Desserts

Vegan Pumpkin Nice Cream

Fall is here! One of the many reasons that I love Fall, like so many of you, is the incorporation of sweet and warming pumpkin into all manner of dishes (though, I really do feel like pumpkin spice popcorn and salmon have taken the whole pumpkin craze too far). Anyway, I am a big pumpkin fan and get very excited to eat more of it this time of year.

YAY PUMPKIN! #basicanddontcare

Southern California, however, doesn’t always get the memo that it is Fall and we want to cozy up against crisp weather. No, October here by the beach typically brings random heat waves that trump the temperatures that Summer brought. It’s annoying. But I have learned to adapt to it by getting my pumpkin dessert fix through cooling, but seasonally tasting Pumpkin Ice Cream! And anyway, who doesn’t love ice cream any time of year regardless of the outside temperature?

You’ll recall in the Summer that I posted a recipe for my Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Nice Cream; a recipe that utilizes frozen bananas, cocoa, and peanut butter to make a cool and sweet dessert that is totally guilt free. Well, Oops! I did it again because I’ve now made a Vegan Nice Cream that highlights the flavor of the season: PUMPKIN!

Oops! I made another Vegan Nice Cream recipe!

This delicious dessert utilizes the base of frozen bananas with unsweetened pumpkin puree, good and smoky maple syrup, and pumpkin spices to create a dessert that is cooling and sweet with the flavors reminiscent of pumpkin pie and lots of nutritious benefits. This recipe is simple and inexpensive, and also healthful and seasonally comforting. I hope you enjoy my Vegan Pumpkin Nice Cream!

Vegan Pumpkin Nice Cream

Servings: 3-4
Time: 5 hours
Difficulty: Easy
Print

Ingredients:

6 bananas, cut into chunks and frozen
12 oz. organic pumpkin puree, unsweetened (about ¾ of a 15 oz. can)
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 ½ tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Pulse the frozen banana pieces in a food processor until blended and resembling vanilla ice cream. This can take some time and you may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl, so be patient.

Add the pumpkin puree, maple, and spices. Puree until smooth. Pour into a freezer safe bowl and freeze until solid.

Defrost and serve into bowls, topping with additional pumpkin pie spice and nuts as desired. Enjoy!

So few ingredients!

Pulse the bananas until they look a lot like vanilla bean ice cream.

Add the pumpkin, maple, and spices.

Give it a whirl till it looks like a Fall color!

Put it in a bowl.

Freeze it!

Serve with more spices and crushed nuts or any of your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Nice Cream

If you are part of the healthy foodie world, then you may have noticed the recent craze around “Nice Creams”. Let me tell you, the craze is with good reason. If aren’t sure what a “Nice Cream” is, it is a nice cream dessert made from a base of frozen banana and flavored with other whole food ingredients like strawberries, vanilla bean, cocoa, and coconut oil. The frozen bananas once churned in a food processor and then refrozen mimic the texture of ice cream while also providing natural sweetness, and the other ingredients mixed with in it provide the true flavorings and sense of indulgence. The result is an ice cream dessert that is as nutritious as it is delicious!

I’d seen a few Buzzfeed Tasty and Food Network videos on these “Nice Creams” and had to give them a shot. After my first try, I was hooked! I couldn’t believe how well these “Nice Creams” totally satisfy the desire for a bowl of sweet and creamy ice cream, while packing on the nutrition and reducing the intake of added sugar and fat. My mind was blown.

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream 7.jpg

How can that just be banana? Vegan magic!

Now, Disclaimer: You do really, really have to like bananas to enjoy “Nice Cream”. Bananas are the base and so unsurprisingly, these desserts have very distinct banana notes. If you are a fan of these sweet yellow tropical fruits, however, then you are set!

After trying the recipes I’d seen in videos, I decided I would come up with my own. Keeping in mind that “Nice Cream” does taste strongly of banana, I thought the perfect flavorings would be chocolate and peanut butter! And thus, my Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Nice Cream was born!

