
Vietnamese Coconut and Banana Ice Cream Bars – Kem Chuα»i (Grain Free, Paleo, Dairy Free, Vegan)
This Vietnamese Coconut and Banana Ice Cream Bars recipe is a modern twist to the traditional Vietnamese Kem Chuα»i dessert made with a flattened ripe sugar banana, smothered in sweetened coconut milk and sprinkled with toasted peanuts, then frozen. I grew up with this simple dessert and thought it was about time I made my own healthier version with toasted almonds and sweetened with some maple syrup instead of the refined sugar loaded version. OMG I think this tastes better than the original!
Vietnamese Coconut Banana Ice Cream Bars


Vietnamese Coconut and Banana Ice Cream Bars – Kem Chuα»i (Grain Free, Paleo, Dairy Free, Vegan)
You will need:
- 9 overripe sugar bananas or 4-5 regular bananas (with black spots on the skin, for extra sweetness and creaminess and GAPS approved)
- 500ml coconut milk
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey for GAPS (reduce or replace with an alternate sweetener if desired or try 1 tsp of ground cinnamon instead)
- 1/3 cup toasted almonds (I made maple roasted almonds as an extra treat by placing raw almonds in the pan with a tablespoon of maple syrup until the maple syrup gets sticky)
Method:
- Slice peeled bananas lengthways and layer them on top of each other in a loaf tin or a single layer in a slice tin
- Mix coconut milk with sweetener of choice and pour in tin
- Place in the freezer for 90 minutes until almost set
- Roughly chop almonds and set aside, for an extra treat place the almonds in a pan on medium heat with 1 tbsp maple syrup until slightly sticky and set aside on baking paper to cool, then roughly chop
- Remove tin from freezer after 90 minutes and scatter the almonds on top, return to freezer for another 2 hours or over night
- To serve, loosen the coconut banana ice cream bar from the edges and remove from tin
- Slice and serve frozen
- Store remaining coconut banana ice cream bars in an airtight container and consume within 2 weeks for best taste
- Depending on the ratio of water to coconut cream in Β your coconut milk, you may see separation of the cream to water in the bar, this is normal and quite a refreshing to the frozen creamy layer

May xx
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- 9 overripe sugar bananas or 4-5 regular bananas
- (with black spots on the skin, for extra sweetness
- and creaminess and GAPS approved)
- 500ml coconut milk
- ¼ cup maple syrup or honey for GAPS
- (reduce or replace with an alternate sweetener if desired or try 1 tsp of ground cinnamon instead)
- ⅓ cup toasted almonds (I made maple roasted almonds as an extra treat by placing raw almonds in the pan with a tablespoon of maple syrup until the maple syrup gets sticky)
- Slice peeled bananas lengthways and layer them on top of each other in a loaf tin or a single layer in a slice tin
- Mix coconut milk with sweetener of choice and pour in tin
- Place in the freezer for 90 minutes until almost set
- Roughly chop almonds and set aside, for an extra treat place the almonds in a pan on medium heat with 1 tbsp maple syrup until slightly sticky and set aside on baking paper to cool, then roughly chop
- Remove tin from freezer after 90 minutes and scatter the almonds on top, return to freezer for another 2 hours or over night
- To serve, loosen the coconut banana ice cream bar from the edges and remove from tin
- Slice and serve frozen
- Store remaining coconut banana ice cream bars in an airtight container and consume within 2 weeks for best taste
- Depending on the ratio of water to coconut cream in your coconut milk, you may see separation of the cream to water in the bar, this is normal and quite a refreshing to the frozen creamy layer