Banana-damia Mania {a GF/DF recipe}

Happy Monday Everyone! While the rest of the blog world is sharing recipes with warm cinnamon, apples and pumpkin, I'm going to go in a completely different direction with today's recipe. I think I did this last year too...I think I'm just in a bit of denial of the oncoming frigid winter. It's not that I don't LOVE all things fall... I just like to soak up as much summer as I can, even if it's just in the kitchen! 

Last year I shared my Hawaiian Meatballs in preparation for my October vacation to the islands with my sister. Well, now that's it's been a WHOLE YEAR since then (WHAT?!) I'm feeling the itch for some Hawaiian love again. In comes my Banana-damia Mania Ice Cream. I mean - anytime of the year is a good time for ice cream, and this version is especially island-inspired. 

If you've ever been to Hawaii you've probably come home with a box (or in my case, a suitcase full of boxes) of these gems. 

photo source: www.abcstores.com

They are always the best thing to bring back to your family or office to just rub in the fact that you just spent a week under the Hawaiian sun. Well that, and sporting a glowing tan. My favorite version is the "CaraMacs". You can't go wrong with caramel, chocolate and macadamia nuts! And that, my friends is the inspiration behind today's ice cream flavor. This stuff is seriously SO GOOD...you won't even realize that it's not really ice cream! Not to mention it's a great alternative if you are dairy free! 

Ingredients

2-2.5 cups of sliced, frozen bananas
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (for dairy free I use Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips)
1/2 cup macadamia nuts roughly chopped
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Caramel syrup of choice

How to make the ice cream

This recipe is seriously SO SIMPLE. I barely need to write the instructions...but I will. Just for you! 

Take your frozen bananas and put them in a food processor or a high powered blender. Do this while they are still frozen, don't let them thaw out! Add the vanilla and pulse and blend until the consistency is pretty smooth. Mine didn't get totally smooth, but that's ok. You will be able to blend it more in a minute. 

Transfer the banana and vanilla mixture to a bowl where you will dump in your chocolate chips.

Give your macadamia nuts a rough chop (I feel like I'm on the Food Network when I say things like "rough chop" hehe). And add them to the bananas and chocolate chips. 

Using a spatula start mashing and mixing your toppings into the ice cream. It kind of reminded me of getting ice cream at Cold Stone. As you mix and mash the consistency will get even creamier and your chocolate and nuts should be evenly distributed. 

Finally, drizzle the caramel sauce all over the ice cream and give it another quick mix. I didn't mix it a lot, because I like to see a caramel swirl!

Serve in a fancy bowl and top with a little extra caramel and chocolate. 

If you manage to have some leftover, store in a covered pyrex bowl in the freezer. It won't last long there though...because this is basically just bananas (right?!) I usually have seconds without ANY guilt!! 

Ok...let's go to Hawaii now! 

How about you?

What are your favorite Hawaiian flavors? 
If you make this - don't forget to post a pic on Instagram and tag me! @homefieldfitlys