Blueberry Mint Nice Cream

Why I love this recipe

Everyone has a favorite berry, don’t they? For my guy, it’s raspberries. Which I also love. But blueberries, for me, will win every time.

So, once I had perfected the raspberry nice cream, I knew I needed to make a blueberry version. Just as before, I use frozen berries which is so much more affordable and convenient. No worries about any extra berries getting over ripe!

The fresh mint just makes it all work. I grow a mint plant every year in a pot on my patio. I’m always happy to find a use for it (besides the obvious Mojito, of course. LOL)

Ingredients

How to make blueberry mint nice cream

Prep the bananas

Start with bananas. This recipe only needs 2 ripe bananas, which I peel, chunk up, and freeze for at least 4 hours. If left overnight to freeze, they should be taken out to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before processing.

Make the nice cream

I use a food processor to make my nice cream. I do not own a Vitamix or other high-powered blender, so I was delighted that I could develop a way to make this delicious frozen treat using a full sized food processor.

Place the (mostly) frozen bananas in the food processor and pulse a few times to break up the chunks. Then, add the blueberries and mint and pulse some more.

If the fruit is really frozen

I have found that with this recipe in particular, the volume of frozen fruit really makes it tough to get it to break up into a smooth processed mixture. It’s probably because frozen blueberries are just like little ice cubes.

So I usually will end up removing about a third of the mixture, place it in a bowl, and then microwave it for 15 seconds.

Do not exceed the 15 seconds, as you do not want the fruit to get hot, just less cold, if that makes sense.

Add the fruit in the bowl back to the food processor and then pulse again. You will find that the mixture will start to mix much better now.

Stop and scrape the sides as needed and break up any large chunks that form. If you re-distribute this a little it helps the mixture process much more smoothly.

Within minutes, you will have a bright and beautiful mix of creamy nice cream. This could be served right away as soft serve, but I like to put it in the freezer and scoop it up for dessert later.

If left in the freezer overnight, the nice cream might seem a little hard, but leaving it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes is usually enough to make it scoopable. I use this time to clear the dishes and load them in the dishwasher, so it’s not like you have to just stare at the container of nice cream for 5 minutes LOL.

Expert Tips/FAQ

What is nice cream?Nice cream is defined by what it is NOT: no dairy, and preferably no added sugar. Some recipes use oat milk or almond milk for additional liquid, but I prefer it without any milk.

Why is it called “nice” cream?This delicious treat is very much like eating ice cream, but it is nicer in so many ways! Since the only ingredients are fruit, it is vegan. It contains no dairy, which makes it easier to digest. How often can you eat ice cream made of just whole fruit? Healthy and guilt free!

Does this nice cream taste like banana?It was surprising to me that I didn’t taste more banana. The banana taste is there, but the blueberry and mint flavor is much stronger. Any fan of blueberries will love it!

Will this nice cream get super-hard when placed in the freezer?I’ve tried several variations of nice cream recipes, some of which add a little almond milk or oat milk to help process the frozen fruit. In my experience the additional liquid causes the nice cream to freeze super hard. This recipe, which does not add any liquid, is still scoopable even after freezing overnight.

Adding extra blueberries will also increase the “liquid” and therefore make the nice cream icier and hard to scoop. I have not found the taste to be significantly better when I do this, which is why I stick with the 2 cups of berries listed.

More delicious desserts for summer

• Chocolate Nice Cream
• Frozen S’mores Pie
• Lemonade Pie
• Creamsicle Pie
• Smoothie popsicles