Mar 27 2012

Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Hunky Monkey Ice Cream – Lactose and Gluten Free

Who wants to be a chunky monkey when you could be a hunky monkey?

My daughter absolutely loves Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream and Peanut Butter Moo’d from Jamba Juice. The problem is, both of these are high in sugar and high in fat. Eating sugar is bad enough, but when you eat it with fat, the combination completely slows down the way your body converts it into energy. It may even affect the process so much that it simply is not converted into energy at all and is stored as fat instead.

This ice cream recipe is a great alternative. It’s gluten free, lactose free… and delicious! No added sugar and cholesterol free. I need to tell you though, even though there is no added sugar, it is NOT low in sugar. It has a pretty high glycemic load from the bananas. Remember… fruit is sugar! The coconut milk also adds saturated fat.

So while this is a great alternative to Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey or Jamba Juice’s Peanut Butter Moo’d, it isn’t something you would want to indulge in daily.

I now keep my sugar content below 25 grams daily, so the version with the bananas isn’t something I would indulge in at all. This is also not a competition prep recipe!

There are a couple ways you could make it even healthier. Take out the bananas completely to lower the sugar and the glycemic load. You could substitute almond milk instead of coconut milk to lower the fat. You could also add a couple scoops of your favorite protein powder to increase the protein. Then it would be more of a Protein Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Ice Cream recipe. Still sounds pretty darn good to me!

Yield

Serves 6.

 

Ingredients (for 6 servings)

• 9 oz liquid pasteurized Egg Whites (approximately 1 cup)
• 8 oz unsweetened coconut milk (approximately 1 cups)
• 6 overly ripe organic bananas (optional – omit for lower sugar and lower glycemic load)
• 1 tsp pure organic vanilla extract
• 0.5 oz unsweetened cacao nibs (approximately 2 TBSP)
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp guar gum
• 1 cup chocolate flavored PB2 Peanut Butter Powder

 

Method

1. Measure all ingredients except for the cacao nibs and combine into a blender.

2. You may need additional guar gum and xanthan gum, or you may need less. It all depends on the ingredients in your coconut milk and if you add protein powder to it.

If you decide to add protein powder, or your coconut milk already has xanthan gum or guar gum in it, you may not need to add as much. If your other ingredients don’t have xanthan gum or guar gum in them, you may need to add more.

I know these two ingredients are a little hard to find, but if you leave the xanthan gum and guar gum out of the recipe, the texture won’t be like ice cream and you may be a little disappointed. These two are really the crucial ingredients to get the texture right. Keep adding the ingredients into the blender!

Note: If you want chunky swirls of peanut butter in your ice cream, only add half of the PB2 peanut butter powder to the blender. Save the other half for when you are actually mixing the ice cream.

I used chocolate PB2 peanut butter powder because my daughter asked for it, but you could use the plain flavor to cut the sugar a little further.

Don’t use regular peanut butter unless you want to really increase the fat content for some strange reason.

I love PB2 peanut butter powder because it tastes great, is low in fat and low in sugar. If you like a certain peanut butter flavored protein powder, you could use that as well. Just keep in mind that different powders will affect the sugar and additional nutritional information.

3. Once you have combined all the ingredients, blend on high until completely mixed together. You might have to pause the blender and use a spoon or spatula to mix in the sides, then turn it on again.

4. Turn on your ice cream maker and pour the mixture in.

Note: If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you could also pour it into a zip lock freezer bag, then put that bag inside of another bag that is full of ice and salt. Shake it and massage it until it turns into what will seem like soft serve ice cream. The ice cream mixture should never touch or actually mix with the ice and salt in the other bag.

5. If you have an ice cream maker, add the cacao nibs and the other half of the PB2 peanut butter powder right when the ice cream mixture is just about the right texture. Then you will have yummy swirls of peanut butter and nice big chunks of cacao in your ice cream. If you would rather have a smooth texture you could add these into the blender instead, but my daughter and I like it a little chunky… I mean hunky.

6. Once the ice cream maker has churned your protein packed mixture into ice cream, scoop it out and enjoy it! This is one of my daughter’s favorite recipes and I can serve it to her knowing that I’m giving her a great alternative.

If you are making this for your kids, make sure to talk to them a little about why you’re choosing these ingredients instead of just giving them the store bought version. Take some time to educate them instead of just stealthily making them healthy.

Usually, kids love learning about nutrition and food. Even if they don’t seem to be that interested, or if they complain about how you’re trying to make them healthy instead of just giving them a carton of Ben & Jerry’s, believe that somewhere deep down they really do know that you are taking the time to educate them because you love them. They will end up respecting you for it. Trust me.

Nutrition Data Per Serving with Bananas

Calories: 294

Calories from Fat: 116

Total Fat: 13 g

Total Carbohydrate: 37 g

Sugars: 19 g

Protein: 14 g

The good

This recipe has no cholesterol and is a good source of manganese.

The bad

This recipe has a high glycemic load (due to the bananas) and is high in saturated fat (from the coconut milk).

Nutrition Data Per Serving without Bananas

Calories: 204

Calories from Fat: 106

Total Fat: 12 g

Total Carbohydrate: 14 g

Sugars: 7 g

Protein: 12 g

The good

This recipe has no cholesterol.

The bad

This recipe is high in saturated fat (from the coconut milk).

Looking for more ice cream recipes? Try my Protein Packed Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Recipe!

xoxo ~ Cori

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By Cori Ann Lentz • Food & Diet • 2 • Tags: Diet, Egg whites, Food, Gluten free, High protein, Ice Cream, Lactose free, Protein Powder, Recipe