The Creamiest Vegan Ice Cream Base, Ever
We’re big, big ice cream lovers here at TMP. You know that first barely-warm day in spring when the sun is kind of, sort of showing itself for the first time and, bundled up in your winter coat, you can almost convince yourself that it’s warm outside? Yeah, that’s our first ice cream day of the season. We take that tiny sliver of sunshine and use it as an excuse to make a beeline for the closest ice cream shop and get ourselves (and anyone lucky enough to be with us) a great big cone-full of ice cream. So, as huge ice cream devotees, when we set out to create a dairy-free ice cream recipe, we were not going to settle for anything less than a completely silky, don’t-miss-the-dairy-at-all creamy vegan ice cream. We’re thrilled to share the results of much trial and error with you today!
What Is Plant-Based Ice Cream Made Of?
We start with a 5-ingredient ice cream base, and for this particular recipe, we’ve added mint extract and dark chocolate chips to make vegan mint chip ice cream! YUM. That said, you could use the base ingredients and the ice cream recipe to make just about any flavor of vegan ice cream you can think of. Try adding the scrapings of a vanilla bean instead of the mint and chocolate, or smashed up berries, or even a drizzle of caramel. The possibilities are endless. Here’s what’s in our mint-chip vegan ice cream base:
- Raw cashews
- Light coconut milk
- Coconut cream
- Cane sugar
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Vegan Ice Cream
If you’ve made regular ice cream before, the process for making vegan ice cream will be really familiar. If not, no worries! Ice cream is actually really easy. All you need is an ice cream maker and a bit of time. Here’s how to make mint chip vegan ice cream:
- The night before: soak the raw cashews in water.
- Blend the cashews with coconut milk, coconut cream, sugar, vanilla and peppermint extract until it’s nice and smooth.
- Pour the vegan ice cream base into your ice cream maker.
- After it’s churned a bit and is starting to thicken, add the finely-chopped chocolate.
- When the “nice cream” looks like soft serve, it’s ready to go in the freezer! Scoop it into a freezer-safe container, and pop it in the freezer.
- An hour later, it should be ready to eat!
Is Vegan Ice Cream Healthy?
While we’d love to say a completely unqualified yes, ice cream is still ice cream, even if it’s vegan ice cream. So, we wouldn’t exactly call this recipe “healthy”. Not the way you could unequivocally call something like an apple or a green salad “healthy”, at least. This vegan ice cream recipe is super, super rich and creamy—and yay for that! But because of its richness, it’s a treat to enjoy in moderation. The fat in this dairy-free ice cream—also sometimes referred to as “nice cream”— comes from coconut and cashews, so they’re plant-based fats, often referred to as “good fat”! But still, a lot of fat means a lot of calories and coconut is very high in saturated fats. All of that said, this vegan ice cream is without a doubt healthier than normal ice cream made from cream! It has less sugar, and it’s possible—as with so much in nutrition science, the question of how good or bad coconut fat is gets really complicated when you start to really dig into it—that these plant-based fats are a little easier on your body than animal fats. Long story short, make it! Enjoy it! Indulge a little! Just don’t kid yourself that it’s anything other than a glorious treat to enjoy sometimes. And anyway, if it were TOO healthy, it wouldn’t be as dreamily delicious as it is, right?
Tools You’ll Need:
More Easy Vegan Recipes To Try
A Nicer Ice Cream
A little easier on your body, a lot easier on the planet, this vegan ice cream recipe is sort of a no-brainer as far as we’re concerned. We hope you give it a swirl! When you try it, let us know! Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!
