How To Make Dairy-free Ice Cream!

buttered pecan cashew ice "cream" (no milk or cream!) | pamela salzman

Did you notice the exclamation point in the title?  I need you to know how excited I am about this.  !!  I’ll confess right here that ice cream is probably my favorite food.  That I don’t eat.   Ice cream doesn’t agree with me, if I can get personal with you.  But I think this is definitely for the best because it’s just not good for you.  Pasteurized cow dairy + sugar + ice cold = digestive nightmare.  But just because I can’t eat ice cream doesn’t mean I don’t dream about it.  Yes, of course there are alternative “ice creams” made from soy or coconut.  But soy milk is something I avoid (way too processed and hard to digest) and most of the coconut frozen desserts taste like coconut, which I like, but not every time mixed with every flavor.  Just an FYI, you can take two cans of full-fat coconut milk, mix it with sweetener to taste plus a drop of vanilla extract and pour it into your ice cream maker and get coconut ice cream.   That’s the recipe right there!

blend the soaked cashews with other ingredients

But recently I saw a cashew-based ice cream at Whole Foods and a light bulb went off.  Of course!  Why didn’t I think of that?  I use raw cashews all the time in my classes to make non-dairy substitutions for my DF friends.  When you soak raw cashews and then blend them with a little water, you have the beginnings of lots of dairy-free possibilities.  I even made a cheesecake with blended raw cashews that was to die for.  I need to post that one day.  What’s great is that raw cashews are pretty bland tasting, unlike coconut which definitely has a pronounced flavor, even when mixed with other stuff.  Also, soaked, raw cashews are loaded with protein and much more digestible than pasteurized heavy cream and milk.  !!

pour pecans in at the end

I wasn’t sure if you all would be interested in knowing how to make dairy-free ice cream since I can’t assume everyone has an ice cream maker.  But after an unscientific poll on Facebook, it seemed like enough of you wanted to know.  I made three different cashew-based ice creams in the last month and I thought they were all great.  My kids had NO IDEA they were made from cashews.  And to take it one step further (better), I sweetened two of the ice creams with dates.  Dates!  This is an ice cream that is cashews blended with dates.  Are you freaking out right now?  You should beeeeeeee!

ready!

 

buttered pecan cashew ice "cream" | pamela salzman

The three flavors I made were Buttered Pecan (ok, technically not dairy-free because I used butter on the pecans, but you can use Earth Balance), Chocolate Peanut Butter, and Mint Chip.  I loved them all, but let me mention that although these are more digestible and arguably more healthful than regular ice cream, I wouldn’t say they’re low-fat or low-calorie.  And I’m sorry if you’re nut-free or cashew-intolerant because that’s the only way to go here.  I am posting the recipes for Buttered Pecan and Mint Chip and as soon as I find the scrap paper with my notes for the chocolate version I will revise this post and let you know!

mint chip dairy-free ice "cream" | pamela salzman

I’m just sorry that we may only have another month of warm weather and therefore not much time left for ice cream.  Make the most of what’s left of summer, friends.  Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

 

dairy-free mint chip ice "cream" | pamela salzman

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Cashew Ice Cream
Author: 
Serves: makes about 1 quart, so if you only want to make a pint, cut all ingredients in half
 
Ingredients
  • Salted Butter Pecan:
  • 2 cups pecans
  • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, or use Earth's Balance to make vegan
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt, plus 1 teaspoon for pecans
  • 4 cups raw cashews, soaked for at least three hours or overnight and
  • drained
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup Grade A maple syrup (or agave, but I’m not a fan since it’s very
  • processed and high in fructose)
  • 4 vanilla beans, split and scraped or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Mint Chip:
  • 4 cups raw cashews, soaked for at least three hours or overnight and drained
  • 3 cups water
  • 20 pitted dates
  • 2 Tablespoons pure peppermint extract (you may want to start out with 1 Tablespoon and taste the mixture before adding the second tablespoon in case your mint extract is stronger than mine.)
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips, or more to taste
Instructions
  1. Salted Butter Pecan:
  2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the pecans, tossing to coat. Spread buttered pecans on baking sheet and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Bake for 6-8 minutes until toasted, but not burned. Set aside to cool.
  4. Place cashews, water, maple syrup, vanilla and ½ teaspoon salt in a high-powered blender or food processor and process until very smooth.
  5. Pour cashew mixture into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions. I use a Cuisinart ice cream maker.
  6. Once the pecans are cooled, place them in a food processor and pulse to make small chunks (about the size of a chocolate chip, or smaller) or chop coarsely on a cutting board.
  7. minutes before ice cream is finished, pour in the pecans.
  8. Store in freezer in airtight container.
  9. Mint Chip:
  10. Place cashews, water, dates, salt and mint extract in a high-powered blender or food processor and process until very smooth.
  11. Pour cashew mixture into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions.
  12. minutes before ice cream is finished, add the chocolate chips.
  13. Store in freezer in airtight container.

