Cherry Chocolate Chip Nice Cream is dairy-free and vegan, with a creamy banana and cashew butter base, and loaded with sweet cherries and dark chocolate chips. You need just six ingredients to make this no-churn cherry nice cream!
If you’re new around here, hi, my name is Leanne, and I’m obsessed with nice cream! Summer or winter, it doesn’t matter. There are always frozen bananas waiting in my freezer to be whipped into some flavour of nice cream!
While my favourite flavour is chocolate peanut butter, this time of year, it’s all about the cherries. The season is short, so you really need to enjoy them in whatever way possible! And cherry chocolate chip nice cream is a delicious way to indulge in nature’s candy!
What is nice cream?
I’ve explained it on the blog before, but if you aren’t sure, nice cream is just frozen bananas, blended up with your choice of dairy-free milk, maple syrup, fruit, cocoa, herbs, spices, extracts and/or nut butters. It’s an ice cream alternative for those who are vegan or have difficulty digesting dairy, or in particular, dairy ice cream. You can enjoy it as soft serve or freeze it so it resembles the texture of hard serve ice cream. Or you can pour it into popsicle molds and enjoy it as nice cream pops.
While I usually go for nice cream pops, because they make a quick grab n’ go treat, today I’m serving up some hard serve nice cream.
So grab your bowl and spoon, and I’ll quickly run through how to make this banana ice cream!
Ingredients to make cherry chocolate chip nice cream
- Bananas, sliced and frozen
- Cherries, pitted and halved, fresh or frozen
- Cashew butter (for added creamy texture)
- Maple syrup (for added sweetness)
- Almond extract (for some extra flavour)
- Vegan dark chocolate chips
How to make cherry nice cream
- Start by slicing and freezing your bananas. This will create the creamiest nice cream texture. I usually freeze the cherries too, but you can also use fresh. Just make sure they are pitted and halved.
- Add the frozen bananas to a high-powered food processor or blender, along with the cashew butter, maple syrup and almond extract, and blend on high until a creamy texture forms. This will take a few minutes, and you will need to stop a few times to scrape down the sides and loosen up the mixture.
- It may look like it needs more liquid in order to start blending together, but resist the urge. The more liquid you add, the icier your nice cream will get, and you want the creamiest texture possible.
- Once the mixture is thick and creamy, add the cherries, and blend/process until they are well incorporated but little pieces still remain. Next, add in the dark chocolate chips, and pulse until they are broken apart. Don’t worry if some full chips still remain. Just don’t blend/process the mixture too much or it will get too soft and runny.
- At this point, you can serve the nice cream as soft serve, or pour it into a loaf pan and place in the freezer for 3-4 hours to set up as hard serve.
Some tips for making this vegan cherry ice cream
- You will definitely need a high-powered blender or food processor to blend up the frozen bananas. If your blender or food processor is less powerful, you can add a little bit more liquid, but keep in mind this will impact the creaminess of the nice cream.
- For the best taste and texture nice cream, I like to use bananas that are firm and ripe. If they are not quite ripe, the nice cream will taste too much like bananas, and if they are overripe, the nice cream will lose some of its creamy texture.
- You can use fresh or frozen cherries. I’ve used both with the same results. The only difference is that you will need to freeze the nice cream for a little longer if you use fresh cherries.
- I like to use cashew butter as it adds extra creaminess without having an overpowering taste, but you can use another nut butter of choice.
- To keep this nice cream vegan and dairy-free, use vegan dark chocolate chips.
- If the nice cream gets too hard in the freezer, just let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before scooping up and serving.
Some other banana-based ice creams you might like:
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Mocha Nice Cream Pops (you only need six ingredients, and they remind me of a fudgsicle!)
- Raspberry Chocolate Chip Nice Cream Pops (these easy pops are a fun summer treat with a secret ingredient!)
- Orange Pineapple Nice Cream Pops (with just five ingredients, these taste like orange pineapple ice cream!)
- Peanut Butter Nutella Banana Ice Cream (from my friend Dawn at Girl Heart Food)
If you make this Cherry Chocolate Chip Nice Cream, I would love to hear what you think in the comments below!
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Cherry Chocolate Chip Nice Cream (Vegan)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Blend, Freeze
- Cuisine: Vegan
Description
Cherry Chocolate Chip Nice Cream is dairy-free and vegan, with a creamy banana and cashew butter base, and loaded with sweet cherries and dark chocolate chips. You need just six ingredients to make this no-churn frozen summer treat!
Ingredients
- 4 large bananas (firm and ripe), sliced and frozen
- 1/4 cup cashew butter
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups cherries (pitted and halved), fresh or frozen
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips, vegan
Instructions
- Add the frozen bananas to a high-powered food processor or blender, along with the cashew butter, maple syrup and almond extract, and blend on high until thick and creamy. This will take a few minutes, and you will need to stop a few times to scrape down the sides to loosen the mixture.
- Add the cherries, and blend/process until well incorporated but little pieces still remain. Add in the chocolate chips, and pulse until they are broken apart.
- Pour into a loaf pan, or container with a lid. Cover and place in the freezer to set for 3-4 hours.
