29 Amazing Vegan Ice Cream Recipes

Yes, you can make amazing ice cream without a cow in sight. There are lots of different ingredients to experiment with (coconut milk, frozen bananas, avocado, soy or almond milk), and you can do it with or without an ice cream maker (frozen bananas are your new best friend if you don’t have one). Here are a few basic tips to keep in mind:

• Fat helps you get the right creamy texture. That’s what makes coconut milk such a perfect substitute for whole milk and cream. Give it a shot, even if you think you don’t love coconut; the flavor is pretty subtle, especially if you mix it with fruit, chocolate, etc.
• Thickeners like corn starch and arrowroot (like in this basic coconut ice cream recipe) can also help make a creamier texture.
• Make sure any sweetener you add is in syrup/liquid form, or it’ll cause crystals to form.
• Make sure all your ingredients are as cold as they can be pre-freezing/blending. That’ll help everything combine without starting to melt too much, which can make for a grainy final product.

Coconut-based Ice Creams

1. Fig, Coconut and Blackberry Ice Cream

The flavors are pretty fruity and complex, not at all like a standard sugar and cream recipe. Make sure to use ripe figs (preferably mission figs), they taste sweeter. Find the recipe here.

2. Vegan Coconut Ice Cream

For those of you who love coconut milk, this ice cream will be right up your alley.  If you’re familiar with Hawaiian and/or tropical desserts, it’ll probably remind you of haupia.  This recipe uses the same basic ingredients– coconut milk, cornstarch and sugar– but instead of turning the ingredients into gelatin-like squares, you end up with a dazzling white frozen dessert. 

3. Salted Caramel Pretzel Ice Cream

Smooth vanilla ice cream with ribbons of salted caramel and lots of chunky chocolate-covered pretzels. You'll never eat pretzels from a bag again! Try out the recipe here.

4. Vegan Rhubarb Ice Cream

An ice cream meant for those who enjoy the tartness of rhubarb.  The perfect treat during those hot, sticky summer days. Recipe here.

5. Coffee Coconut Milk Ice Cream with Hot Fudge

This recipe is incredibly simple and yields great results. The coconut milk churned just like regular ice cream, and once frozen became the farthest thing from your typical vegan dessert. A key thing to note is that the ice cream doesn’t have a strong coconut flavor, like you would think. So if you’re not a coconut lover,  you’ll still like it - especially if you add the coffee.

6. Avocado-Coconut Ice Cream

This recipe is a bit unusual, but that’s what makes it so appealing. It’s also creamy and smooth without being heavy. And though you feel slightly virtuous as you eat it, it still tastes like a treat. But most importantly, it’s cool and refreshing, which is just what you want during those hot days.

7. Vegan Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream

This delicious recipe is rich and creamy and sweet just like regular ice cream. And the cinnamon sugar and actual toast flecks gave it a whole new flavor dimension.

8. Vegan Cinnamon Toast Ice Cream

A creamy texture that is much better than any cow’s milk product I have ever made. You’ve seen a can of full fat coconut milk, and that creamy layer on the top, it’s beautiful. And it’s incredible in ice cream, with a smooth and rich flavor that's similar to gelato in Italy. You will love this recipe and everyone will be shocked that it’s vegan.

9. Vegan Black Sesame and Ginger Ice Creams

Intrigued by the deep asphalt grey color of black sesame, which is so uncharacteristic to ice cream or any dessert for that matter. Deviant ice cream. Paired with some ginger ice cream to go with the grey batch. Ginger is another one of those warming, earthy flavors, which combines wonderfully with the sesame. The pairing of the two is very comforting, almost soothing to have after a long day or to end a peaceful dinner. Find the recipe here.

10. Vegan Butter Pecan Ice Cream

You’ll need to buy (or make) a vegan butter substitute to get the ideal buttery flavor in this recipe.

11. Vegan Mango Coconut Ice Cream

Start with a can of coconut milk for a rich and creamy base. Simply combine the coconut milk with some almond milk and blend in ripe fruit and organic sugar. Chill the mixture then freeze in an ice cream maker. Scoop and enjoy. Recipe here.

12. Vegan Peanut Butter Chunk and Chocolate Crunch Ice Cream

Using coconut milk makes this recipe dairy free + vegan and incredibly simple to make.

13. Vegan Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream

If your children like pumpkin pie, they are going to love this pumpkin ice cream. Recipe here.

14. Vegan Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

So yummy and refreshing, this vegan chocolate chunk ice cream recipe is sure to be a delight!

