It might be almost fall, but I am still completely in the mood for ice cream! It is still hot here after all, and I love ice cream year round even if it wasn’t. I decided last weekend I wanted to make some of my own home made ice cream, because it sounded good and I wanted some to go with apple desserts, so I made some Vegan Maple Pecan Ice Cream. It turned out super delicious so I had to share!
One thing about vegan ice creams that can be off putting is how hard they get in the freezer, but I like to use a rich milk for the base. For this one I used full fat coconut milk because I think it makes the best ice cream. I blended it with pecan butter to give it more of a pecan flavor and gelato like texture.
I added in both maple syrup and maple extract for the flavor, as well as vanilla and it smelled totally heavenly! For the overall sweetener though, I used dates because they give it a caramel like flavor and don’t add a lot of moisture to the ice cream. I don’t want to add a lot of moisture because it creates ice crystals and that makes for hard ice cream. But the dates keep it perfect and creamy!
This ice cream turned out so heavenly and so delicious! It is rich and creamy, sweet and the crunchy nutty pecans are the perfect add in! It is so good by itself, or served with some warm apple pie or crisp! I love fall desserts so much! If you are in the mood for some delicious ice cream, definitely give this Vegan Maple Pecan Ice Cream a try soon!
Vegan Maple Pecan Ice Cream
Makes about 4 cups
Ingredients:
- 2 15 oz cans full fat coconut milk
- 3/4 cup soft, pitted medjool dates
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp maple extract
- 3/4 cup chopped toasted pecans, chopped lightly
- To make the ice cream, combine all ingredients but the pecans in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour it into an ice cream maker and process according to the directions. (If you do not have an ice cream maker, alternatively, you may pour it into a bowl, place in the freezer and whisk every half hour until it becomes the consistency of thick malt and proceed with the recipe).
- When it has finished, stir in the pecans, then pour into a freezer safe container with a lid and let chill and firm up a few hours more before serving.
- Enjoy!
