5 Healthy Ice Cream Alternatives That Taste Amazing
5 Healthy Ice Cream Alternatives That Taste Amazing
The time you find yourself jonesing for ice cream, think beyond Ben & Jerry's. There are plenty of legit ice-cream alternatives that not only hit the spot, but also contain serious nutritional benefits, natural ingredients, and sometimes fewer calories to boot. Here are five of our favorites.
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Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss
This is a go-to scoop of our cycling friends who shy away from dairy, soy and/or gluten. As the name implies, coconut milk is the base ingredient of this organic ice-cream alternative. It’s sweetened with agave and then flavored with nuts, seeds, and the usual delicious suspects such as vanilla and chocolate.
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You’ve got more than a dozen flavors to choose from, including Chocolate Walnut Brownie, Mint Galactica, Ginger Cookie Caramel, Cherry Amaretto, and of course, Naked Coconut. At 250 to 280 calories per ?-cup scoop, it’s not particularly low in calories, but it’s all-natural and positively delicious.
More: coconutbliss.com
Lifeway Frozen Kefir
Gut health is good health. Probiotics—the bacteria that live in your gut—pave the way for gut health. The richer and more diverse your gut flora, the better. Kefir is the superfood of probiotics, more so than yogurt, because it has even more and different probiotic strains, as well as antibacterial and antifungal properties.
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That’s why we love Lifeway’s Frozen Kefir. It’s not only tangy, rich, and delicious, but it also delivers 10 live and active probiotic cultures in each gluten-free, 90-calorie, ?-cup serving. Choose from four flavors including Mango, Pomegranate, Strawberry, and Original (Plain).
More: lifewaykefir.com
Raspberry Nice Cream
Thank you to TwoRaspberries.com for sharing this super-simple, creamy, delicious Nice Cream recipe with us. Nice Cream is effectively ice cream without any added sugar, made almost entirely of fruit; you can make it in just 10 minutes flat whenever the ice-cream urge strikes. One batch makes enough to share.
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Ingredients
3 frozen bananas
? cup frozen raspberries
1-2 T water
Directions
In a food processor:
1. Chop frozen bananas and add them to food processor.
2. Add 1-2 T water, depending on how thick you want your Nice Cream (add slowly).
3. Blend until the mixture has a smooth consistency. (I use the mini Ninja food processor, but depending on you blender, you may have to stop and scrape it down from the edges a couple times.)
4. Next, add in you raspberries and pulse until mixed thoroughly but still chunky.
5. Place in bowl, jar, or cup; top with raspberries; and enjoy!
Halo Top Ice Cream
Wait—an ice-cream alternative to ice cream? Hear us out.
We are a bit obsessed with this stuff. For one: Eat the whole pint! Seriously, at just 240 to 280 calories per pint (yes, per whole pint), you no longer have to stare sadly at the empty carton wondering where your last shred of will power was lost.
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Made from natural ingredients like milk, cream, and eggs, it’s low in sugar, fat, carbs, and of course, calories, thanks to being sweetened with organic stevia. We especially appreciate the fact that it’s packed with protein (24 grams per pint), as well as prebiotic fiber (5 grams per pint). (Prebiotics are the substances that probiotic bacteria eat, so eating them yourself maintains gut health.)
Halo Top is available in seven clutch flavors including Lemon Cake, Vanilla Bean, Chocolate, and Mint Chip.
More: halotop.com
Chocolate Dipped Froz-Ana
Bananas and chocolate go together like, well, bananas and chocolate—delectably! For a super-healthy frozen summer treat that will cool your jets while providing lots of potassium and antioxidants to fuel and mend your hard-working muscles, fix yourself a bunch of dark chocolate-dipped frozen bananas.
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Directions
1. Peel some bananas, impale them on a stick, and freeze them for an hour.
2. Melt a batch of dark chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. (How much dark chocolate depends on how many bananas you want to dip; about 16 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips per four bananas does the trick.)
3. Dip the frozen bananas until coated.
4. Place bananas on a plate covered with a sheet of waxed paper and freeze them again for about 30 minutes.
5. Enjoy post-hot bike ride—like heaven on a stick. (Here are some other great ways to recover after a hot ride.)
Opt for these nutrient-packed frozen treats over a scoop of your guilty pleasure