Going Bananas for Ice Cream!

SUMMER IS HERE and I am so excited to share with you some of the best dairy, soya, nut, gluten, egg, and sugar free recipes for ice cream we have conjured up at the Brainstorm Health Kitchen. These recipes pack a massive flavour punch and have been a fantastic hit with our gorgeous volunteers.

Each recipe is super delicious and incredibly simple to make – a mere assembly job -no churning required AND totally hassle free. Enjoy!

Ingredients

You will need in advance:

• 3 ripe bananas

• A plastic bag

Raspberry rapture:

• 200g frozen raspberries

• 2 tbsp honey

Smooth chocolate ice cream:

• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

• 2 tbsp honey

• 1 tbsp raw cocoa nibs

Luscious lemon:

• 1 juiced lemon

• 2 tbsp honey

• 2 tbsp coconut cream

Instructions

1. Peel the bananas and cut them into thick slices, place in your plastic bag and freeze them until they are completely hard

Raspberry rapture:

1. Add the raspberries and honey to the sliced bananas and blend on a high setting. You will need to scrape the sides down a couple of times until you create a beautiful creamy delight

Smooth chocolate ice cream:

1. Add the cocoa powder, and honey to the sliced bananas and blend on a high setting. You will need to scrape the sides down a couple of times until you create a beautiful creamy delight

Luscious lemon:

1. Add the lemon juice, honey and coconut cream, and honey to the sliced bananas and blend on a high setting. You will need to scrape the sides down a couple of times until you create a beautiful creamy delight

You can either serve all the above straight away, or place it in the freezer to enjoy later!

The science bit:

BANANAS are a great source of easily digestible fibre. They are loaded with anti-oxidants and are an excellent source of potassium – research has shown that many children with autism can be low in potassium and that by adding potassium into the diet there can be significant improvement in sensory processing. Bananas can also help increase serotonin levels – this is our feel good neurotransmitter. Bananas also contain mega amounts of vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) which is required for GABA (an inhibitory neurotransmitter) hormone production within our brain – this can be really helpful for children who tend towards hyperactivity. Besides having more than 20 different vitamins and minerals.

RASPBERRIES are an outstanding source of phytonutrients, and provide us with dozens of anthocyanins, flavonoids, stilbenoids, phenolic acids, tannins and lignans. They are an unusually concentrated source of ellagitannins (like ellagic acid), cyanidins and pelargonidins. Raspberries are an excellent source of vitamin C, manganese and dietary fiber. They are a very good source of copper and a good source of vitamin K, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin E, magnesium, folate, omega-3 fatty acids and potassium.

LEMONS are excellent sources of vitamin C and a good source of folate.

HONEY is full of antioxidants and has tremendous antibacterial and anti fungal properties.