Dairy Free Ice Cream

I know its not really the right time of year for ice cream, the fact that is snowed last night, although im a little disappointed as Bristol seemed to miss the big stuff, but ice cream is an all round winner when it comes to seasons. Of course its more of a summer time thing but there is nothing better then curling up with a bowl of the cold stuff and eating your blues away.. see what I did there, I wonder how many connotations of  cold I can get into one sentence.

As I said in my previous post, this ice cream is made purely from frozen bananas with a little splash of lactose free milk. That's it. Well and a splash of vanilla extract. I came across  this method when searching for a lactose free alternative for ice cream. Before my intolerance I could eat ice cream all day long straight from the pot, there were some occasions when I could finish a whole pot in one sitting. Don't judge me, we've all been there.
Since becoming lactose intolerant ive struggled to find an ice cream that fits the bill, everything I have tried has been too sweet or just lacks what you need in an ice cream. Ice cream is quite hard to come by for lactose intolerance as many supermarkets don't stock products that are free from so making my own was the next best step. 

If your not a fan of bananas then this might not suit you as the flavour still lingers even when masked with vanilla. However, the texture is just like ice cream, a little softer than your normal vanilla ice cream but still gives you a satisfactory ice cream feeling. The lacto free milk just loosens up the mixture and makes the process a little bit faster. 

Equipment

Food processor with a blade attachment 

Ingredients
3 Ripe bananas chopped and frozen over night

2 Tbsp Lactose free milk (or non dairy alternative) 

1 Tsp Vanilla extract 

Pop the bananas into the food processor and blitz on a medium speed for 3 minutes. Knock back the bananas with a spatula and add the vanilla extract. The consistency should be small chunks of banana that can be squashed together. Blitz again for one minute and then add the milk. Once again blitz for 2 minutes, you should see the consistency change to resemble a soft scoop ice cream. If the ice cream is not smooth blitz again until it resembles the consistency you would like. Ready to eat straight away or pop into a freezable container and pop into the freezer to enjoy when your ready. 

This is the basis for any flavour of ice cream you can think off. Just add the ingredients you desire to the mixture and blitz for a couple of minutes before you eat or pop into the freezer. I would recommend this will last up to one month after making. I made a raspberry and white chocolate version just because I love the combination of flavours together. Here's a little video to demonstrate the process of making the ice cream.