Incredibly, all you need is three ingredients: frozen bananas, cocoa powder, and creamy peanut butter! It’s that simple! Well, it is and it isn’t. As easy as the videos make “Nice Creams” look, the frozen bananas do resist being churned in the food processor. It can be a bit of tedious process and you have to exercise some patience. It’s not traditionally hard though. Once you get going, it is so easy and you get a naturally sweet, fiber, vitamin, and protein rich dessert that anyone could love.

Vegan Nice Cream is perfect for summer time when you are looking for a cool dessert while also keeping it light! Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Nice Cream

Servings: 2-3
Time: 6 hours
Difficulty: easy
Print

Ingredients:

3 large bananas, cut into small slices and frozen for several hours
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 ½ tablespoons creamy peanut butter
Optional: dark chocolate and banana slices for serving

Directions:

Working in thirds, add the frozen banana slices to a food processor. Turn until starting to resemble crumbled butter. You may have to scrape the sides of the processor and smash down pieces of the banana several times as you go. Be patient, this could take up to ten minutes.

Once all the banana slices have been incorporated and they resemble more of a dough, mix in the peanut butter and cocoa powder. Churn until all mixed.

Remove into a freezer safe glass bowl.

Place in the freezer additional 2 hours or until ready to serve. Spoon into bowls, garnish with dark chocolate and banana slices if desired, and enjoy!

Just a few ingredients….

Chop bananas and freeze….

Bananas into food processor…

Started to churn….

Add more banana in batches….

Add cocoa powder and peanut butter….

Churn till smooth…..

Place back in bowl and freeze till hard….

Serve and love!

Christmas Biscotti

Truthfully, I am not a huge baker and much more of a cook. When it’s Christmas time, however, I do enjoy donning on an apron, covering myself in flour, and whipping up a few sweet holiday treats. Like any sane human, I love baking and eating Christmas cookies. But with so many people opting for traditional holiday favorites like sugar cookies, I like to make something a little bit different when I make the effort to bake up some Christmas cheer.

My original Christmas Biscotti gives me the satisfaction of Christmas baking while paying homage to my Italian roots. Ever since I developed this recipe about 7 years ago, these biscotti have become a friend and family favorite I bake and share every December. This is one of my original recipes I very much look forward to sharing with my children one day!

My Christmas Biscotti are just the right amount of sweet and satisfyingly crunchy! With red from tart dried cranberries, green from earthy pistachios, a bit of warm orange zest, a splash of lively amaretto, and rich dark chocolate, these biscotti look and taste like Christmas! Try them with a nice cup of coffee, tea, or hot cocoa for an optimally festive experience.

Christmas Biscotti

Serves: 12–14 Cookies | Prep Time: 2 Hours | Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ tablespoons orange zest
½ cup salted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons Amaretto liqueur
½ cup pistachios, roughly chopped
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup dark chocolate chips
Optional: 1 cup dark chocolate chips to make glaze

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.

In a large bowl, beat the sugar, butter, and orange zest with a hand mixer until a crumb-like texture is formed. Add one egg at a time and beat until completely incorporated. Mix in the Amaretto liqueur. Working in thirds, add the flour mixture and beat together until all ingredients are mixed and dough starts to form. Add the pistachios, cranberries, and chocolate chips until well distributed throughout the dough.

Place the dough in the center of the baking sheet lined with parchment paper and form a log that is 13 inches long and 3 inches wide. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the log is golden brown. Remove from oven and baking sheet and allow to cool for 30 minutes.

Using a sharp or serrated bread knife, slice the log in ½ inch to ¾ inch slices (be careful as the slices will be quite fragile). Place the slices with cut side down on the baking sheet and bake an additional 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a baking rack.

Optional: melt the 1 cup of dark chocolate in a double boiler. Pour the melted chocolate onto a plate. Dip the flat bottom of the biscotti in the melted chocolate and set aside until the chocolate hardens. Enjoy!

Buon Natale!