Maple-Roasted Banana Ice Cream (Dairy Free!)

I didn't realize how long it had been since I'd stopped eating dairy till I checked some of my older blog posts, and apparently it's been since the summer of 2010. Ice cream was one of my biggest losses. I love sorbets and I've tried soy and coconut milk ice creams, but they all have an icy quality instead of that nice thick creamy consistency. It wasn't till last month, on my trip to Vienna, that I had a vegan gelato that could have fooled anyone into thinking it had cream in it. 

Apparently the trick to getting "creamy" ice cream is the fat content. I know that sounds obvious, but take away the cream and what can you add? The secret is olive oil. The recipe I used asks for 2 Tbsp of light olive oil, so if you're worried about it flavoring your ice cream, don't be.

I found this excellent recipe on the blog Gluten Free Goddess. She adapted it from David Lebovitz's recipe from The Perfect Scoop.

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Ingredients:

6 ripe bananas
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons light olive oil (this adds fat lacking in most non-dairy milks)
2 tablespoons organic golden brown sugar
1 cup coconut milk, soy or nut milk
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rum

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Peel and slice the bananas, toss them into a baking pan. Pour the maple syrup and olive oil all over the bananas. Sprinkle on the brown sugar. Stir to coat.

Bake in the center of the oven till soft, stirring once during roasting. They should be ready in roughly 35 to 40 minutes.

Scoop the roasted bananas and syrup into a Vita-Mix, food processor, or blender. Add the non-dairy milk, xanthan gum, sea salt, vanilla, and rum.

Blend till smooth. Chill the mixture. This is important.

When the banana mixture is good and cold dump it into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions for churning ice cream. This is the ice cream maker I use.

Makes roughly 6 servings.
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I added heath bar bits for a bit of crunch. My photo up top isn't the greatest example since I defrosted my ice cream a bit too much, so it was a bit melted. But trust me, it's delicious.