Recipe: Gingerbread Nice Cream

Sugar and spice and everything nice, this is what all good recipes are made of! Well, except the sugar part. That leaves a little to be desired, doesn’t it?

If you’ve adopted a whole foods plant-based diet, or have been considering it, and had some fear that you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the flavors of the season… well let me tell you this. I have GREAT news for you!

I’ve done it!!

As it turns out, the flavors of the season are abundant in so many ways that do NOT require an automatic 10 pound weight gain every year. Shocking! What a concept, I know!

I’ve been working on this recipe for awhile now, and I admit it’s a tricky one to do without the traditional ingredients heavy in fat, sugar, and animal products. However, I’m very happy with the result and I think you will be to!

I bring you……. little drummer boy drumroll please…..

Gingerbread Nice Cream!

Gingerbread because, well, pumpkin spice is so 2015…

Nice because it’s nice to leave cow’s milk for the baby cows!

Cream because… that’s how you have an idea of what it is. Are you with me?

I said, ARE YOU WITH ME?!

I just created Gingerbread Nice Cream without any heavy cream, processed sugar, or an ice cream machine. Eureka! I’m dancing like an elf over here!

Let me share with you a couple of secrets…

1. The caramel color is NOT artificial. It comes from black beans. That’s right! I’m sneaking protein-packed black beans into your ice cream! Because that’s just how I roll. Truth is, if there are black beans in it, that gives me (and you) a free pass to enjoy this any time you wish. I’ve even been known to have it for breakfast on occasion.
2. Gingerbread recipes are reported to not be feasible without molasses. But I really try extremely hard to avoid processed sugars like the plague. I tried this recipe without it and it just didn’t work. I tried many different variations and they all fell flat. I almost gave up. And then I created an alternative… date molasses. I reconstituted dates by boiling them in water, and voila!
3. There are a few ways to make this, and you’re welcome to experiment of course, but I used a base of frozen bananas for my final version. I’m also a HUGE fan of using frozen roasted Japanese sweet potatoes as a base. I’m sure I’ll try again with that base because I truly love how creamy it makes it, but in my variations with this gingerbread flavor, it just wasn’t working quite the way I wanted it and I stuck gold with bananas and beans!

Ok, let’s get to it – the recipe… There are a few steps, which I thought you might appreciate…. because it might prevent you from having this every single night 😉 No that it would be a bad thing! So here goes. The spice mix and the date paste should each last two to three batches, by the way, so the first time will be a little more work than the next two times. If you think you’ll make this often, feel free to double those recipes to keep more on hand.

Gingerbread Spice Mix

2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground clove
pinch black pepper

Blend all spices and store in glass jar.

Date Molasses

1 cup Medjool Dates, pitted
1/2 cup water

Add dates and water to a saucepan. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer 10-12 minutes.
Mash with fork to smooth consistency.

Gingerbread Nice Cream

2 ripe bananas, frozen
1/2 cups black beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tablespoons Date Molasses
2 teaspoons Gingerbread Spice Mix
2 cups crushed ice

Place all ingredients except the ice into a high speed blender. Cover and blend until smooth, using tamper to get ingredients down to the blade. This makes a nice smooth mixture. Then add ice and blend again until smooth. Add more ice to desired consistency. Serve and enjoy.

OR – if preparing in advance, or needing to store leftovers, scoop into silicone muffin pan and freeze for at least 3-4 hours. Once frozen, move to glass storage container and keep frozen. Thaw about 10 minutes before serving.

Chef’s notes:

• To freeze bananas, wait until they’re very ripe (lots of brown spots or mostly brown), then peel and place in glass container in the fridge. I always keep a rotating stock of bananas, from green to ripe to very ripe so that I have plenty on hand for baking or freezing!
• I prefer to buy the Medjool dates with pits inside because they’re a bit more plump to begin with. It only takes a moment to pop the pit out but they seem to soak up water and blend more easily than the already pitted varieties.
• I used crushed ice, but you can certainly use cubed ice
• This comes out like creamy soft-serve and is great to eat as-is but it also stores nicely!
• Add 1-2 cups (to desired consistency) unsweetened non-dairy milk for a Gingerbread Milkshake

As always please let me know what you think! I can’t wait to hear!

If you’d like to learn more about a whole food plant-based diet and how to make it FUN, enjoyable, and sustainable… you’re in the right place. Come check out my programs at www.TheForeverDiet.org/Reboot. If you think you’re ready to see what your next level has in store, I’ll be your biggest supporter!

I’m actually gearing up for the 14-Day Reboot Challenge as we speak!