Delicious and rich chocolate ice cream that is also dairy free. That’s a win-win at our house! Chocolate is always a favorite around here and the coconut milk makes it incredibly smooth and rich. It’s just lovely on a hot day, or a warm afternoon, or in the middle of winter, if truth be told.
Try it with this Strawberry Coconut Ice Cream or Vanilla Coconut Milk Ice Cream for a lovely pair. Or make it into a banana sundae with dairy free chocolate syrup and caramel sauce. Oh my! My mouth is watering now.
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. As is, it’s perfect for those on both a vegan and a paleo diet. 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, but I no longer use agave to sweeten foods with as I consider is overly processed and too high in fructose (like corn syrup). Now I use natural, traditional sweeteners, such as raw honey, coconut sugar, and pure maple syrup.
I hope you enjoy this creamy cold treat as much as we do!
OTHER COCONUT MILK ICE CREAM RECIPES:
- Double Chocolate Cookie Dough Ice Cream
- Chai Coconut Milk Ice Cream
- Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream
- Vanilla Coconut Milk Ice Cream
- Apple Cinnamon Ice Cream with Salted Caramel Sauce (coconut milk option)
NOTES ON INGREDIENTS AND EQUIPMENT:
- I own a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker and love it!
- I’ve started using Aroy-D Coconut Cream because it has a lovely taste and no “gums” added to it.
Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream
Ingredients:
- 2 14 oz cans or 3 1/2 cups of coconut milk or cream
- 1/3 – 3/4 cup of sweetener of choice (We use the lesser amount for a dark chocolate flavor, but not everyone can handle such bittersweet goodness)
- 2/3 cup of organic and fair trade cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (gluten free, if needed)
- A dash of unrefined salt
Directions:
1. 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).
2. Make according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. I pour into the machine while it’s running, and then churn for 20-25 minutes.
3. Let ripen in the freezer for a couple of hours and enjoy. If you are leaving in the freezer for longer, let rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes before scooping.
- 2 14 oz cans or 3½ cups of coconut milk or cream
- ⅓ - ¾ cup of sweetener of choice (We use the lesser amount for a dark chocolate flavor, but not everyone can handle such bittersweet goodness)
- ⅔ cup of organic and fair trade cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (gluten free, if needed)
- A dash of unrefined 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. I pour into the machine while it's running, and then churn for 20-25 minutes.
- Let ripen in the freezer for a couple of hours and enjoy. If you are leaving in the freezer for longer, let rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes before scooping.
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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.
Hi,
I am going to try your coco nut milk ice cream. I want to make it w/o chocolate. If I add shredded coconut, do I need to increase the liquid? I will be using coconut granulated sugar. Also I’m making the ice cream for 16 people, should I triple the recipe?
Thx
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!
Thank you for this, Kimi! Can’t wait to try it on my new ice cream maker that my husband bought me for x-mas! What is this I hear about a pumpkin ice cream recipe? I looked for it, but couldn’t find it. I’ve been eating a low-gly regime and love pumpkin! Many blessings!
I keep making this over and over, and my hubby keeps telling me “you could market this stuff” – as if I came up with it. 🙂 I’ve tried omitting the vanilla and putting in a few drops of peppermint extract and find it especially delish. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!!
Try addig 1 teasp of guar gum to this recipe as it makes it lovely and creamier. I had this recipe too and I put coconut in it also and do a mango one …divine.
How much vodka would you recommend so that it doesn’t freeze solid as a brick?
It looks and sounds delicious and I can’t wait try it! Thanks for your help.
I am looking forward to making this..I would like to know how much egg and how much arrowroot and vodka for a batch..
This was okay with some tweaking. I think it had *way* too much cocoa powder; the chocolate flavor was overwhelming, and I didn’t even use 2/3 cup–more like 1/2 cup. This should be considered a double-chocolate ice cream, for sure. It could be that organic cocoa power is more powerful and concentrated than something like Hershey’s, but I don’t remember that being the case (I recall Hershey’s being just as dark).