Banana-based Ice Cream

15. Vegan Maple Pecan Ice Cream

Bananas are inexpensive and when fully ripe are as sweet as can be. And they can be dressed up many ways, like this ice cream. Recipe here.

16. Banana Cherry Garcia Soft Serve

Cherries + dark chocolate is always a winning pair! Frozen bananas make magical ice cream with just a blender. Recipe here.

17. Lavender Banana-Coconut Ice Cream

A relaxing and delicious blend of lavender, coconut, and banana.  And, you don’t even need an ice cream maker to enjoy this decadent and sweet recipe.

18. Vegan Cake Batter Ice Cream

This fun recipe is just like soft serve ice cream, but it’s healthy, vegan and incredibly easy to whip up. Now you can have your cake and eat ice cream, too.

19. Vegan Chunky Monkey Ice Cream

This recipe is delicious and super healthy, much better than the store bought version any day

20. Vegan Strawberry-Banana Ice Cream

Are you ready to indulge and be blown away by this easy and decadent raw recipe? It’s 100% raw, vegan, gluten-free, sweetener free and delicious :)

21. Vegan Mango-Banana Ice Cream

A no fuss fruity, creamy, and even healthy — frozen mango and bananas are all you need in this recipe.

22. Salted Banana Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Chocolate Caramel Sauce

This recipe is easy and insanely delicious! If those that isn't enough, it’s also dairy free, gluten free and has no refined sugar. plus you don’t need a fancy ice cream maker. Follow the recipe along here.

Nut-based and Other Ice Creams

23. Vegan Peach-Almond Ice Cream

This recipe involves making your own almond milk as part of the process (don’t worry, it’s not hard).

24. Vegan Salted Caramel Ice Cream

This ice cream is made with silken tofu for added oomph. Recipe here.

25. Chocolate Sorbet

This is the good stuff. It’s essentially a mix of hot chocolate and actual chocolate, melted together and frozen into someone scoopable. This recipe is for people who wish chocolate ice cream tasted more like chocolate.

26. Chocolate Soy Ice Cream

This deliciously diet-friendly chocolate soy ice cream recipe is easy to fit into a sensible diet, plus it’s a great source of protein, fiber, iron and calcium. It’s easy and cheap to make, too, and if you don’t have an ice cream maker yet, it’s a great reason to get one.

27. Raw Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Cashews and almond milk give this ice cream recipe a great creamy texture with zero custard-cooking required.

28. Vegan Blueberry Crumble Ice Cream

This recipe takes blueberry ice cream to all new heights. Almond and coconut milk team up in this base.

29. Vegan Chocolate-Avocado Soft Serve

You can make this in a blender or food processor; just make sure to chill the coconut milk and avocados ahead of time. Recipe here.

[via BuzzFeed]

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Ditch Refined Sugar Now!

Christmas is right around the corner, and that means loads of cookies to be eaten!

Did you know refined sugar is the devil? Always avoid it whenever possible and that means in my cabinets too. I don’t buy white sugar EVER. The closest thing I get to white sugar is sucanat or organic evaporated cane juice and even then I don’t really use much of that stuff either. You see – there is little to no nutritional value in these refined sugars. Eating refined sugar is addictive, makes you fat, tired, depressed, age faster, makes your skin dull, weakens immunity and when consumed in excess causes all sorts of diseases… No thanks.

So how do you sweeten my desserts without the use of refined sugars and with nutrition?

Here’s three of Food Babe's favorite ways to sugar your sweets that won’t wreak havoc on your health…

Organic Coconut Palm Sugar – This type of sugar is a perfect 1:1 substitute for any recipe that calls for regular old sugar. One of the big pluses of coconut palm sugar – it’s completely unrefined and not bleached like typical refined white sugar, helping to preserve all of its teeming vitamins and minerals. It is naturally high in amino acids – has 10,000 times more potassium, 20 times more magnesium and 20 times more iron than conventional sugar. Converting to this type of sugar could also, lower your risk of developing diabetes because it’s glycemic index is half of that compared to sugar.

The flavor is more like brown sugar and it definitely adds a nice touch of richness to cookies and cakes.

Date Sugar – Produced by grinding dried dates into a powder, it is completely raw and unrefined. Date sugar is equal parts sucrose, glucose and fructose and much higher in vitamins and minerals than refined sugar. For instance it has more than twice the amount of magnesium, iron and potassium. Date sugar doesn’t dissolve so it’s perfect for sprinkling on top of baked goods in the place of regular old powdered sugar. It won’t be as sweet but will give you that sugary boost you need to make desserts worth while.

