Looking for a new, healthier way to get a sweet fix? Well the Yonanas dessert maker could be just the thing for you! It is a product that is sold by Dole, and is advertised as a way to use bananas (as a base) and other frozen fruit to create healthy ice cream, also cleverly known as “nice cream.”

We recently hosted a (almost) vegan dinner for some friends and they brought along this machine to make dessert. Knowing ahead of time, we were prepared with enough frozen fruit: strawberries, blueberries, and of course, ripe bananas, all of which we keep on hand for smoothies.

Russ and Lisa watch David insert the fruit. Lisa said one of her favorite ingredients is frozen cherries.

The idea is that you can freeze all of your uneaten fruit before it goes bad and use it to make a healthy dessert later. Think of it as a frozen fruit smoothie, without all of the other stuff. In the recipe book that comes with the machine, it also says that you can put room temperature nut butter or chocolate into the mix. (I think chunks of dark chocolate would be the bomb!)

You can either freeze fresh fruit yourself or buy the bags of frozen fruit from the store. However, for the bananas, which provide a creamier product, it’s recommended that you ripen them at home until they have reached the desired phase—you know, when they have lots of brown spots on them and are soft to the touch.

Above, the machine is assembled and ready for action. Below is a video showing the Yonanas in use.

Some debatable cons, there are still random chunks of frozen fruit at the end (not sure why that’s a bad thing?); and you have to put in quite a bit of frozen fruit to get the machine to mix the product. On the plus side, it is very easy to clean and use, and the end product resembles ice cream in both taste and texture.

Dessert is ready to serve with a side of gluten-free chocolate wafers.

Delicious, Healthy, Vegetarian, Dairy- and Gluten-Free. Maybe you need to get this on your upcoming holiday wish list?