If you love sweet, creamy treats this Banana Nice Cream recipe is just for you. You can make a batch in minutes and best of all, it’s 0 or 1 point on WW Plan.
What is Nice Cream?
Nice cream is a blended, ice-cream-like treat that is made with frozen fruit.
Nice cream is incredibly healthy and simple to make. You can feel good about eating it because it’s made whole whole, real food and is very low in calories.
This blended fruit soft-serve is also great for kids and you can feel good about serving it to them.
This is a Weight Watchers vegetarian and vegan recipe that fits perfectly into a whole foods, plant based (WFPB) diet. Since starting a WFPB diet a few months ago, I’ve been eating banana nice cream as a dessert many nights of the week. It gives me just enough of a sweet treat to stick to my healthy eating plan, and happily I’ve continued to lose weight while enjoying it.
Some people worry that fruit has too much sugar, but studies have shown that people who eat more fruit weigh less than those who eat fewer servings. Enjoy a wide variety of fruits as part of your weight loss diet strategy.
Fruit is zero points for most people with the new WW system, but it does have 1 point per cup for people on the diabetic low carb plan. While not free, it’s still low in points and a healthy option, especially when eaten with protein to keep blood sugar stable.
Weight Watchers Points in Nice Cream
Click here to track your points for the WW plan. (Opens in the WW app.)
This nice cream is zero points for vanilla and 1 point for chocolate.
Nice cream is 0 points. If you are diabetic, this recipe will have points due to the fruit.
10 Nice Cream Flavors
One of the most fun things about nice cream is all the flavor variations! Here are some delicious options to try.
- Basic banana – bananas, 1/2 tsp vanilla (optional).
- Chocolate nice cream recipe – bananas, 2 tsp cocoa powder.
- Chocolate mint nice cream recipe – bananas, 2 tsp cocoa powder, one drop mint extract – don’t use too much!
- Strawberry banana nice cream recipe – bananas, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries.
- Strawberry kiwi nice cream recipe – bananas, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1/4 cup kiwi.
- Tropical nice cream recipe – bananas, 1/2 cup frozen mango or pineapple, 1/2 tsp coconut extract (optional)
- Blueberry banana nice cream recipe – bananas, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries.
- Chocolate peanut butter nice cream recipe – bananas, 2 tsp cocoa powder, 1 T powdered peanut butter (add 1 point).
- Chocolate cherry nice cream recipe – bananas, 2 tsp cocoa powder, 1/2 cup frozen cherries, 1/2 tsp almond extract (optional).
- Kamakazi – Blend any frozen fruits you have on hand and see what delicious flavors you can create.
Can you make nice cream without bananas?
Yes! While the end result won’t be quite as creamy, nice cream can be made with other frozen fruits such as mangos, cherries, and pineapple. I keep bags of frozen fruit on hand for this purpose.
Nice Cream Toppings & Mix-Ins
Here are some of the delicious options you can mix in or sprinkle on top of your nice cream. Personal Points may vary.
- Mini-chocolate chips – 1 T = 3 points. Add some chocolate, need I say more?
- Shredded coconut – 1 T = 2 points. Coconut is especially good on top of tropical nice cream.
- Raspberries – any size serving 0 points. While raspberries can be blended into your nice cream, you’ll end up with a “seedy” result so I prefer to add them on top.
- Extracts – 1/2 tsp = 0 points. Try a variety of extracts like coconut, almond, vanilla, and mint extract for new ice cream flavors.
- Sliced or chopped nuts – 1T = 2-3 points
- Cocoa powder – 2 tsp = 0 points
- Peanut butter – 1 T = 3 points. Mix in while blending or swirl on top.
- PB2 – powdered peanut butter. 1 T = 1 point.
- Light cream cheese – 1 T = 1 point. This makes your nice cream extra creamy like ice cream.
- Flax, chia, or hemp seeds – 1 T = 1-2 points.
- Dates – 1 ounce = 5 points . Make your nice cream extra sweet with adding a chopped date.
- No-calorie sweetener – 0 points. Add sweetener of your choice, such as stevia.
- Honey or maple syrup – 1 tsp = 1 point.
- Sugar-free hot chocolate mix – 1-3 points per packet. My kids love this variation.
- Crystal light or other drink mix packet – 0 points. You can really have fun with more flavor varieties with these.
- Sugar-free jello or pudding mix – 1 T = 1 point. Again, this is a great way to add many flavors and the pudding mix adds extra thickness.
