by Texas Homesteader ~
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I like to make a healthier ‘ice cream’ substitute using frozen bananas, instant no-cook pudding, a little milk and a splash of vanilla.
No, REALLY! You’re not gonna believe how easy this is…
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It’s turning hot, hot, HOT in Texas! I’ve been trying to keep the family cool at mealtime. Guess what? I’m making my own fat-free ice cream for dessert these days!
Easy Ice Cream Ingredients
Making my own ice cream means the only trash I make is the banana peel. And it goes in the composter. You that makes my crunchy-green heart sing.
I make my own instant no-cook pudding but you can use the boxed stuff if you like. More on that later.
And this ice cream is made with healthy ingredients that I know & recognize. So I feel pretty good about that. I’ll bet you do too.
Can you imagine this scene where you’re saying to the kids:
“Yes kids, of COURSE you can have more ice cream!”
If I’m not mistaken that qualifies you for nomination into the Parent’s Hall of Fame.
Making The Ice Cream
Here’s how I make it: I take those bananas that are starting to spot since they always seem to be sweetest. Then I peel them and place them in the freezer until they’re frozen.
When it’s time to make ice cream I pull out three frozen bananas & chop them into about 1/2″ rounds. They’re plopped into the blender with 1/2 cup of milk and about a 1/2 teaspoon splash of vanilla.
If I’m making chocolate ice cream, I also add about a tablespoon of cold coffee to intensify the chocolate flavor.
Then I plop it into my *Ninja Blender – man that thing ROCKS! It takes only a minute to blend it all until it’s silky smooth.
Finally I add a small box of instant no-cook pudding mix. I make my own Instant Pudding Mix, but again you can add a box of purchased no-cook pudding mix here – whatever flavor you like.
Now I just blend it all together until it’s smooth with no lumps remaining. When it’s smooth I pour the mixture into a freezer-safe container and pop it in the freezer for a few hours until it’s frozen good and solid. I’ve found if you stir it after about an hour or so it makes the ice cream a little easier to scoop. But that’s optional.
Enjoying Your Healthier Ice Cream
After your mixture freezes – VOILA! Cool fat-free refreshment during those hot days of summer.
The pudding gives this homemade ‘nice cream’ a creamier consistency. Although It’s not quite as creamy as the high-fat stuff, it’s close enough to pacify my ice cream-loving RancherMan.
Flavor Options
Of course there are a bazillion options to personalize your ice cream flavor if you like. You can change up the flavors of your pudding mix to easily make a different flavor.
Maybe make a sugar-free version by using a sugar-free pudding mix. You can stir in chocolate chips if you want more chocolate bang for your buck (and I DO!) Or you can stir in chopped pecans and miniature marshmallows for a rocky-road version.
How about swirling a little chocolate sauce through? And with vanilla-flavored mock ice cream there’s my favorite option: Chop up that chocolate bunny you bought for 90% off after Easter & kept in the freezer for just such occasion.
(You DO that, don’ t you??) LOL
Then stir it into the ice cream along with just a couple of drops of peppermint extract for delicious mint chocolate chip flavor. Ummmm… Yes please!
Mock ‘Ice Cream’ Recipe
So there ya go, a homemade dessert that’s a healthier version of the commercial high-fat stuff. Hey, any time you can remove some of the guilt of eating ice cream on a hot summers’ day it’s a winner, yes?
Now you hush up and eat your ice cream!
Here’s the recipe:
Fat Free Mock Ice Cream
I use frozen bananas, a little fat-free milk and some instant pudding mix to make a healthier mock 'ice cream' cold dessert for those hot summer days. #TexasHomesteader
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- ½ cup fat-free milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 peeled, frozen bananas, chopped
- 1 3.9-oz pkg instant no-cook pudding mix (or use 1/2 cup homemade instant no-cook pudding mix)
Instructions
Instructions:
-
In a blender, put ½ cup of cold fat-free milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 3 frozen & chopped bananas. Blend until smooth.
-
Add the pudding mix and blend again until no lumps remain.
-
Pour into freezer-safe container and stir in additional flavor options such as chopped nuts or chocolate chips if desired. Freeze for several hours until firm. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
There are lots of flavor options.
Change the flavor of the instant pudding to change your mock ice cream.
Use vanilla pudding mix & add grated chocolate and a drop or two of mint extract to make mint chocolate chip.
Use chocolate pudding mix, add grated chocolate and miniature marshmallows to make rocky road flavor.
NOTE: I also make a delicious Mint Chocolate Chip version!
Update: Here is one of our new faves! It’s made with bananas, chocolate pudding mix, 3 Tablespoons chopped white chocolate & about 2 Tablespoons chopped pecans, adding 1 Tablespoon each cold black coffee, vanilla, and Kahlua. Rich & DELICIOUS!
~TxH~
Other Easy Desserts
- Depression-Era CRAZY CAKE – No Butter, Eggs or Milk
- Homemade Peach Cobbler
- Easy Instant Pot Cheesecake
- Apple Crumble QUICK With Pie Filling
- Fast Dessert: Spiced Rum Fried Apples
- Pumpkin Bread (with Cake-Mix Shortcut)
- Healthier Banana Bread Recipe
- Rich, Chocolaty Homemade Brownies
- Healthier Sweet Potato Chocolate Brownies
- Chocolate Pudding In A FLASH
- Banana Pudding – A Hug From The South
- Cherry-Pie Tortilla Rolls
- Cantaloupe Bread w/Pecan Praline Glaze
- Easy Blueberry Muffins
- Easy Homemade Shortcake
- Strawberry Shortcake Dessert
- Fresh Pear Cake
- Easy Homemade Peach Ice Cream
- Healthier ‘Ice Cream’ Using Bananas & Fruit
- Easy Cookies-n-Cream Ice Cream Cake
- Homemade Honey Graham Crackers
- Cake-Mix Cookies – Only 3 Ingredients!
