One of our all time favorite recipes is chocolate coconut milk ice cream. Chocolate is always a favorite around here and the coconut milk makes it incredibly smooth and rich. This time I used coconut sugar to sweeten it, and it turned out wonderfully! If you haven’t heard of this sweetener before, check out my post about it here.
This recipe is dairy and cane sugar free, so it’s also great for those with allergies. But it would be wonderful made with cream instead of coconut milk as well. Other possible additions would be egg yolks (for flavor, nutrition, and richness), arrowroot powder (for texture), or vodka to prevent it from freezing solid.
However, one thing that is great about making coconut milk ice cream that doesn’t contain something like pumpkin or berries added, is that it is so creamy it doesn’t freeze into such a hard brick. Our ice cream was still fairly scoopable after a day or two in our freezer. Though it was truthfully hard to make it last that long!
By the way, I used agave in the past to sweeten this ice cream because it was the only sweetener (besides stevia) that my body didn’t have problems with. But it has been many months since I have bought agave because as soon as I was healed enough I switched over to sweeteners I was more comfortable with (such as raw honey and maple syrup). You’ve probably noticed that change in my more recent recipes. And now, of course, I am experimenting with coconut sugar!
I hope you enjoy this creamy cold treat as much as we do!
Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream
Honey or maple syrup used in this recipe is also very good. Just use a little less then you would for the coconut sugar.
2 14 oz cans of coconut milk (not lite! I used the brand Thai Kitchen)
1/3 cup of coconut sugar, plus two tablespoons (I used the more wet, pasty type found in a jar)
2/3 cup of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a dash of sea salt
Combine all of the ingredients together in a large bowl, and blend with an immersion blender (or you could use a regular blender or food processor, perhaps). Make according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Let ripen in the freezer for a couple of hours and enjoy.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
You gotta be kidding that this could last a few days!! I almost bought an ice cream maker today cuz of you but if I did I would eat the whole batch everytime!!
Speaking of ice cream makers, what do you use? I use one I picked up at Target. It only makes a quart of ice cream, which is perfect for my small family.
This sounds wonderful…we can’t wait to try it….if we were using raw honey and maple syrup would it be the same amount as the coconut sugar?
Thanks,
Jessica O.
This looks delicious. I have made ice cream using cream but never coconut milk. I am anxious to try it! One question – when you mentioned using arrowroot powder for “texture” – how much do you add?
Thanks so much,
Mary
Anita,
I use a cuisinart ice cream maker. It works great.
Jessica,
Probably a bit less for the honey (it could be to overpowering and is sweeter than sugar), and about the same for maple syrup. It’s really a matter of personal preference.
Mary,
Probably about two tablespoons.
If you don’t have a ice cream maker can you just blend then freeze? I made the pumpin pie ice cream that way, it was tasty but hard as a rock. We have to let it soften on the counter for a while before enjoying. Maybe I just needed to add more vodka. Love the recipes…
Hey Esther,
The only problem with freezing it without the mixing motion of an ice cream maker is that you are not incorporating air into as it freezes. That will make the texture harder. However, the pumpkin ice cream is a lot harder than this recipe! That’s why I recommend that you only let it ripen in the freezer a few hours, so that it still has a nice texture (after freezing it in the ice cream maker).
But here is a link to a post that tells you a few other options for those without ice cream makers.
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2007/07/making_ice_crea_1.html
Maybe some of those ideas would help you out.
Wow!! That was so good! I’ve made this ice cream 2x already since reading this. (That would be 2x in the last 3 weeks — and it’s still cold outside!) I have made it once with chocolate and once with carob. I sweeten it with stevia only (I’m diabetic and the other sweeteners still raise the blood sugar a bit).
My husband is an ice cream fiend and absolutely loves this, too. =o) Thank you so much for posting this.
I finally got a chance to make this! OMG! I love it!
I just made this with Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder and added shaved coconut, chopped almonds, and some dairy free dark chocolate bits and oh, my! It is so good I am going to have a hard time sharing it with my company tonight! Thanks for the great recipe! I have a strawberry one in the ice-cream maker now based off your raspberry coconut milk ice-cream recipe, too!