Kids’ Chocolate Ice Cream Smoothie Bowl

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Let’s face it, getting most kids to eat their fruits and veggies isn’t always easy.

And it makes sense… With so many tastier options out there, it’s no surprise that things like carrot sticks and kale are low on the list of foods kids want to eat.

But what if you could take fruits like bananas and cherries and veggies like kale and carrots and turn them into an “ice cream” that kids will love?

Well, believe it or not, you can!

I’ve been making this chocolate ice cream smoothie bowl as a dessert for myself for the past year but hadn’t tested it on any kids until recently.

A few weeks ago, I was babysitting my younger cousin, who is a notoriously picky eater. That night, I had prepared a veggie stir fry for our family dinner and he was quite insistent on picking out all the veggies.

After dinner, I figured I’d make this healthy dessert for myself and see if I could “trick” him into eating it.

To be fair, there wasn’t much tricking involved. I just told him it was chocolate ice cream and didn’t mention the kale or carrots that were conveniently blended into it until afterwards. At that point, he didn’t care because he enjoyed eating it so much!

If my little cousin liked this recipe, I figured I had to share it with other parents who struggle to get their kids to eat their fruits and veggies.

To make it come out like thick ice cream, it does require that you have a powerful blender that can crush ice and frozen fruit (any from this guide will work).

But if you don’t have a powerful blender, you can still enjoy this recipe with the following modifications – although it will be more like a thick milkshake than ice cream.

1. First, you’ll have to add a bit more liquid. The more liquid you add, the easier things tend to blend.
2. Second, you can thaw the frozen fruit for around 5-7 minutes. It will still have a thick texture, but it will be much easier to blend.
3. Cut all the fruits and veggies into smaller pieces to make them easier to blend.

With these steps, you’ll be able to create a version of the recipe that’s less thick – a suitable alternative when you’re working with a less powerful, smaller model blender.

It’s still great to drink with a straw, but not ideal for spoon-eating!

Ingredients

1 frozen banana

1 cup frozen dark cherries

1 cup chopped kale (frozen or fresh)

½ cup frozen carrots

¼ cup cocoa powder

Just enough unsweetened non-dairy milk (almond, cashew, soy, coconut) to blend

A few dark chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Add all of the non-liquid ingredients to the blender with the greens on the top.
2. For maximum thickness, add a small splash of the milk and blend. The more liquid you add, the less it becomes like ice cream and the more it becomes like a smoothie or chocolate milkshake. Either can be fine, depending on your child’s preferences.
3. If you’ve got a blender with a tamper, you can use that to push the ingredients down into the blades, which will keep the ingredients collapsing on each other and form a soft serve (see photo below). If not, you’ll probably have to stop blending and readjust the ingredients, as they will be stuck to the sides and not hitting the blades.
4. Repeat this process until you’ve formed a vortex and the ingredients look like chocolate soft serve.
5. Garnish with a few super dark chocolate chips if you’d like to make it extra special.
6. If you’d prefer to stay away from the chocolate chips, you can use oatmeal and fresh banana slices like in this smoothie bowl for extra texture.

There you have it! I truly hope you found this recipe useful and decide to go try it with your kids. It might just be the magic ticket to get them to eat (and enjoy!) their fruits and veggies.

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