I can feel about half of you rolling your eyes, and about half of you going, “ooooh, I’m intrigued!” And I understand both responses, because calling chocolate “nice cream” made from frozen bananas *indulgent* seems like it might be an overstatement.
EXCEPT IT’S NOT. Seriously, this dark chocolate banana “nice cream” is crazy delicious.
It’s rich, complex, and sweet enough but not sickly. And it’s exactly the thing I’ve needed for the occasional treat during this 3+-month gut health diet and protocol.
Honestly, it will be one of my go-to treats even after I can eat more normally—it’s truly that good.
You can read more about the detox (& gut health protocol) & my tips for staying sane/enjoying!
One of the keys here is using a really good dark cocoa powder—ideally dutch-process (this Rodelle is my everyday one), and use more than seems sane. If you don’t have that or don’t want to buy it, Hershey’s Special Dark is my backup for non-dutch.
Look at the color it imparts! The dark cocoa powder flavors really balance out the banana-ness so you don’t even really realize you’re eating frozen bananas.
Put your frozen banana pieces in the food processor or blender and blend or pulse until it’s tiny uniform pieces, or begins getting creamy.
I’ve got a couple notes in the recipe below that gets into different food processors vs. blenders.
Add the milk, vanilla, sea salt, cocoa powder, and cinnamon, and begin pulsing until the mixture comes together, then blend until it’s creamy.
You may need to add a tiny bit more milk to get it to the perfect consistency.
Serve immediately. You can also freeze it and eat later, though it will be harder.
Sometimes I throw a few flaky sea salt sprinkles on there, and have played around with adding cacao nibs or other toppings. But honestly, I’m a purist…this stuff is perfect as-is.
This first pic here shows how it looked when I used the Hershey’s Special Dark powder instead of the dutch-process one time. Color is much lighter than the second pic, which is the dutch-process.
I am low-key obsessed with this dark chocolate “nice cream”, and making it a few times a week has made a huge difference in how restrictive this diet feels!
Other healthy desserts you’ll love:
- Coconut milk ice creams: peanut butter & jelly, roasted apricot & honey, fresh peach
- Chocolate Cornstarch Pudding (gluten-free, egg-free)
- Addictive Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Tahini Bark (gluten-free, egg-free)
- Healthy 5-Ingredient Banana Brownies (GF, Grain-Free, No Sugar, Vegan)
- Creamy 5-Minute Peanut Butter Pudding (dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan)
- Whole Wheat Cranberry Pistachio Orange Shortbread (egg-free)
- Perfect Black Bean Brownies (gluten-free)
- Healthy Peach & Blueberry Crisp
Indulgent Dark Chocolate Banana “Nice Cream”
The exact amounts are squishy here, and very forgiving. I usually do 3/4 to 1 cup of frozen banana chunks (about 1 medium banana?) per batch which I eat myself (1 good-size serving). So tasting is important to get to exactly what you want.
- About 1 medium banana, cut into small pieces & frozen
- 2 heaping tablespoons of dutch-process cocoa powder (see notes)
- Splash of milk (I use cashew or macadamia nut, or coconut from a can when I have leftover)
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- Pinch of flaky sea salt
- Optional: sprinkle of cinnamon
Put your frozen banana pieces in the food processor or blender and blend or pulse until it’s tiny uniform pieces, or begins getting creamy.
Add the milk, vanilla, sea salt, cocoa powder, and cinnamon, and begin pulsing until the mixture comes together, then blend until it’s creamy. You may need to add a tiny bit more milk to get it to the perfect consistency.
Serve immediately. You can also freeze it and eat later, though it will be harder.
Notes:
- You can use any type of food processor or blender that you like. I have a stupid amount of different ones at my house, so played around with different ones and found that a 3-4 cup fairly cheapo food processor did best for this amount. While my Vitamix did fine, it’s much more annoying to scrape out all the nice cream without wasting it.
- I absolutely love dutch-process cocoa powder here, with the deep, dark, rich flavor. If you don’t have that, the Hershey’s Special Dark is my favorite (brings a nice dark almost-fruitiness). I don’t prefer the most basic Hershey’s cocoa powder as much, just doesn’t have as much flavor to me.
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The Most Indulgent-Feeling Dark Chocolate Banana "Nice" Cream
This dark chocolate banana "nice cream" feels shockingly indulgent and yet is super healthy...naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free, a healthy dessert you'll love!
Ingredients
- About 1 medium banana, cut into small pieces & frozen (see note
- 2 heaping tablespoons of dutch-process cocoa powder (see notes)
- Splash of milk (I use cashew or macadamia nut, or coconut from a can when I have leftover)
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- Pinch of flaky sea salt
- Optional: sprinkle of cinnamon
Instructions
- Put your frozen banana pieces in the food processor or blender and blend or pulse until it's tiny uniform pieces, or begins getting creamy.
- Add the milk, vanilla, sea salt, cocoa powder, and cinnamon, and begin pulsing until the mixture comes together, then blend until it's creamy. You may need to add a tiny bit more milk to get it to the perfect consistency.
- Serve immediately. You can also freeze it and eat later, though it will be harder.
Notes
- The exact amounts are squishy here, and very forgiving. I usually do 3/4 to 1 cup of frozen banana chunks (about 1 medium banana?) per batch which I eat myself (1 good-size serving). So tasting is important to get to exactly what you want.
- You can use any type of food processor or blender that you like. I have a stupid amount of different ones at my house, so played around with different ones and found that a 3-4 cup fairly cheapo food processor did best for this amount.
- I absolutely love dutch-process cocoa powder here, with the deep, dark, rich flavor. If you don't have that, the Hershey's Special Dark is my favorite (brings a nice dark almost-fruitiness). I don't prefer the most basic Hershey's cocoa powder as much, just doesn't have as much flavor to me.
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