- 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- Double Chocolate Banana Chunk Cookies
- Sugar-Free Chocolate No-Bake Cookies
- Triple Chocolate Truffles
- Rich & Creamy Hot Cocoa
- Chocolate-Covered Rice Krispie Treats
-
Dessert Toppings
- No-Cook Chocolate Frosting
- Stir-n-Pour Drizzle Chocolate
- Quick Homemade Whipped Cream
- Easy Honey Glaze
- Homemade Whipped Cream (Sweetened With Honey)
- Cherry Pie Filling From Frozen Cherries
- Peach Pie Filling From Canned Peaches
See All Recipe Posts
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Does the order affect the texture? Can I make ahead the vanilla pudding mix with the milk and freeze it in an ice cube tray then blend it with the vanilla extract and bananas?
That’s a good question BreyhanaAriel, I’ve never frozen the pudding before so I couldn’t say. If you try it, come back & let us know how it worked for you! ~TxH~
Am in the middle of making the ice cream using frozen bananas and pudding. Question: recipie calls for one box instant pudding mix– Is that the large size (2.1 oz) or the small box (1 oz) size????
The recipe as I use it calls for 3.9 ounce box of instant no-cook pudding, Brenda. You’re gonna LOVE this ‘ice cream’! ~TxH~
Love banana based ‘ice creams’. Thanks for sharing with Simply Natural Saturdays.
Great idea for ice cream! My kids would love that. Thanks for linking up at #SustainableSundays
Never thought to add pudding. I typically will make strawberry ice cream, just frozen strawberries and greek yogurt. Yum. Thanks for sharing.
I’m thinking of trying that with a bag of frozen cherries I have in the freezer. Hummmm… ~TxH~
to make chocolate ice cream, would I just change the vanilla pudding mix for chocolate pudding mix, or would I add cocoa powder to the vanilla pudding mix? this is something I am really looking forward to trying. Thank you so much.
Yessum, I use chocolate pudding mix for chocolate-based ‘ice cream’. There are many pudding varieties out there, just remember if you don’t make the pudding mix yourself with clear jel just make sure it’s INSTANT pudding so no heat would be required for it to thicken. Enjoy! ~TxH~
I’ve heard of making ice cream with bananas but I bet the pudding mix makes it way tastier. I love all your ideas for how to change up the flavor too. Thank you for sharing.
We love it Mallory, and the pudding seems to make it a bit smoother & creamier than just frozen bananas & flavors. Give it a try! ~TxH~
Awesome! I use to do this in my vitamix, but forgot about it! Thanks for sharing!
I hear the vitamix is a powerful machine too Jamie. I know my Ninja does the trick for us and it’s good to have a refreshing cold treat on such hot & humid days of our NE Texas summers. ~TxH~
This looks so good…even though it is the middle of winter. I’m so glad you pinned it and your other recipes to the Future Expat Required Ingredient link party.
This recipe sounds delicious! I think I would like fresh berries added. Thank you for sharing it at Tuesdays with a Twist! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
I’m going to try this today. I may substitute almond milk. My coworker, who is doing WW with me, and I were talking about how much we miss [real] ice cream on our programs. We can have anything on WW, of course, but neither of us can be trusted with the real thing. I can eat it until it comes out my ears. This sounds really good.
Like I said Deborah, the texture is not as creamy as ice cream but it’s delicious. I’ve made the sugar-free version using splenda and I’ve made all kinds of flavor variations – so much fun! Give it a try. ~TxH~
This sounds great…doing it with the pudding mix! I thought that you had to have an ice cream maker for home made ice cream but if not I’ll give it a whirl soon! 🙂
Me too Debra, one of the main reasons I don’t make homemade ice cream. Although I love it, I don’t want yet another single-purpose appliance (ice-cream maker) to store. This was so easy. Like I said, the texture wasn’t quite as creamy as ice cream since it didn’t have, well CREAM in it, but it was certainly delicious, healthier, and so easy to make. And we’ve had so much fun playing with the flavors! ~TxH~
Wow–that’s amazing! I never would have thought. 🙂
–Gena
yum! I know I’m going to want to try some!! Wow! Thank you so much for linking up with us this weekend at One Sharendipity Place!!
Sue @TheT2women.com
Yum! My husband made strawberry/mango ice cream in our Vitamix last week. Love it! Tastes like fruit and no tasty ingredients!
Please do Linda – it’s so much fun to experiment with the flavors! ~TxH~
I noticed that you used refreshing 2% Braums milk. I unfortunately don’t have that brand here in NC (although if I did it would be the ONLY brand of milk I would buy). Is the recipe as good with a skim milk or does it only reach the right texture and flavor with a 2% milk?
P.s. I miss Braums.
Oops Ashley, good catch – the wrong milk container made it to my picture! (I make my homemade yogurt using 2% milk, but I made this ice cream using fat-free milk.) I can’t speak for other brands, but Braum’s skim milk is certainly flavorful enough to be absolutely delicious in this recipe! So sorry you don’t have a Braum’s where you live but perhaps you have a favorite brand to suffice? ~TxH~
I sure will try this. Sounds refreshing.
Gina, it’s been fun experimenting with the different flavor combinations. Love it! ~TxH~