By now Im sure most of you have heard of banana soft serve. (If not, you will absolutely die when you try it.)
Also called yonanas, banana soft serve is frozen banana blended with whatever flavorings (like vanilla extract, cocoa powder, espresso powder, etc.) or add-ins (like toasted almonds, coconut, chocolate chips, etc.) you like. The best part is that it has the same creamy texture as soft serve ice cream. (The first time I ever saw banana soft serve was on Genas brilliant blog, Choosing Raw.)
As you can imagine, this delicious treat is incredibly versatile and completely perfect for when you want ice cream but dont want ice cream. (Ladies, you know what I mean.)
Even without anything added, banana soft serve is fantastic with its natural sweetness and super creamy consistency. This version with avocado combines that that super creamy consistency with a bit of added richness for an even more satiating treat.
The thing to remember about any kind of banana soft serve is to make it right before you want to eat it it does not keep well, even in the freezer! But it is to die for when its first blended.
Spinach also adds vitamins, minerals, and fiber to this recipe, but truth be told, I used it mainly for natural green coloring. (Dont worry, you cant taste it!) I could see occasional tiny little flecks of green in my soft serve (along with some small specks of chocolate), which didnt bother me at all; however, if its not your thing and you dont mind your soft serve being a much lighter shade of green, just omit the spinach and the 2 tablespoons of water.
A big thank-you to Brandy and Katie for organizing this event, and another thank-you to KitchenAid and King Arthur Flour, the sponsors of todays fabulous giveaway! (Take a look at the giveaway widget below for more giveaway details.)
Here are the other participating bloggers frozen treat posts today:
- ¼ cup (1/4 oz/7 g) baby spinach
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1 medium avocado, pitted and skin removed
- 1 packet (about ½ teaspoon powdered stevia) stevia (adjust to taste)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon pure mint extract (adjust to taste)
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 very large banana, peeled, chopped into 8 pieces, and frozen
- 3 tablespoons chopped good-quality dark chocolate (see Note)
- Add the baby spinach and water to a food processor and pulse a few times.
- Add the avocado, stevia, vanilla extract, mint extract, and salt and process until nearly smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the frozen banana and pulse a few times to break it up a bit, and then process until completely smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the chocolate chips and pulse 3 times.
- Serve immediately.
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
July 24, 2013 at 6:27 amThis is such a cool idea!! Love it Faith!
Rosa says
July 24, 2013 at 6:37 amThat is an interesting combination! I’m intrigued.
Cheers,
Rosa
Joanne says
July 24, 2013 at 6:37 amI feel like i always WANT ice cream but don’t WANT ice cream. It’s a very complicated emotion lol. The mint chocolate flavor is such a classic and a HUGE favorite in my apartment! Definitely need to try this healthier version!
Audra | The Baker Chick says
July 24, 2013 at 6:43 amYes! There is a soft server fruit place here in NYC that I adore- and actually am basing Friday’s recipe off of a smoothie that I get there!
This looks so healthy but also totally delicious- perfect for those hot days where something rich is overkill!
Erica says
July 24, 2013 at 8:59 amThis looks absolutely amazinggggggg. I love mint chocolate anything. Good stuff
Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious says
July 24, 2013 at 9:49 amLove this! I’m all for healthy desserts! I need a way to indulge that’s also skinny-jean friendly :)
Julia {The Roasted Root} says
July 24, 2013 at 10:39 amI love this healthy soft serve recipe! Frozen treat week should turn into frozen treat month!
dixya| food, pleasure, and health says
July 24, 2013 at 12:12 pmso many healthy ingredients in the form is dessert – yes please :)
Bread & Companatico says
July 24, 2013 at 2:01 pmthis looks like what I would want to dig in right now! lovely recipe. I would maybe omit the banana or substitute it with… some coconut maybe?
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
July 24, 2013 at 9:35 pmLove this healthy and swimsuit friendly treat!
Ash- foodfashionparty says
July 24, 2013 at 10:47 pmWow, never had Banana soft serve, sound interesting.. This is so healthy and guilt free.
Katerina says
July 25, 2013 at 8:53 amA very unusual combination of flavors Faith! Love it!
Alyssa (Everyday Maven) says
July 25, 2013 at 4:10 pmThis sounds amazing – I love mint chip and this is so easy! We have been doing a lot of homemade “quick” ice cream b/c my son seems to want nothing else lol. I will make him this one next :)
katie says
July 25, 2013 at 8:03 pmI love the idea of make your own soft serve! Mint chocolate chip is my favorite ice cream flavor combo!
Nutmeg Nanny says
July 26, 2013 at 1:01 amI would totally take a bowl of this right now! I know when I put avocados in my smoothies I love the creaminess it’s brings. I imagine in ice cream it’s even better!
Caroline @ chocolate & carrots says
July 26, 2013 at 7:07 amOh, how delicious!!!
Lori Lynn says
July 27, 2013 at 9:21 pmFaith – this is so interesting. I will definitely try…
I have an old {heavy} Champion juicer, my friend tells me to put frozen bananas through it. I haven’t tried but I am now convinced it will work.
And heart healthy too. YAY. Great recipe.
LL
P.S. Thanks for the tweets…
Terri says
August 1, 2013 at 6:03 pmThis looked amazing so I tried it. It had a wonderful mint aroma while preparing it but when finished, it tasted like guacamole with chocolate chips : (
Faith says
August 2, 2013 at 6:50 amTerri, Oh no, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it! I found the predominant flavor of this to be mint, banana, vanilla, and sweetener, which completely masked the flavor of avocado and spinach (especially since the recipe calls for so little spinach, and the spinach is optional anyway). It’s flavor didn’t remind me of guacamole at all, especially since it doesn’t have necessary ingredients that make guacamole taste like guacamole – such as garlic, cilantro, and/or lime juice…but the color is definitely similar to guac (especially if you leave out the spinach). That happens when you’re trying to avoid fake dyes though; colors are more natural, but definitely not the same shade that we might be used to. You could always increase the amount of mint, banana, vanilla, or sweetener if you want a sweeter treat. Or if the shade of green from the avocado is off-putting, you could make it with a reduced amount of avocado at first; maybe start with 1/4 of an avocado and work your way up until you get used to the color and consistency. I hope this helps!
Suzanna says
August 15, 2013 at 4:34 pmThis was awesome! I served it up very casually to my eight year old son and 2 of his very picky friends and the devoured it…feeling lucky to have ice cream in the middle of a “regular” afternoon! Thanks for the recipe.