Vanilla Bean Nice Cream

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Oh hey there! Introducing this creamy vanilla bean nice cream. Think creamy silky texture, intense vanilla bean flavor, coupled with a super thick ice cream consistency. Could nice cream get any better? 

And it gets better. I’ve also included a banana-free nice cream version of this below. This is the perfect sweet breakfast or it can also double as a super healthy replacement to vanilla ice cream.

Vanilla Bean Nice Cream Ingredients 

I’ll leave the full list of ingredients for this vanilla nice cream recipe here, along with substitutions for certain ingredients and what you can use instead! 

• Cashew Milk: is what will be used to make the frozen cashew milk cubes as well as to get the blender running. I recommend using a higher fat milk, like cashew, coconut, macadamia or soy milk. The higher the fat and protein content, the creamier the soft serve will be. I’ll link my homemade cashew milk recipe here – it takes just 2 minutes to whip up. 
• Bananas: as with any nice cream or soft serve, make sure the bananas have been frozen for at least 12 hours and are super ripe. The riper, the creamier and sweeter the nice cream will be  – that way you don’t have to add in any sweetener. 
• Protein Powder: protein powder is absolutely not necessary, but it makes the soft serve much creamier and adds a protein boost. I’ll link my favorite protein powder right here. It’s so good! If you’d like to leave out the protein powder and replace it with 1 tsp nut butter. Additionally, you could replace the protein powder with silken tofu, and reduce the cashew milk needed by half. 
• Sunflower Butter OR Peanut Butter: makes this soft serve balanced and adds in healthy fats and omega 3’s. 
• Salt + Vanilla : Obviously the vanilla is essential. And the salt boosts the flavors in this soft serve, taking it to a whole other level of fall soft serve dreams! 

Can I Substitute…

• Cashew milk: any type of high fat milk will work – macadamia, soy and coconut are the ones I’d recommend. 
• Protein powder:  You can replace it with 2 oz of silken tofu and reduce the liquid cashew milk by half. Or, feel free to completely omit the protein powder! 
• Bananas: since this soft serve relies on the bananas for extra sweetness and creaminess, they’re crucial to the final flavor and texture. However, you can use all cashew milk cubes if you’d like. Simply add in an extra 1 cup of cashew milk cubes + stevia drops or two medjool dates. Full recipe for this is included in the recipe card below!
• Sunflower butter: feel free to use any type of nut butter you prefer – peanut butter tastes delicious here!

How to Make Nice Cream without Bananas

I know a ton of you might not like bananas, or maybe you have a banana allergy. SO, I’ve put together another guide to making nice cream without bananas. Long story short, you just need to use frozen nut milk cubes. I’ll link the guide HERE for you to read through. PLUS, I’ve also included a banana-free version of this healthy vanilla nice cream below! 

Why this Vanilla Bean Nice Cream is Healthy  

Thick and creamy vanilla nice cream with granola and cacao nibs…you might be wondering if this is a healthy dessert or even breakfast. The answer is YES! 

This vanilla bean nice cream is packed with protein, nutrients and two servings of fruits, thanks to the bananas. I’ll leave a few of the benefits of each of these ingredients down below. 

• Bananas: despite being a fruit, bananas contain tons of prebiotic fiber and resistant starch, which makes this a low GI fruit. GI, glycemic index, is an indicator how fast the sugar of that particular food will enter your bloodstream! One fiber banana has is called pectin, which helps moderate blood sugar spikes – so cool! Plus, bananas have tons of Vitamin B6, C and Potassium. 
• Cashews: Besides being a great source of healthy fats, cashews contain a host of minerals as vitamins. Such as copper, magnesium, manganese, zinc, phosphorus and selenium. 
• Sunflower butter: Besides tasting exactly like PB, sunflower butter provides over half the RDI of Vitamin E in just 1 tbsp. Vitamin E is amazing for your skin and helps produce collagen, keep your skin moisturized and wrinkle-free! Additionally, sunflower seeds have a host of vitamins and minerals, like magnesium, manganese and zinc.

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