Orange Creamsicle Nice Cream
If you love the creamy orange flavor of orange creamsicle ice cream, you’re going to love orange creamsicle nice cream! Soaked cashews and freshly squeezed orange juice naturally flavor this delicious dairy & sugar-free frozen treat.
You might be wondering how bananas, orange juice and zest, and some cashews are going to make the same nostalgic frozen treat you enjoyed as a kid. But here’s the scoop, when overripe bananas (black spot bananas) are peeled, frozen whole, and then cut into chunks and blended in a high-powered blender, they miraculously turn into a luscious, sweet, creamy, vanilla-colored soft serve, very similar in taste to ice cream. Add in an orange cream base and you’ve got a whole food, dairy & sugar-free, completely healthy nice cream that will make your taste buds jump for joy. The orange cream base is made by combining soaked cashews with freshly squeezed orange juice and zest and a pinch of salt. Blending these ingredients first to create the cream, and then adding in the frozen bananas, allows the blender to grab onto the bananas and blend them easily, which is the secret trick to perfect nice cream. Let’s blend!
Ingredients
4 very ripe bananas, frozen (black spot bananas)
½ cup of cashews, soaked for 8 hours
½ cup of freshly squeezed orange juice
2 teaspoons of orange zest
A pinch of fine sea salt
Makes 4 servings
How to make Orange Creamsicle Nice Cream
Soak your cashews by adding them to a jar or a bowl of water. They will need to soak for about 8 hours. Once soaked, drain off the water and rinse them well.
Peel your very ripe bananas and pop them in the freezer. Freezing the bananas whole prevents them from sticking together. The perfect nice cream banana is past the point where you would want to eat it fresh out of the peel. The skin will be soft and covered all over with dark brown or black spots, indicating that the starches have turned into simple sugars, making them naturally very sweet. Once frozen, cut them into chunks.
Add your soaked cashews, orange juice and zest, and a pinch of salt to a high-powered blender. Look for a nice ripe, soft organic orange that yields a sweeter juice and less bitter zest. Blend until the nuts and juice mixture are fully incorporated and have turned to cream. This may take a minute or more. I have found that a small blender cup works best for blending this amount of cream. You can use a small blender cup for the cream and then transfer it to a larger container for the nice cream, but it’s not totally necessary.
Add the bananas to the orange cream mixture. A high-powered blender is really helpful when making nice cream as it powers through the frozen fruit creating a super creamy consistency. I use a Vitamix which has a tamper that enables you to push the food down and around the blade. If you have a blender without a tamper, you will just need to stop periodically to scrape the sides of the container.
Blend until the bananas are creamy and look like thick frosting. This takes about a minute. The friction of the blades creates heat which will melt your nice cream, so be careful not to over-blend.
Your nice cream is all ready! You can scoop it into individual bowls or cones, pile it high with your favorite toppings, or put it in the freezer for later.
Helpful Tip: If freezing for later, let it thaw until scoopable before serving.
Orange Creamsicle Nice Cream
Ingredients
Instructions
- Soak your cashews by adding them to a jar or a bowl of water. They will need to soak for about 8 hours. Once soaked, drain off the water and rinse them well.
- Peel your very ripe bananas and pop them in the freezer. Freezing the bananas whole prevent them from sticking together. The perfect nice cream banana is past the point where you would want to eat it fresh out of the peel. The skin will be soft and covered all over with dark brown or black spots, indicating that the starches have turned to simple sugars, making them naturally very sweet. Once frozen, cut them into chunks.
- Add your soaked cashews, orange juice and zest and a pinch of salt to a high powered blender. Look for a nice ripe, soft organic orange which yeilds a sweeter juice and less bitter zest. Blend until the nuts and juice mixture are fully incorporated and have turned to cream. This may take a minute or more. I have found that a small blender cup works best for blending this amount of cream. You can use a small blender cup for the cream and then transfer it to a larger container for the nice cream, but it’s not totally necessary.
- Add the banans to the orange cream mixture. A high-powered blender is really helpful when making nice cream as it powers through the frozen fruit creating a super creamy consistancy. I use a Vitamix which has a tamper that enables you to push the food down and around the blade. If you have a blender without a tamper, you will just need to stop periodically to scrape the sides of the container.
- Blend until the bananas are creamy and look like thick frosting. This takes about a minute. The friction of the blades creates heat which will melt your nice cream, so be carefull not to overblend.
Notes
Helpful Tip: If freezing for later, let it thaw until scoopable before serving.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
218.24Fat (grams)
8.39Sat. Fat (grams)
1.71Carbs (grams)
36.02Fiber (grams)
3.75Net carbs
32.27Sugar (grams)
17.89Protein (grams)
4.14Sodium (milligrams)
142.84Cholesterol (grams)
0.00Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators.
