Healthy Raw Peanut Butter Banana Split

Raw Peanut Butter Banana Split

Well, Zac is at it again! I love when he comes up with new and interesting ideas, it helps me think out of the box. Zac emailed me and told me that he had found a new idea that would be gluten free, raw foods, vegan and all around healthy.

I responded, that “ I was in”. I was a little nervous about the taste because this was completely out of my comfort zone. My Lisa, who is 11 years old, loved these yummy little treats!

Raw Peanut Butter Banana Split

Ingredients:

Peanut Butter Cookie :
1 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup Medjool dates, pitted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon salt

Banana Ice Cream :
1 lb. frozen bananas, diced
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons water

Chocolate Coating :
1 cup cold-pressed coconut oil, melted
1 cup raw cacao powder
6 tablespoons raw agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt

Topping :
Crushed peanuts or almonds

Raw Peanut Butter Banana Split

Directions:

Peanut butter cookie:
Note ~ you will be making the peanut butter cookie layer twice. Don’t try doubling the recipe up front because it will be too taxing on your machine.

Place the almonds in a food processor, and process into a very small crumble size.
Add the peanut butter, dates, vanilla and salt and process until the dough comes together. Stop and check the dough, it should hold together when you squeeze some into a ball shape. If the dates you used are really dry you may need to add a few tablespoons of water to the batter.
Line your 8×8 pan with plastic wrap for the ease of removing when the bars are ready to cut.
Spread the cookie dough out, evenly and firmly. Repeat this process one more time. This will make the top layer. Once it is done, place it in a bowl and set aside.

Banana Ice Cream :Place the frozen banana slices, vanilla and water in a high-powder blender or food processor. Process until the bananas break down to a smooth and fluffy soft-serve ice cream state.
Pour over the bottom layer of the peanut butter cookie batter. Place in the freezer.

Chocolate Coating :
Place the coconut oil in a bowl filled with hot water to melt it. In the meantime…
Place the cacao powder, agave, vanilla and salt into a mixing bowl and start to whisk together – it will be thick. Add in the coconut oil in stages, whisking as you go. Soon it will all come together nice and smooth.
Salt can be added to bring down the bitterness of the cacao without having to increase the agave. Using a blender is not recommended as it could seize up.

Assembly :
Once the banana ice cream is hard (this can take several hours depending on your freezer temp and how full it is), place the top layer of the peanut butter cookie dough on top, just like you did on the bottom layer.
Return the freezer and let it get good and cold before cutting into ice cream sandwich bars.
Once frozen, remove the frozen treat from the pan and place it on a cutting board. Cut into desired shapes and sizes. Slide a popsicle stick into each bar and return to freezer while you make the chocolate coating.
Dip each ice cream bar into the bowl of chocolate coating, using a spoon to ladle chocolate around the top. Lift bar out and let excess chocolate drip from the bar back into the bowl.
While the chocolate is still soft, place in the almonds and with your fingers press the almonds up around the sides. Because the bars are frozen, the chocolate will firm up quite quickly, so don’t delay or else it will be too dry to get the almonds to stick.
Place in the freezer on a cookie sheet to firm up again. Wrap each one individually or as desired and store in the freezer.

Raw Peanut Butter Banana Split