Make your own protein ice cream bars using just a handful of ingredients and your favourite whey or plant-based protein powder! They’re super easy to make and healthy too. Customise them with whatever your heart desires and you have the perfect, high-protein summer treat at 16g of protein per pop!
Ice cream is one of the most loved desserts known to mankind. Whether that be a pint of chocolate ice cream, soft serve vanilla ice cream on a sugar cone, a fruity ice lolly on a wooden stick or a creamy decadent fudgesicle. It always fills the pudding gap and satisfies the sweet tooth.
My ice lolly mould is by far the best purchase I have made in a long time. I have been making my own ice creams on a very regular basis since I’ve had this mould, in fact, I now always have ice creams in the freezer.
As I love adding extra protein into my diet wherever I can, I naturally had to create a protein ice cream bar recipe. These popsicles are not just high in protein, but they’re made with just three nourishing ingredients making them the ultimate healthy ice cream recipe.
I’ve tried and tested this recipe a few times now, and I feel I have now accomplished the perfect creamy, protein fudge pop. The fun thing about this recipe is that the variations and possibilities of flavour combinations are pretty much endless as you can use any protein powder flavour you want. You can even dip them in melted chocolate and nuts and you have your own healthy magnum ice cream bars!
The ice cream bars in the images were made using a chocolate peanut protein powder and I dipped them into some dark chocolate and added a sprinkling of peanuts! They were blooming delightful.
If you don’t have an ice cream mould, you can even make the ice cream in a loaf tin and scoop some into a bowl or cone or turn it into protein soft serve!
Ingredients and Substitutions
You will only need three ingredients and a few optional extras to make these protein ice cream bars!
- Bananas: Make sure they are nice and ripe as ripe bananas are a lot sweeter so you don’t have to add any sugar or sweetener! I have made these ice creams with both frozen and unfrozen bananas and the results were honestly no different. So you don’t have to freeze your bananas!
- Coconut Yoghurt: I recommend using Coconut Yoghurt as it doesn’t contain much water, meaning your ice creams will be creamy instead of icy. You can, however, use Soy Yoghurt, Almond Yoghurt or Oat Yoghurt, but they tend to have a base of water. This makes it lower in calories, but your ice creams may be on the icier side. For the creamiest ice creams ever you can use coconut cream. If you don’t need these to be dairy-free or vegan you can use Greek Yoghurt.
- Protein Powder: You can use plant-based protein powder or whey protein and you can use any flavour you want! Preferably you want to use one that actually tastes nice and sweet so that you don’t have to add any extra sweetener.
Variations
Take your protein ice cream bars to the next level:
- Chocolate Peanut: Melt some chocolate (dark, milk or white!) and coat your ice cream once it has frozen to create a chocolate shell then sprinkle on some chopped peanuts.
- Cookies and Cream: Use a vanilla protein powder and add some crushed cookies to your ice cream base before pouring it into moulds!
- Strawberries and Cream: Use a vanilla protein powder and add in some chopped strawberries.
- Bounty: Use a coconut protein powder, dip the ice creams into dark chocolate and sprinkle on some desiccated coconut.
Let me know what other ideas you have in the comments!
Step-by-step Instructions
Easy peasy is what the ice cream bars are!
Step 1: Add your bananas, yoghurt and protein powder to a blender or food processor (image 1).
Step 2: Blend until smooth (image 2). You may have to stop and scrape down the edges if the protein powder is getting stuck. As we are using unfrozen bananas instead of frozen, the blending process is a lot easier. If your blender is having difficulty blending the ingredients, I recommend adding a splash more yoghurt. If you add milk, the ice creams may have an icier consistency.
Step 3: Once blended and smooth, you can add in something crunchy if you like and then pour the mixture into your ice lolly moulds (image 3). If you’re not using moulds, you can pour the mixture into a loaf tin and cover it with some plastic wrap.
Step 4: Freeze for at least two hours but preferably longer. For best results freeze overnight. If you try to remove them and they are not fully frozen, the popsicle stick will come straight out of them.
* If you have any ice cream mixture left over, you can pour it into a bowl (image 4), cover it with plastic wrap and freeze it – you’ll have an extra bowl of protein ice cream!
How to store ice cream bars
Once frozen you can remove the lollies from the mould and place them in a container or simply leave them in the mould and remove them as and when you’re ready to eat them.
They last for up to three months!
FAQ
Here are some frequently asked questions about making protein ice cream bars.
The short answer is yes. You can pour the ice cream into a loaf tin, cover it with plastic wrap and freeze it. It will take longer to freeze than ice cream bars, however. You could also make your own ice lolly moulds. I do recommend buying an ice cream mould, however, as they are so cheap and such a game changer!
No! I have found that using un-frozen bananas does not make much of a difference compared to using frozen bananas. It’s actually quicker and easier to make these ice cream bars using unfrozen bananas.
You can use this recipe to make soft-serve protein ice cream by using frozen bananas instead of unfrozen bananas. Add the ingredients to a blender, blend until smooth and voila!
Ice cream can come out icy instead of creamy if there is too much water in your recipe. This is why I recommend using coconut yoghurt or coconut cream that has a lower water content than other types of yoghurt.
Fill a large bowl with warm water, then submerge the moulds into the water for 20-30 seconds (image 5). This will loosen the ice creams from the moulds, then just wiggle to remove them.
More protein recipes for you to try:
Hey! If you make this recipe, I would love it if you could leave me some feedback and a rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in the comment section at the bottom of the page! Also let me know on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and see your photos!
Homemade Protein Ice Cream Bars
Ingredients
- 3 Medium Bananas around 300g
- ½ cup Coconut Yoghurt see notes for subs
- ¾ cup Protein Powder of choice 80g
Instructions
- Add your ingredients into a blender or food processor.
- Blend until smooth. You may have to stop to scrape down the sides with a spatula. Once blended, taste the mixture. If it's not sweet enough for your liking you can add in a splash of liquid sweetener.
- Add any extras to the mixture, and then pour it into your moulds. Freeze for at least 2 hours or overnight for best results.
Video
Notes
Variations
Take your protein ice cream bars to the next level:- Chocolate Peanut: Melt some chocolate (dark, milk or white!) and coat your ice cream once it has frozen to create a chocolate shell then sprinkle on some chopped peanuts.
- Cookies and Cream: Use a vanilla protein powder and add some crushed cookies to your ice cream base before pouring it into moulds!
- Strawberries and Cream: Use a vanilla protein powder and add in some chopped strawberries.
- Bounty: Use a coconut protein powder, dip the ice creams into dark chocolate and sprinkle on some desiccated coconut.
This is the perfect recipe. Love that you don’t have to use frozen bananas, cant wait to try them