Nice Cream Blenders and Makers
What’s the best blender or nice cream maker for your delicious dessert? Here are some options.
Vitamix
A Vitamix is the grand champion of blenders and works amazingly well for making nice cream.
Yonanas
Yonanans is a healthy fruit soft-serve maker designed especially for making nice cream. With a Yonanas, you don’t have to add extra milk. I don’t have one yet but have considered investing in one.
Ninja
The Ninja is the blender that I have and use to make my nice cream recipes. While not as powerful as a Vitamix, it’s still a powerful blender that works great. I like that this Ninja comes with personal-size cups, too.
Basic Kitchen Blender
Any basic kitchen blender will work to make banana ice cream with frozen fruit, but you might need to add more milk so you’ll have a softer consistency that’s more like a smoothie. If this happens, simply stick it in the freezer for a couple minutes before eating.
NutriBullet
A NutriBullet or other personal-size blender works fine for making banana nice cream. Because it’s not as powerful, you might need to add a bit of milk to get it to blend properly.
Mix by Hand
Can nice cream be made without a blender? Yes. If you have a hand mixer, you can use it to blend the frozen bananas with a bit of almond milk.
You can also simply use a fork and spoon to make banana ice cream by hand. Allow frozen bananas to thaw slightly or reheat for 10 seconds in microwave, then mash with a fork until it comes to a soft consistency. Add a bit of milk to make it more creamy. This won’t be as smooth as a blender version, but it does the trick.
Tips for Making Banana Ice Cream
Here are some helpful tips for making this delicious ww zero point dessert. (Personal Points may vary.)
- Nice cream is best when served fresh, although it can be frozen for later. Once frozen, let it sit on the counter or reheat for 10-15 seconds in the microwave to serve.
- Nice cream has a soft-serve consistency. To make a thicker, richer treat you can add ground flax, chia, or hemp seeds but be sure to add the additional points.
- Nice cream melts very quickly. Add a few small pieces of frozen fruit to the edge of your bowl to keep it cold longer while you eat it. Then eat the frozen fruit for your last couple bites!
- Get kids involved in making their own nice cream and they will gobble it up.
- This can also be served as a cold pudding or smoothie bowl.
- Use very ripe bananas for the sweetest flavor.
- Sweetener is optional. I find that the sweetness of the bananas is enough for me.
- Nice cream is a great recipe for using left-over brown bananas. Simple store in the freezer until you are ready to use them.
How to Make WW Frozen Banana Ice Cream
With just a few simple steps, you can have this delicious dessert that is low in calories and full of nutrition. This banana dessert is perfect for vegan, vegetarian, and Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) lifestyles, too.
Gather ingredients. More ripe bananas will yield a sweeter ice cream. Remember that bananas need to freeze for at least one hour before making this nice cream.
Sweetener is optional.
Depending on the strength of your blender, chop or slice bananas into small pieces. If you have a strong blender like a Ninja or Vitamix, you can freeze bananas whole or in large chunks.
I have a Ninja and typically just break the bananas apart with my hands.
When you are ready for dessert, place bananas in blender.
Add additional ingredients and flavorings to blender.
Blend. If mixture won’t mix or is too dry, add almond milk in small amounts until ice cream reaches desired consistency. Don’t add the almond milk all at once or you will end up with a smoothie instead of an ice cream treat. You may not need all the almond milk.
Now you are ready to enjoy!
Weight Watchers Zero Point Banana Nice Cream
Ingredients
- 3 bananas frozen
- 3 T cocoa powder unsweetened
- 1 T honey or agave, Splenda, Truvia, etc., optional
- 1/2 cup Unsweetened Almond Breeze or milk of choice (You won't need it all.)
Instructions
- Cut bananas into chunks and freeze for at least 1 hour.
- Blend all ingredients in blender or food processor.
- Serve immediately.
WW Information
Notes
Nutrition
Enjoy a flavorful bowl of banana ice cream anytime you want a treat without adding points. For zero ww points, this one dessert you will want to eat often.
What’s your favorite nice cream flavor? Share in the comments below.
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You might want to add the Ninja Creami to your list of small appliances to make the nice creams! Their sorbet setting is perfect for these, and they have a mix-in setting too!
I bought my Ninja Creami last year and mainly make sorbets or frozen yogurt!
WW website states that 1 medium banana is 3 points.
Hi Joanne, For people on the regular WW plan, bananas are zero points except when blended into a drink. For people on the diabetic plan, fruit has points.