Legit or lame? I wanted to find out.
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I'm Emily, and if I had my choice, I would eat ice cream every damn day of my life.
Emily Shwake / BuzzFeed
But I mostly try to keep healthy. So when I found out about the Yonanas Frozen Dessert Maker — a gadget that claims to make ~healthy~ soft-serve ice cream out of fruit — I was skeptical. (But also very, very excited. 🙃)
It's $49, had lots of positive reviews for the most part — and it also had pretty ~mesmerizing~ videos. So I decided to test one out!
Emily Shwake / BuzzFeed
First up, I tried peanut butter + banana, because I'm a huge sucker for PB.
I learned quickly that the trick is letting your frozens bananas thaw for a few minutes before putting them in — otherwise the end product looks more like a slushie, instead of soft serve.
And yeah, I know. My soft serve here^ is still not the most attractive thing in the world. But it tasted surprisingly good, and that's what matters. It had the satisfying density of a cup of frozen yogurt, and was super sweet because of the banana. (In my first attempt, the banana flavor overpowered the peanut butter... but I know to fix that next time by adding more peanut butter.)
Emily Shwake / BuzzFeed
(To compare, I also tried to make a dupe of the peanut butter banana flavor using my blender instead, but the results were much closer to pudding.)
Alas, you cannot get the same effect as the Yonanas machine in your blender, but you can still get a pretty delicious pudding-like dessert!
Emily Shwake / BuzzFeed
As a Florida gal, it was imperative to attempt a knock-off of Disney's famous Dole Whip. All I used was frozen pineapple (seriously). And damn, it was like I was back in the parks waiting on line for my third ride down Splash Mountain.
Let it be known that I'll be knocking-off this Disney-only delicacy regularly. 10/10 would recommend.
Get the recipe here.
Emily Shwake / BuzzFeed
Next up, I wanted to test out my Yonanas maker on some non-fruity items, because I saw reviewers mention you can use it with things like chocolate. So I made a knock-off of my favorite flavor: cookies 'n' cream — using bananas and Oreos. And it was pretty. Damn. Good. 😋
Great texture, and evenly dispersed Oreos. Is it an EXACT DUPE of super rich cookies 'n' cream? Nah. But still, I confess, this is a yummy, semi-healthy* treat that will satisfy any temporary cravings.
*Disclaimer: This was totally unhealthy because I ended up eating four Oreo in one sitting.
Emily Shwake / BuzzFeed
Then, of course: I needed to test an actual yogurt recipe — so I made this Blueberry Graham Froyo. This was *by far* the tastiest of the group, and I'm looking for an excuse to make it again.
It tasted exactly like real frozen yogurt, but without the weird aftertaste that makes your mouth taste a little funky once you're done eating it. This was so creamy and flavorful and everything mixed together really well. You have to freeze dollops of yogurt first, which was a bit annoying, but it sure as hell paid off. The best part? This has so much protein, you can basically eat it for breakfast.
Get the recipe here.
Emily Shwake / BuzzFeed
Overall? I think this dessert maker would make a great gift for anyone trying to eat a bit healthier — or even someone with dietary restrictions.
People who love ice cream but are lactose-intolerant, diabetic, or vegan would probably love this machine. Even if you're not, it might be a worthwhile ~investment~ both for your wallet and your health. (Let's think about how many $6 cups of Pinkberry you've had in the past year.) Win-win!
FWIW, the machine also disassembles and reassembles pretty easily, so it's not hard to clean — and the key parts are all dishwasher safe.
The only downside? It's a bit screechy when it's churning out the stuff, so if you've got thin walls (hello from NYC), I would take that into consideration.
NBC
via BuzzFeed/Food