Notes
- I recommend a high-powered blender or food processor to blend up the frozen bananas. If your blender or food processor is less powerful, you can add a little bit more liquid, but keep in mind this will impact the creaminess of the nice cream.
- For the best taste and texture, I like to use bananas that are firm and ripe. If they are not quite ripe, the nice cream will taste too much like bananas, and if they are overripe, the nice cream will not be as creamy.
- You can use fresh or frozen cherries. I’ve used both with the same results. The only difference is that you will need to freeze the nice cream for a little longer if you use fresh cherries.
- I like to use cashew butter as it adds extra creaminess without having an overpowering taste, but you can use another nut butter of choice.
- To keep this nice cream vegan and dairy-free, use vegan dark chocolate chips.
- If the nice cream gets too hard in the freezer, just let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before serving.
Keywords: banana ice cream, vegan ice cream
I love that this nice cream recipe doesn’t require and churning time or an ice cream maker to come together. Cherry and chocolate are such a winning combination and this nice cream is a perfect example of that match made in heaven.
★★★★★
Thanks Yvonne! I’m a huge fan of chocolate and cherries too!
Delicious! We live in cherry country and we are all about the cherries at this time of year. So this recipe is perfect timing. Can’t wait to try it.
★★★★★
Thanks Colleen! I’m so jealous! I would love to live in your part of country with all the fresh cherries!
The flavour combo of this ice cream is perfect! Such a lovely treat for a hot summer day (and we have had sooo many here in Winnipeg!)
★★★★★
Thanks Marieke! Definitely a nice warm weather treat!
Oh wow Leanne, this is absolutely amazing. I normally just make chocolate banana nice cream but this is another level. Who needs ice cream when you can just eat this! LOVE IT
★★★★★
Thanks Philip! I love chocolate banana nice cream too, but this one is a nice change and a great way to enjoy fresh cherries while we can!
With a tray full of sliced frozen bananas in my freezer, I’m ready to go! You already know that I’m a fan of that chocolate-cherry combination. Beautiful photos, delicious recipe! Thanks.
★★★★★
Thanks Elaine! It was meant to be!
I have never ever tried Nice Cream! This one looks and sounds delicious! I love the no churn idea. Last summer I was gifted a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. Well, it’s second hand and needs fixing and is still living in the closet. Maybe next summer my husband will get around to fixing it….lol
★★★★
Thanks Julia! If your ice cream maker isn’t working, sounds like you were meant to give nice cream a try! 😉
This nice cream looks super creamy and delicious. I just adore the flavour combo and the colour the cherries give too.
★★★★★
Thanks so much Marie!
This looks and sounds fabulous and I love that it’s dairy free!
Thanks Marisa!
I feel refreshed from the heat just looking at it! I’m all about the cherries right now and I’m loving it with the chocolate chips. Perfect combination 🙂
★★★★★
Thanks Jennifer! Hope you’re getting a break from the heat! Loving all the cherries lately too!
Leanne, I always am obsessed with your nice cream recipes!!! This one in particular is beautiful! That pink color is gorgeous! And when you add chocolate with cherry – you can count me in! YUM! Great texture too!
★★★★★
Thanks Haylie! So glad you like my nice cream recipes. I eat them all the time, so I’m happy to share the new combos I create!
This sounds SO GOOD! It’s boiling hot right now (and yet I’m drinking hot coffee anyway) so I’d love a couple scoops of this. And the color is gorgeous!
★★★★★
Haha! Gotta have a cup of coffee no matter what the temperature is! Thanks Kelsie! And feel free to send some of that heat this way!
This is my kind of ice cream! The cherries and chocolate are so perfect for this time of year and I just bought a whole bunch! I see a batch of this in my future. 🙂
★★★★★
Yay! I hope you like it. After all my recipe testing, I’m happy I have a few batches stashed in the freezer! Thanks Marcie!
Wow, Leanne! Your photos are stunning! Cherry chip was always my favorite flavor of cake growing up. Such a great idea to turn it into nice cream!!! I’ve been stocking up on frozen bananas these days so I can try out all of your nice cream recipes! Can’t wait to try this one! Hope you’re having a great weekend 😘
★★★★★
You’ll have to let me know which one of my nice cream flavours is your favourite! And thanks so much. I was really happy with the way these photos turned out. Ice cream can be tricky at times!
Lucky for me, I just restocked our freezer bananas, lol, so this nice cream is perfect timing! I’m always so amazed how creamy it turns out and this cherry chocolate situation goin’ on is delicious! I could eat cherries by the handful! They’re super special because they’re SO seasonal so we gotta enjoy ’em while we can 🙂 Wish I hand a few scoops of this right about now! Thank you so very much for the peanut butter nice cream shout out – appreciate it!!! XO Happy Sunday, Leanne!
★★★★★
Thanks Dawn! I totally agree – cherries are special. From June to August I will buy them every time I see them. It gets a bit pricey but I just can’t help myself! Hope you had a fabulous weekend!
I didn’t know vegan ice cream could look so good! another great summer recipe.
Pictures look incredible
★★★★★
You’re too sweet Terry! Thank you 🙂