DIY Friday | Healthy Peach Ice Cream

The only thing more summery than ice cream is a ripe peach. Don’t you agree? And so, peach ice cream is a must-enjoy in the summer. I have vivid memories of turning the crank on an old-school ice cream maker until my arms were tired and then asking “Is it ready yet? Is it ready yet?” while someone else cranked the ice cream until it was finished. Peach was my mother’s go-to favorite. This version is delicious too, with all the sweet goodness that comes along with summer peaches that drip juice to your elbows. But without the cream and sugar, you can call this healthy. Plus, you don’t even need an ice cream maker or mega muscles to crank.

Here’s what you will need.
3 peaches, the riper the better
3 bananas
1/2 cup lowfat yogurt
skim milk, just a little bit

Peel and slice your bananas and then peel and chop your peaches. If you’ve never peeled a peach, here’s a super easy way to do it. With a sharp knife, score an X in the bottom of your peach. (See the photo below.) Then boil the fruit for 30 to 45 seconds. Pull the peach out of the water, let it cool, and the skins should slide right off. Magic, right? The riper the peach, the easier the skin will come off too, so if you have a stubborn peach, then put it back in the water for another 30 seconds or so.

Now put all your fruit pieces into the freezer until they are frozen solid, at least 2 to 4 hours.

When your fruit is frozen, use a blender to puree it. It’s not as easy as it sounds, so here are some tips I used. If you break the peaches and bananas up into their individual pieces, rather than putting a brick of peach into your blender, this will go easier. The peaches were especially hard to separate once they were frozen, so I soaked them (in the zip lock bag) in warm water for a few minutes. This is also where I used the skim milk. If you put a splash of milk in, it makes the blending much more productive.

Once your peaches and bananas are blended, add the yogurt and blend more until it’s all smooth and a lovely shade of, well, peach. The ice cream will have the same consistency as unfrozen yogurt, so pour it all into a freezer-proof container and put it back into the freezer to harden up.

When it’s frozen, your ice cream is ready. Yum. Scoop it with an ice cream scooper. (If it’s too solid and hard to scoop, let it sit out for a few minutes and try again.) This ice cream would be good in a bowl or on a cone. It’s not super creamy like traditional ice cream, but with such simple and healthy ingredients and method, you can’t beat a summer treat like this.