Vegan Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

It's fallllllllll. With a million "L's" - my favorite time of year!

It goes without saying that this is the time of year for pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread.... well, pumpkin anything. But just to set the record straight, I am not a big fan of the ubiquitous "pumpkin spice" lattes and coffees that some people anxiously wait all year for - they don't taste like pumpkin (but then, why should they, they don't actually have pumpkin in them) and they leave a fake, odd aftertaste in my mouth.

Call me a purist, but I like my pumpkin goodies to actually taste like... pumpkin.

So yesterday afternoon, when I was enjoying an unusually warm 70 degree October day and was wishing for something (anything, really) pumpkin-y and delicious, I decided I would make pumpkin ice cream.

Organic Banana-Nut Granola

Almost a year ago, I stopped eating foods with added sugar and most things that are very processed. Not eating processed foods isn't too hard, for someone who loves to cook. The no added sugar thing? A little more difficult, because there is added, excessive sugar in EVERYTHING. So I stopped eating fruit flavored yogurts, quit my dessert addiction cold turkey, and started drinking my morning coffee with milk only.

I still occasionally indulge in a small portion of dessert (I requested my mom make me a chocolate-red wine cake with white chocolate buttercream for my birthday earlier this month!), and definitely still cook with small amounts of natural sweeteners.

One of my favorite slightly sweet recipes lately has been banana-nut granola. Made with just a little honey and mashed, super ripe bananas, it has the perfect balance of nutty and mildly sweet flavors - and is perfect with a little almond milk as cold cereal or tossed into some plain yogurt with fruit for breakfast in the morning. The last (double) batch I made went in less than two weeks because everyone loved it so much, so this time I went all out and made a QUADRUPLE batch.