I also had to add more coconut sugar than was called for, plus I drizzled in about a tablespoon of local honey. Still, the chocolate flavor is too much. I have been making chocolate ice cream in my Donvier (which I *love*) with whole milk, half and half, and chocolate milk (all organic) and I guess I got used to a nice mild chocolate flavor. This was like being hit in the head with a bag of cacao beans—lol.
I only used one can of coconut milk (organic, full fat TK) for this recipe; the rest was one cup organic half and half and probably about 3/4 c whole milk (I like to add organic black cherries and walnuts to my chocolate ice cream, too). It was enough coconut milk (with the added guar gum) to make it creamy like the ice cream I make with the chocolate milk (which contains carageenan). A good base recipe, but if I make it again I’ll definitely cut the amount of cocoa powder in half to 1/3 cup. I’ll continue using just one can of milk, too, since it’s more expensive than organic milk (which already costs quite a bit).
In my experience, even when adding something like corn syrup (non-GMO, preferably), guar gum or carageenan (via the milks), or alcohol, homemade ice cream is still going to freeze into a brick after several hours in the freezer–and if you have kids, then adding alcohol isn’t an option. The only solution I’ve found (besides using more additives than I want to use) is to portion the batch into single-serve glass bowls (with tight lids) right after churning it and getting out what you want for the night. The next day you just set one of the bowls in the fridge for an hour or on the counter for 1/2 hour before you want to eat it. It’s a good lesson in will-power–hehe…
O M G !! LOVE IT!! THANK YOU for this post. You’re briliant for figuring this recipe out. This is the best and easiest ice cream directions for a dairy and sugar sensitive diet. Ihaven’t been able to eat ice cream in a long time. Now i can have it every day: ))) I used Tupelo honey as the sweetner and it came out perfect! Consisitancy just like the real thing. Taste great! My husband thought it was even better than the good old fashioned stuff. I set the mixture in the freezer for an hour than transfered it into our manual ice cream maker. It took 15 minues of churning then done! The longer I left the scoopable mix in the freezer the more it became just like ICE CREAM! The honey must have kept it from getting rock hard mkeing for a perfect consistancy. Tupelo honey is one of the only honeys that breaks down slowly in your system much like eating a piece of fruit. It is more gentel for a sugar sensitive person. ENJOY!! The recipe really works!!! I’m making more today : )))) Yumm.
(I could see that one doesn’t really need an ice cream maker,,,after just having the mixture in a bowl for an hour in the freezer it looked half way close to the real deal. I’m sure with more time turning the freeze mixture by hand as directed it would have come out just as delish.) Thank you!!!! You’re briliant for figuring this recipe out.
Hi… Im unable to source coconut sugar… Can you please recommend a substitute for the same in this recipe..? Im really eager to try this. Also, I dont have an ice cream maker.. yet! So.. Im going to follow ur advice on how to make it without one..
thanks.
I love this! I made it yesterday. I added 2 tsp of peppermint extract. It came out so creamy and wonderful! I can now make my own ice cream at home. YEAH!!!! Now to try the vanilla and go from there. Thank you so much!
Sumeet-I’ve seen coconut sugar at Wal-Mart.
Looks like a great recipe, I’ll give it a try. Thank you.
I only used 1/3 cocoa powder because mine is very dark and strong and it is delicious! I can not eat dairy and coconut milk is my favourite substitution, I love being able to eat ice cream again and it is so simple, no cooking, no thickening, thank you so much for these recipes!
Katie – How much stevia did you use?
Do you chill your mixture before you put it in the ice-cream maker? Mine didn’t seem to freeze well even though I had the freezer bowl in for 24hrs. I was worried about the coconut milk separating if I chilled it first.
Sounds so great! I REALLY recommend Native Harvest Brand Organic Original Coconut Milk over Thai Brand. It makes a huge difference. It might be difficult to find but ask for it. Now to get a Bullet Blender since I can do a Brevelle juicer/blender combo or Vitamix right now.