Healthful Vegan Mint Chip Smoothie Recipe

I quietly went dairy-free recently which made me a little bummed out because I love yogurt and feta and Pecorino Romano cheese.  My acupuncturist was begging me for years to break up with dairy once and for all so that I might be able to stop complaining about this and that.  Sure enough, without getting too personal, going dairy-free (even sheep and goat) has been a positive move for me and I am pretty motivated to keep it that way.

I still give Mr. Picky raw milk and the girls eat their yogurt and cheese all the same.  But when I make something for all of us to share, I’ve been using lots and lots of almond milk, like in porridges and smoothies.  I haven’t gotten around to making almond milk yogurt yet, but I’d love to try.  In the meantime, I just made this crazy delicious mint chip smoothie that will keep my dairy cravings at bay forever!  Mint chip was always my favorite ice cream flavor and I love fresh mint in salads so how could I go wrong in a smoothie?  I took my Leprauchan Smoothie from last year with a few tweaks and a couple drops of peppermint extract, presto!  It’s so darn good, it tastes like a dessert even though it’s totally healthful enough to eat for breakfast.  Except for the chocolate chips.  Who cares!  It has 4 cups of spinach which you can’t even taste and a couple of dates for sweetness.  Not bad at all.  In fact, so stinkin’ good!

My kids were even freaking out.  This is one of those things you’ll make for St. Patrick’s Day because it’s green and you won’t stop making it.  The only thing I don’t love about it is that it’s cold.  And cold first thing in the morning when the weather is still a bit chilly is a bummer for your digestive system which has to work extra hard to bring up the temperature of your stomach to where it likes to be.  I try not to give the kids cold smoothies first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, and definitely not in the winter.  Serving this with warm oatmeal or porridge is a better idea, or after a workout, or when the weather warms up a bit.

But I’d rather see you drink a cold smoothie in the middle of winter than anything with gross green food coloring.  I just cringe when I see cupcakes with artificially-dyed frosting or green bagels.  If you need some convincing, please read this article from Healthy Child Healthy World about why you need to go dye-free.  In the meantime, go get yourself a giant bag of naturally green, chlorophyll-rich, nutrient dense SPINACH and enjoy some delicious St. Patty’s Day pancakes with a mint chip smoothie to wash it all down!  🙂

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Healthful Vegan Mint Chip Smoothie
Author: 
Serves: makes 2 medium sized drinks
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice*
  • 4 pitted dates or sweetener of choice to taste
  • 4 cups spinach leaves
  • ½ ripe avocado, pitted and peeled (optional, but good if you are trying to eat more high quality fats)
  • 1 frozen ripe banana, cut into chunks (this should be peeled before it’s frozen--click here for tips on freezing fruit)
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 2 cups ice
  • 2 Tablespoons chocolate chips or raw cacao nibs
  • To garnish (optional): 2 mint sprigs and some shaved chocolate (I used a vegetable peeled on a dark chocolate bar.)
Instructions
  1. If you have a high-powered blender, such as a Vita-Mix, place all the ingredients EXCEPT the chocolate chips into the blender and process until smooth.
  2. If you do not have a high-powered blender, the dates may not get blended completely and may leave tiny little bits of date in the smoothie. If that bothers you, blend the almond milk and dates together and then strain the mixture. Add the remaining ingredients to the blender (EXCEPT the chocolate chips) with the strained almond milk and blend until smooth. Or just use honey or maple syrup to sweeten instead of dates.
  3. Add the chocolate chips and pulse just a couple of times to break them up a bit. Divide between 2 glasses and garnish with a mint sprig and chocolate shavings, if desired.
Notes
*If you want to use a sweetened vanilla almond milk or other sweetened vanilla milk, you can omit the dates and vanilla extract and sweeten to taste.

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