Basic Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream

*This Basic Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream is dairy free, refined sugar free & Paleo friendly.

If I could only have one kind of ice cream for the rest of my life, it would be chocolate. Hands down, no contest. Nothing competes with it, in my opinion. Chocolate ice cream may seem simple and basic, but it’s one recipe everyone needs to have. This world wasn’t meant to be without chocolate ice cream and the best of the best just gets better when you can make it ultra-creamy and decadent while keeping it dairy and refined sugar free.

Such a thing can be tricky, especially when we’re talking about removing the key creamy-ness giving ingredient: Cream (duh….call me capitano obvious). So, to combat the lack of animal fats, I called in my secret (not so secret) ice cream life-giving superhero; the humble avocado.

Don’t worry. You can’t tell this ice cream is made with avocado, let alone taste it. The avocado simply helps to add back in that rich creamy-ness that you lose when you take out the cream. The flavor of the ice cream is still chocolate, the color is still chocolate-y brown, but the texture becomes unbelievably creamy and dreamy.

You’ll notice that lemon juice is included in the ingredients. I know that it might seem a little bit weird, but I find that removing eggs and cream and putting coconut milk in its place takes a little bit of dimension from the overall flavor of the ice cream and that the acid from the lemon juice helps to balance it all out. Blend all of the ingredients except the lemon juice, taste, then add the lemon juice and taste again. See if you notice the difference.

One last thing…..The vodka in the ice cream is to keep it from freezing too hard, which easily happens with coconut milk-based ice creams. You can’t taste it in the finished product, and the end result is a rich, super creamy, never icy basic chocolate ice cream that covers all allergies and dietary preferences. That, my friends, is what I call a win.

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Basic Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream

 

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Serves: Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 can Coconut Milk
• 1½ tablespoons Tapioca Starch
• 1 can Coconut Cream
• 1 Avocado, skin and pit removed
• 2 tablespoons Coconut Oil
• ¼ cup Raw Cacao Powder (or cocoa)
• 1 tablespoon Vanilla
• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons Maple Syrup
• ½ teaspoon Sea Salt
• 2 teaspoons Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 tablespoon Vodka

Instructions

1. Place the tapioca starch in a small saucepan. Pour a little bit of the coconut milk in to the pan and whisk it together with the starch until smooth. Add the remaining coconut milk and whisk until smooth. Heat on medium high, whisking constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat, whisking constantly for about 30 seconds after its of off the heat so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Pour the mixture into the base of a high speed mixer and let cool.
2. Once the mixture is cool, add the remaining ingredients to the blender and blend on high speed until very smooth.
3. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
4. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer instructions. Scoop out the frozen ice cream into a freeze safe container, cover, and freeze for several hours or overnight.
5. *Let the ice cream sit out on the counter for at least 30 minutes to soften before scooping.

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