Enjoying 'Ice Cream' made from bananas ~ Strawberry Cacao Nib & Matcha Green Tea ~ non-dairy frozen treats

Strawberry Banana 'Ice Cream' ~ it's amazing that so few ingredients can make such a wonderful frozen dessert.  It really gives 'real ice cream' a run for it's money.

My friend, Denise, posted a photo recipe, from Incredible Smoothies, on Facebook the other day.  I took one look at it & was in the kitchen within minutes, making a tweaked version.  The original version was called ~ Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream & used 2 frozen bananas (sliced), 1/2 cup frozen cherries and about 4 tablespoons coconut water, blended in a food processor until creamy & then topped with cacao nibs.

Well, I was all out of frozen cherries, (Yeah, I know.  You'd think I would've had some, considering all the stuff I can pull out of the freezer & pantry on the fly! :) so I substituted frozen strawberries.  This vegan, raw, non-dairy, banana based 'ice cream' turned out really good.  The banana flavor disappeared, just leaving the creaminess behind & the strawberry flavor was nice.  Next time I get frozen cherries, I will definitely try making this again.  You could just as easily use plain water, or another liquid in the recipe, since the coconut water didn't seem to add anything that I could tell.  The cacao nibs added a surprisingly nice, crunchy texture to the dessert, but you couldn't really taste the dark chocolate flavor much...that is until you had to pick the nib bits out of your back teeth ~  not that that's a bad thing, it was just unexpected.  Even with that being said, I'd still add the cacao nibs for the unusual crunch they provided.

Matcha Green Tea Banana 'Ice Cream' ~ this is one of my favorite ice cream flavors, so simple, yet exotic.

Once I made one banana ice cream, I decided I might as well make another.  One of my favorite 'real' ice creams is Green Tea Ice Cream, so I looked around & found a recipe for Matcha Green Tea Banana 'Ice Cream'  that also used bananas & had the same basic makeup as the previous frozen delight.  I only added the matcha green tea powder to the recipe, since that is all that I had at the house.  It's not quite the same green tea ice cream that I get at the Chinese restaurant, but it satisfied my craving for that subtle, exotic ice cream flavor.   With this summer weather being as it is, I'm looking for desserts that will help to make us all feel a little bit cooler.  Using frozen fruits, in this unusual way, makes having a sweet treat at the end of a meal so easy & so very tasty, just how I like it.  :)