Food Babe’s Sweet Blend – Obviously this is my favorite way to sweeten cookies and cakes. One of the first steps I do in any cookie or cake recipe is to blend the sugar component with the fat component. For my special sweet blend, I like to use organic raw pitted dates, prunes, bananas and sometimes apple sauce or maple syrup together in the blender along with some fat – either organic coconut oil or melted organic butter. This kills two birds with one stone – all you have to do is add vanilla (or other flavorings) and the dry ingredients to make the most deliciously sweet cookies or cakes… I highly recommend this blend as much as possible when baking because it uses 100% whole organic ingredients – no processing and all nutrition.

So the next time you are itching to bake and make something sweet think about how many nutrients you can pack into your bite! Imagine your body enjoying all the minerals and vitamins it is receiving instead of attacking itself destroying your immune system and causing disease. Ditch the refined sugar – you have no excuses.

Ok off to make more cookies!

[via Food Babe]

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Health Benefits of Raw Honey

Honey is one of nature’s premier superfoods. Not only does honey taste good in tea, yogurt, baked goods etc. but it has been a staple anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory since ancient times. Even modern practitioners swear by its miraculous healing properties.

Top 5 Health Benefits of Raw Organic Honey 

1. Honey Kills Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria 

In the world of medicine, few things can be scarier than bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, but that’s exactly the problem that modern medicine faces. Over the past fifty years, over-use of anti-bacterial drugs, like Azithromycin, have encouraged harmful bacteria to evolve and become stronger. But there’s no bacterium anywhere that’s resistant to honey! That’s right, honey can kill even antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Ancient people applied it to wounds, infections, and abscesses to great effect. Just make sure you use raw organic honey, which doesn’t include high-fructose corn syrup or white sugar that lower its quality and beneficial effects.

2. Soothes Coughs 

In addition to killing bacteria, honey can reduce the severity of coughs and sore throats more safely than over-the-counter medications. This is another example of a traditional remedy that turns out to be more effective than mass-produced drugs by pharmaceutical companies. While adult cough medicines might be dangerous for children to take, raw honey helps lessen the frequency and intensity of a child’s cough, letting parents and kids alike get more sleep during cold season.

3. Boosts Wound and Burn Healing 

Believe it or not, honey sterilizes and heals burns in half the time than its over-the-counter antibiotic competitor silver sulfadiazine. It can disinfect wounds the same way, allowing your body to regenerate faster and with less risk of infection or scarring. If you receive an injury, smear honey on the affected area immediately. Don’t worry about using too much, because with honey, there’s no such thing. When you’re done, apply a bandage over your wound. Repeat this procedure at least once every 48 hours to make sure that you’re not getting an infection (though odds are good that you won’t.)

4. Provides Many Nutrients

Unsurprisingly, honey offers a staggering amount of nutritional value. (Remember, this is the stuff that bees build their entire colonies upon!) Aside from various nutrients, like riboflavin, folate, betaine, manganese, potassium, copper, zinc, calcium, magnesium, selenium, fluoride and phosphorus, honey is loaded with antioxidants, which can lessen the risk of cancer. It also lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, and generally reduces inflammation. Of course, if you have a sweet tooth, one benefit trumps all the others on this list…

5. Raw Organic Honey is the Perfect Sugar Substitute 

As if the health benefits of honey weren’t enough on their own. Honey can play another important part in your well-being by sweetening your tea, cookies, pancakes and other baked goods you prepare. Though honey itself is made of fructose, it raises blood sugar far lesser than similar-tasting substances, like sucrose and dextrose. Honey has a healthy Glycemic Index, which means its sugars can be gradually absorbed into the blood stream to result in better digestion. Best of all, you can keep honey on the shelf forever, because it never spoils. Not to put too fine a point on it, but that’s pretty sweet.

Raw Honey Has Many Health Benefits 

There’s a lot that honey can do to improve your active life and diet. It’s a great pre-exercise food, for example, because it’ll give you the power you need and you won’t crash in the middle of your training session. The healing powers of honey don’t just apply to skin wounds – they can help heal painful stomach ulcers, too! Fans of probiotics love honey because it hosts good bacteria, including lactobacilli, which help us digest food. There’s even evidence that honey consumption boosts memory in menopausal women and increase the body’s ability to recover from drunkenness. Old time medical practitioners knew the secrets of honey before science discovered them. Today, there are many good reasons to add this incredible food to your diet!

[via Organic Power Foods]

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