Gracious Vegan Cherry Nice Cream with Raw Brownie Bits

Dessert

Jul 18

In this recipe, blending frozen cherries with bananas yields a soft, smooth ice cream that's low-fat, anti-inflammatory, and low on the glycemic index. Fold in pieces of raw brownies and you take the dessert to a whole new level. I use a food processor for making nice cream, but high-speed blenders work as well. Both methods usually require stops, starts, and wipe-downs, and blenders often need a bit more liquid.

Makes about 2 cups of nice cream

Make the raw brownies. Note that this recipe makes more than you will need for the dessert. You’ll just have to eat the rest (!). Or you can cut this in half and make just enough for the dessert.

Line a loaf pan with parchment or wax paper. Add the dates to the food processor and blend them until you see a smooth paste (it may form into a ball).

¾ cup pitted Medjool dates (6-7 dates)

Add the following ingredients and process until well combined.

¼ cup almond flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla powder

Add in the pecans and maple syrup and process until the mixture is combined and you can still see tiny pieces of pecans.

¾ cup roasted pecans

1½ tablespoons maple syrup

Transfer the mixture to the pan and press down well. Refrigerate at least an hour, but preferably 2 hours.

Make the nice cream. Add the following ingredients to a food processor or blender and process/blend them until you get a mixture that looks like smooth soft serve ice cream. You may have to stop the machine once or twice to wipe down the sides, but don’t worry, it will get there within a few minutes.

1½ cups pitted, halved, frozen cherries

1 ripe banana, sliced and frozen beforehand

¼ cup non-dairy milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla powder

By hand, stir in small cubes of the raw brownies. Serve the nice cream immediately or freeze it. If you hard-freeze it, take out of the freezer 45 to 60 minutes before serving or soften it in the microwave (20 to 30 seconds, then in 15-second increments between stirrings as needed). It will keep about a month in the freezer.

Website: http://www.graciousvegan.com

Linda Tyler

Cooking Instructor and Cookbook Author

Order The Plant-Based Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook