This fun recipe for “faux” yo a three-ingredient creamy, healthy take on frozen yogurt featuring bananas, a swirl of creamy peanut butter and a sprinkle of dark chocolate chips.
Who says you can’t have dessert when you’re focusing on eating whole, extra-healthy foods? Thanks to our lovely, versatile friend the banana, we have options, like this Banana, Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate Chip “Faux”-Yo (cue happy dance.)
But first, how was everyone’s Fourth of July? What did you do? Where did you go? Most importantly, what did you eat and drink? I had quite the action-packed holiday, starting with some great games of beach volleyball and ending with a stunning fireworks show over the Santa Barbara Harbor. I tell ya, though, I feel like I need another weekend just to recover from this last one! I’m very much looking forward to a quiet evening of wedding planning at home with my man. We’re making a healthy dinner of grilled chicken, tomatoes and zoodles (the best!) and I’ll most likely be digging into some of this Banana, Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate Chip “Faux”-Yo for dessert.
So, do you want to hear all about it? Well, I’m sure you’ve already heard ALL about the banana ice cream phenomenon, as it seems to be the new wonder child in the healthy dessert world. The thing is, it’s soooooo easy and I often find myself wondering how there are soooo many recipes for this one-ingredient dessert taking over the Interwebs. I mean, c’mon, do you really need a recipe for putting a bunch of frozen bananas in a blender and whirring them together?
Hence why I took it upon myself to jazz this super-simple treat up a bit. Looking back through my recipe archives, I guess it’s no secret that I absolutely LOVE peanut butter. Take, for example, this Peanut Butter & Jelly Pull-Apart Bread, these Summer Rolls with Red Curry Peanut-Pumpkin Dipping Sauce and these Thai Chicken Burritos.
Although I’ve branched out a bit and now dabble in other types of nut butters, peanut butter has been my OG for as long as I can remember. And, well, we all know that peanut butter and bananas are a match made in heaven, so of course I had to get these two together in my “faux”-yo. And you can’t ignore the fact that every dessert needs chocolate, so we’ll just make this as healthy as possible by using the darkest chocolate chips we can find.
This recipe takes just a little bit of planning, but maybe not if you’re a hoarder of bananas like we are in our household. We go through tons of bananas each week for our morning smoothies, but sometimes we have just a few leftover once we hit the weekend (at which time breakfasts must consist of bacon, eggs and avocado), or we find ourselves leaving on a trip and know they’ll be stinking up the house when we get back if we don’t do anything with them. It’s times like these when we simply chop up said bananas, toss them in a Ziploc or Tupperware, and pop them in the freezer. The frozen bananas are key here.
You’ll want at least 6-8 bananas in your freezer stash before you try and make this uber-delicious, not so guilt-inducing Banana, Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate Chip “Faux”-Yo. Once frozen, you simply toss the bananas into a food processor, add the peanut butter, and let said food processor do its thang. Pretty soon, you’ll see the creamy deliciousness of the “faux”-yo forming and you’ll want to dig in right then and there with a spoon….BUT WAIT!!
Now’s the time to stir in the dark chocolate chips. Can’t forget those! We gently mix in our “Vitamin C” (as my Dad so fondly calls them) and then, just then, can we dig in with our spoon in front of our favorite reality TV show. Sound like a plan?
Aside from the freezing of the bananas, this Banana, Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate Chip “Faux”-Yo takes just minutes to make and has just three ingredients. Win-win! It’s the perfect, easy, vegan(!), healthy dessert to whip up when you need just a little something sweet but don’t want to derail your whole healthy eating plan. So start freezing your bananas and get your food processor ready – once you start “faux”-yo-ing you won’t want to go back!
Banana, Peanut Butter, Dark Chocolate Chip “Faux”-Yo
Ingredients
- 8 bananas chopped up and frozen
- 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Place frozen bananas and peanut butter in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse food processor until the banana breaks down and a creamy mixture forms.
- Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in chocolate chips. Enjoy immediately (or see Notes.)
Notes
- If not serving immediately, you can store the “faux”-yo in the freezer, just know that the banana might turn slightly brown and will start to refreeze. Whenever you’re ready to dig in again, just take the “faux”-yo out of the freezer a few minutes in advance so it can start to soften up again.
- For an extra-special treat, top your "faux"-yo with a drizzle of peanut butter that's been heated up slightly.
Nutrition
I’m “faux”-yo-ing and might never be coming back!
This post contains affiliate links. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
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