Chunky Monkey That Won’t Make You Chunky



Ben and Jerry’s lovers, have I got a treat for you today!

I made this probably seven or eight times before I realized I should really take photos and share it with you. It’s a tasty treat that will satisfy your evening sweet tooth with real food, ice cream maker not required! As an added bonus, if you are looking for something sweet that your kids will devour, but you can feel good about giving them, look no further.

I could have probably also called this “Non-Dairy Chunky Monkey,” because it is made with coconut milk, which provides a creamy base while providing healthy, monounsaturated fat. Almonds are rich in Vitamin B and folate, and cacao nibs are powerful antioxidants. (You can usually find cacao nibs in the baking section of the grocery store, or from Amazon.com. If you don’t have them, use broken up dark chocolate.) This ice cream facsimile even has a decent amount of fiber and protein, while being relatively low in sugar.



As you can see, I’m keen on this chunky monkey treat. So, without further adieu, here’s the recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Print this Recipe!

Makes: 4 servings

Recommended Ninja Jar:



  • Ninja Pulse: 40 ounce jar with standard blade
  • Ninja Professional Blender: 72 ounce jar with standard blade
  • Ninja Kitchen System: 72 ounce jar with standard blade
  • Ninja Mega Kitchen System: 72 ounce jar with standard blade

Ingredients:

  • 2 frozen bananas
  • 1/2 cup light coconut milk (from a can – the only ingredients should be coconut and water)
  • 1/2 cup whole almonds
  • 1/4 cup cacao nibs (or broken up dark chocolate)

Method:

Pulse 5-6 times to begin the blending, and then blend bananas and coconut milk on “2” (or hold down the lid on the Pulse) until you get a thick soft serve consistency. You don’t really need a lot of liquid here, so if your bananas are on the smaller side, start with only 1/3 cup coconut milk and add more if needed.


Add almonds and cacao nibs and pulse 8-10 times to combine, then blend on “2” (hold down lid on Pulse) for about 10-20 seconds until well mixed.



Either eat immediately or freeze for 2-4 hours to create more of a “hard” ice cream.

Nutritional Breakdown



View Comments (14)

  • My absolute favorite B&J! Along with New Yok Super Fudge Chunk and Strawberry Cheesecake. Haven’t had ANY ice cream since August last year. I recall this having walnuts. Is there a specific reason you are using almonds? I must try this soon.

    • Wow, good for you on the ice cream! There is no reason I used almonds except that I like them! You can certainly use walnuts if that is what you prefer.

  • Oh, this looks so good!! I have posted that I make my own almond milk, and there are times when there’s more than my 1 qt container will hold. I’ve just put it in a small plastic dish and popped that in the freezer. Because I have sweetened with some organic sugar and added organic vanilla extract, I tell myself it’s ‘ice cream’. It tastes okay, but this recipe look and sounds delicious!!

    Thanks for sharing it Angela! I know I will be making this!

    • Hi Janis,

      Enjoy!

      You know, you could probably get creative with that frozen rice milk and use it instead of coconut milk in this recipe. I haven’t tried it with rice milk, but I bet it would work!

  • Does anyone have a recipe for peach ice cream? And what about using ice cubes? Is it necessary. Any other flavor of ice cream would be great with the exception of strawberries. I’m allergic to them:(

    Thanks!

    • Here is a recipe for Peach Ice “Cream” from the Ninja Facebook page. I have made this recipe before, and I used bagged frozen peaches…It didn’t come out as “peachy” as I expected…I think this recipe would need real ripe peaches in season, cut, pitted and frozen. I added a lot of honey (I didn’t want the maple flavor in my ice cream) and still didn’t get the sweetness I wanted, but here’s the recipe…

      Ninja Peach Ice Cream
      3 cups frozen peaches, pitted, cut in half
      1 cup light cream
      3 Tbsp. maple syrup
      ¼ tsp. cinnamon

      Instructions: Place all ingredients in the pitcher and blend using the blade attachment until very smooth. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the freezer.

      Now that it’s June in NY, I am going to do this again with real peaches and see if it comes out better.

      • Thanks for sharing this recipe, Paul!

        I totally agree that ripe peaches are important – they are one of those things that are just only good during a certain time of year, and frozen ones can be suspect sometimes. I know I am the frozen banana queen, but 1/2-1 small frozen banana could also help with the sweetness issue and make it sweeter without adding more honey or maple syrup. Or, perhaps a few drops of Stevia. I just had a fantastic in-season peach, so perhaps I’ll give this a try soon and see how it comes out with a few modifications!

    • Hi Michele,

      One serving is about 3/4-1 cup, or, the end product portioned out by 4. Enjoy!

    • Yes, absolutely, though I would say to go with full fat milk if you can, since it is thicker…

  • Could you use drained and then frozen canned peaches? Then use the syrup instead of sugar?

    • If you were wanting more of a peach flavor, sure, you could do that. For this particular recipe, I would probably stick to the bananas. But, peaches would technically work!

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