Vegan Ice Cream Experiments

Since going vegan I have enjoyed a tasty mint chip ice cream by So Delicious (Coconut Milk Base).  It was good as I figured it would be and I practically ate the entire (and pricey) container in one sitting.  I knew the day would come when I embarked on making my own ice cream.  Today I decided to try my hand at a couple of different versions that I made up after perusing a few recipes folks had out there.  I'm not going to post the actual recipes because I didn't measure anything so I don't want it come back and haunt me if someone out there decides to try these out.  Nonetheless, you will get the gist and I'll be sure to follow up with recipes once I have perfected some of these concoctions.  The flavor list and milk base selections is sure to grow and grow.

First up, Peanut Butter Vanilla Ice Cream (Almond Milk Base).  I used a couple cups of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, vanilla extract, pinch of sea salt, squeeze or two of agave syrup and a good two or so heaping tablespoons of smooth creamy salted unsweetened peanut butter.  This got blended up in my blender at the highest speed possible and then transferred to glass jar where it now sits in my fridge while I wait for my ice cream maker vessel to freeze.  I am hoping it is sunny in San Francisco tomorrow so I can truly enjoy a large bowl of this on my outdoor deck.  Let it be known, however, that the mixture tasted so good, I probably could have just drank it all as is.  It was so much creamier than I expected it to be and clearly when it comes to calories this will have far less than the usual pint of Ben and Jerry's I would have downed in the past.

Second round, Peanut Butter Vanilla Ice Cream (French Vanilla Silk Coffee Creamer Base).  Ok, so with this bad boy I was a little less patient.  I wanted ice cream today and I had it.  And then, I had some more.  As did my children who slurped it down without batting an eye.  Pats on the back Mom!  For this one I did a couple unorthodox things, in my opinion, when it comes to making authentic ice cream.  Number 1, I put ice in the actual blender (oh dear) so I could have ice cream as fast as possible.  Number 2, I used Jif peanut butter instead of the natural unsweetened stuff because I was out of the other kind.  Used it all up on batch number 1.  I was shocked at how good this came out.

I thought I was going to dislike it because I assumed it was going to be too sweet and too laden with ice crystals to even resemble ice cream (oh and because I DO NOT LIKE, or so I thought, French Vanilla Silk Coffee Creamer).  But in this application, it worked and the payoff was fantastic.  So let me rephrase, I don't like French Vanilla Silk Coffee Creamer in my morning coffee, but, as an ice cream base, come to Mama!

Ingredients are as follows:  2 or so cups of French Vanilla Silk Coffee Creamer, vanilla extract, pinch of sea salt, and a good two or so heaping tablespoons of Jif creamy peanut butter.  Repeat high speed Blender on high speed until desired consistency achieved.  The result was definitely surprisingly good.  I mean, we are talking, could not stop eating it good.  It reminded me of soft serve more so than a shake and I'm sure it would be amazing thrown into my ice cream machine (minus the ice cubes of course).

So after today's random Vegan Ice Cream Experiments, it got me to thinking that I am going to go nuts with my flavor combos.  I can't wait to make some really strong espresso vegan ice cream and cream of coconut vegan ice cream, naturally, oh, and Kahlua and cream vegan ice cream.  Anyways, I'm rambling, let's do this again soon because seriously folks, I think I may have found my new crush - vegan ice cream (LOL) Oh, that, and Justin Timberlake.  You too?!  Awesome.  Happy Friday Folks!  See  you on the flipside. xoxo

Pics soon.