxed kind!

I like to make these peppermint-y, because that’s what I like. You can do that too, by substituting the vanilla extract for peppermint, or whatever flavor you’d like!

Fudgy Dark Chocolate Brownies Recipe

Ingredients:
3/4 cup dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup butter, melted & divided (1/3 cup + 1/3 cup)
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract**
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350degrees F, and butter a 9×13″ glass baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the cocoa and baking soda. Stir in 1/3 cup of the melted butter until smooth. Stir in the boiling water until the mixture is smooth and thick. Stir in the sugar and eggs with the remaining 1/3 cup melted butter.

Place the chocolate chips in a small bowl and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the flour, tossing to coat.

Into the chocolate mixture, stir in the remaining flour, extract and salt until just smooth. Stir in the flour-coated chocolate chips and spread the mixture into your prepared baking dish.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the edges start to pull away from the pan. (Better to under-bake than to over-bake these!!) Cool completely in the pan. Enjoy with a big hot cup of coffee, or a cold glass of milk!

**I like to make these pepperminty, because that’s what I like. You can change these up however you like by replacing the vanilla extract with peppermint extract, or almond extract, or coffee liqueur… whatever strikes your fancy!**