When it comes to ice cream, my mom calls me her “strip miner”.

Because whenever she brings home any kind of ice cream with brownie chunks, cookie dough balls, or crushed up Oreo’s, I’ll simply dig through the carton, picking out all the chunks, and leave the rest of the ice cream behind.

And once I’ve eaten all the cookie dough out of the cookie dough ice cream, leaving a half-melted mess behind, I’ll return to the freezer a couple days later and exclaim: “Who ate all of the cookie dough!?”

Coincidentally, I also have selective memory loss regarding my strip mining exploits.

Which is why there’s something perfect about making your own Chocolate Brownie Fudge Ice Cream.

Because if you’re like me, and tend to eat all of the brownie bites out of the brownie fudge ice cream, leaving plain ole chocolate ice cream behind, then you can simply choose to make just the brownie bites from this recipe and save yourself the trouble of strip mining altogether!

Or, if you typically enjoy your ice cream like a normal person, then you can make this decadent recipe and enjoy it just as it is: decadent chocolate ice cream with fudgy brownie bites mixed throughout!

It’s probably not hard to guess that my favorite part of this recipe is this brownie bites. When I set out to create the perfect brownie fudge recipe, I had a few things in mind: richness, chocolate, and sweetness. And by combining decadent (yet all natural!) peanut butter, cocoa powder, and stevia, I managed to create a much healthier version of any brownie fudge you could scoop out of a carton!

Ever had Edy’s Double Fudge Brownie ice cream? This recipe is just like that, but exponentially healthier. Need I remind you that this recipe doesn’t include any sugar, heavy cream, or high fructose corn syrup?

There’s no need for strip mining with something this good!

Chocolate Brownie Fudge Ice Cream

Ice Cream

• 1 1/2 medium bananas, sliced and frozen
• 1/2 tbs cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Brownie Fudge

• 1 tbs peanut butter
• 1 tbs cocoa powder
• 1 tbs stevia (or sugar, other granulated sweetener of choice)
• drop of vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp water
• pinch of sea salt

If you haven’t already, slice bananas and freeze in a Tupperware or plastic bag for a few hours, or until completely frozen.

Make the brownie fudge first. Add peanut butter, cocoa powder, stevia, salt, and vanilla to a small bowl and stir until the consistency of bread crumbs has been reached. Add water and stir until batter sticks together. Scoop out onto a cutting board and press into a square shape, about 1 cm thick. Slice into brownie bites.

Place frozen banana slices in a food processor or Vitamix. Add cocoa powder and vanilla and process until smooth. Scoop into a bowl and add brownie bites, folding in slowly. Serve and enjoy!

Nutrition information: (calculated using MyFitnessPal)

Calories: 143

Fat: 5g

Carbs: 26g

Protein: 4g

(Yields 2 servings)