Persian Nice Cream Bastani

Persian ice cream, Bastani, is traditionally a rich, decadent dessert made with heavy creams, tons of eggs, sugar, saffron, a touch of rose water, and bits of crunchy green pistachio nuts.  Nice cream is made with a base of ripe, frozen bananas and is dairy-free and sugar-free!  It’s easy to whip up as a snack, tuck in crispy wafers, and enjoy as a fun hot summer day, healthy treat.

Bastani is Farsi for ice cream.  “Nice cream” is a cute trendy term used for dairy-free soft-serve style ice cream made with a base of frozen bananas. 

I LOVE authentic Persian ice cream, bastani, laced in decadent clotted cream chunks, and the sweet, aromatic flavors. Now I can enjoy this modern nice cream more often without sacrificing my waistline.

You’ll need a high-powered blender or a good food processor for this recipe.

The first step to making Persian nice cream is freezing ripe bananas.  You have to have frozen bananas to make any form of banana soft-serve or nice cream.

Bananas get sweeter as they ripen.  Wait until the skin of the banana has little brown spots.  That’s the indicator that the bananas have ripened and will be sweet enough for the “nice cream” base.  Peel the ripe bananas and store them in a freezer bag until you are craving ice cream.

To make this treat seem more authentic, we tuck the soft-serve between two crispy, unsweetened waffled wafers.  Unsweetened Dutch wafers can be found in Middle Eastern markets.  They are similar to Stroopwafels but are unsweetened.

Shelled, chopped bright green pistachio nutmeats can also be found in middle eastern or international markets.

Other specialty ingredients for this recipe include bloomed saffron and rose water.

For another refreshing Persian treat in the form of a beverage, try Sharbat Shekanjabin | Persian Cucumber Mint Drink!

If you like this recipe, you will love another healthy, frozen dessert Frozen Yogurt Treats!

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