Healthy Chunky Monkey Ice Cream

If you love Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream you are going to love this easy and healthy version that you can make at home. It only has a few simple ingredients and you can make in a blender. This healthy chunky monkey ice cream recipe is a blend of creamy banana ice cream, chocolate chips and walnuts just like the original. It is the perfect sweet treat to make this summer. 

You might also like this 5 minute keto blueberry ice cream recipe!

I have always been a big fan of Ben & Jerry ice creams and today I thought I’d make this healthy chunky monkey ice cream recipe to lighten it up a bit and as I’m usually on a low carb diet.

This recipe only needs a few simple ingredients and you can make it in your blender. It’s a healthy yet creamy banana ice cream loaded with walnuts and chocolate.

The frozen bananas give it a nice creamy texture so you can use less heavy cream. I’ve made this in both a blender and a Dash pint ice cream maker with good results!

What is chunky monkey ice cream?

Ben & Jerry’s Chunky monkey is a banana ice cream with chocolate fudge chunks and walnuts. It’s meant to be “chunky” and therefore full of big pieces of both mix in ingredients.

How I made my healthier version.

I made this nice cream recipe healthier by using frozen bananas, almond milk and a bit of heavy cream. The regular version uses much more cream. I also lighten it up by using sugar free chocolate chips instead of the fudge and vanilla stevia instead of white sugar.

All of these changes helps you save 70 calories, 0.8g fat, 17.8 g net carbs, and 27.5g sugar per 6 ounce serving.

If you want to add a bit of protein to this recipe, you can also use a scoop of vanilla protein powder. I like Isopure zero carb Vanilla creme protein powder as it has less calories and carbs and I like the taste.

Healthy ice cream ingredients I used.

The healthy ingredients I used to make this yummy dessert was frozen bananas, unsweetened almond milk, heavy whipping cream, vanilla stevia (liquid), raw walnuts and Lily’s chocolate chips. I used medium ripe bananas by the way.

You need to freeze the bananas ahead of time so just take a few bananas and chop them into ½ – 1 inch chunks and place them in a small cookie sheet. Freeze over night and you are ready to go the next day. Store any leftover banana pieces in a ziplock bag in the freezer for next time.

I often freeze bananas like this because they are great for making blender ice cream or smoothies. Plus it’s a great way to save them if they are going bad just sitting on your counter.

Originally I made these with dark chocolate chunks that I bought at Aldi. However they were too hard to eat so I opted for this healthier version by using Lily’s no sugar added milk chocolate chips pictured below. They taste just like regular chocolate chips and easier to eat then the big chunks.

I also use vanilla stevia to give it more sweetness instead of using refined sugar. I notice that frozen treats tend to loose some of their sweetness when frozen so I like to make them a bit sweeter than normal and stevia does this.

If you just have regular flavored liquid stevia you can add a bit of vanilla extract too.

How to make healthy chunky monkey ice cream.

Step 1: Add the frozen bananas, heavy cream, almond milk and vanilla stevia drops to a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Note you can also use a food processor. 

If you want it to be thicker you can add a few more banana pieces and if you want it thinner you can add a tablespoon or 2 of almond milk. Taste it to make sure it is sweet enough.

Step 2: Spoon the banana mixture into a bowl and fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips. You can add more or less of the mix ins as you want. (Please scroll down to view printable recipe card.)

My Dash pint ice cream maker.

Above you can see what it looks like. I used it to make my first batch of this healthy chunky monkey.

How much does this recipe make.

This batch made roughly 12 ounces of ice cream. I think it would be reasonable to say that you can get two servings from one batch. Or a pretty large single serving.

I store my homemade ice cream in a freezer safe container like these cute little ice cream tubs pictured below. They hold 6 oz which is the perfect size for single servings which help with portion control.

Other banana ice cream variations to try.

There are so many other flavors you can make with banana “nice” cream. Here are few of my favorite flavor combinations.

• pina colada – use coconut milk or coconut creme instead of the almond milk and cream then add some frozen pineapple chunks
• peanut butter chocolate – add some cocoa powder, chocolate chips and peanut butter
• banana nut bread – add walnuts or pecans, a pinch of cinnamon and use some Swerve brown sugar for the sweetener
• banana strawberry – this is a classic flavor combination and all you need is frozen strawberries but you can also add other berries
• peanut butter and jelly – add any kind of frozen berries and natural peanut butter

Other ice cream recipes to try.

I have quite a few other flavors for you to try. Some are no churn, others are made in the blender. Most of them are low carb and sugar free but you can use regular sugar if you want.

• low carb chocolate soft serve
• chocolate peanut butter
• sugar free black cherry
• caramel butter pecan
• coconut berry
• pumpkin

Well I hope you give this healthy chunky monkey ice cream recipe a try this summer. It’s a healthy snack that will satisfy your sweet tooth and keep you cool. Enjoy!

The nutritional information for 1 serving (6oz) 380 calories / 26.2g fat / 39.1g carbs / 10.3g fiber / 5.5g protein / 14.8g sugar

Nutritional information for regular chunky monkey (6oz) is roughly 450 calories / 27.g fat / 46g carbs / 0g fiber / 6.5g protein / 42.4g sugar

This ice cream saves 70 calories / 0.8g fat / 17.8 g net carbs / 27.5g sugar