Have you ever found a recipe on Pinterest that boasts it is a “2-ingredient” or “3-ingredient” recipe only to click over and find that it uses a box cake mix? Seriously, people, box cake mix is not one ingredient. Last time I checked a box of cake mix had at least 15 ingredients.
This recipe is really, truly a 5-ingredient recipe. 5 real-food, healthy ingredients that make up a delicious summer dessert. Sound too good to be true? You’ll have to take my word for it–it’s not too good to be true!
With every bite she took, Meghan exclaimed: “It’s so good! This is sooooo good!” Who knew a treat with bananas+peanut butter as the main ingredients could be so tasty?!
The first time I made these I tried to make them into ice cream bars, Klondike-style. The result was really messy and not easy to eat. After some brainstorming, I turned them into ice-cube sized bars on a stick. This was the perfect solution! The bars became a manageable, portion-controlled size and easy to eat.
They are also super easy to make. I used this stainless steel ice cube tray
to freeze my banana+peanut butter “ice cream” and then all that needed to be done was a little dipping. Mixing the chocolate mixture in a liquid measuring cup made this simple and mess-free.
5-ingredient Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Ice Cream Bars
- Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 18 ice-cube sized bars 1x
Description
These ice cream bars are a vegan, real-food treat that’s easy to make! 5 simple ingredients are all you need to make these chocolate-covered peanut butter ice cream bars and your family will have no idea how healthy they are!
Ingredients
- 7 bananas, broken in to pieces and frozen
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup+1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 18 popsicle sticks
Instructions
- In a food processor, process the frozen bananas until creamy. This will take a few minutes; it should be the consistency of soft serve ice cream. Add the peanut butter and process again until well combined.
- Transfer the mixture to an ice cube tray, smoothing the tops with your fingers or the back of a spoon. Add one popsicle stick per cube. Freeze until rock solid, at least a few hours.
- When your banana ice cream is ready, melt the coconut oil in a liquid measuring cup. Add the cocoa powder and maple syrup and whisk well.
- Put a piece of wax paper or parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
- Use a knife to cut around the edge of one of the frozen cubes, then pop it out of the tray. Dip the cube into the chocolate, then lay it on the tray. Continue until all the cubes have been coated in chocolate.
- The banana ice cream softens quickly. If you don’t work quickly enough, it may soften and not pop out of the tray nicely. Simply pop the tray back into the freezer for a few minutes and then continue once the ice cream is hard again.
- Once all the cubes are coated with chocolate, place the tray into the freezer until the chocolate is completely hardened. You may then transfer the cubes into a freezer-safe container or ziplock freezer back for storage. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours freezer time
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cube
- Calories: 124
- Sugar: 3.3g
- Sodium: 32.1mg
- Fat: 7g
- Carbohydrates: 15.9g
- Protein: 1.8g
Yum! You took frozen banana treats to a whole new level!
Thanks, Heather! I can’t get over how fabulous these taste. Like so much more than just 5 healthy ingredients! 🙂
What an adorable and totally delish kid-friendly treat! I feel ya on the one or two ingredient recipes that call for cake mix….like the one where you add diet coke!! What the heck?! Love these.
Ewwww the day I put a diet coke in my baked good….YUCK.
so easy and delicious! i love it! kids are pretty cute too. .hehe
Thanks, lady!
Oh my! These look heavenly. And simple. So perfect! I know I would love these at any time of the day. And I totally know what you mean about the whole Pinterest thing. I actually did exactly that over the weekend. It was a pink 2-ingredient cake so of course I clicked on it and found boxed cake mix in the recipe! Ugh haha.
So frustrating! Thanks Shannon. 🙂