This past summer, my fiancé gifted me an ice cream maker, and I’ve been working on the best vegan ice cream recipe ever since. It took a lot of research on the science of ice cream, and a lot of taste testing (it’s tough work, but someone has to do it). There were a lot of failures but I am very happy with this final product. This is my tried and true vegan chocolate ice cream recipe, it puts all store bought vegan ice cream to shame. It even fools non-vegans too, it’s that good!
Coconut Milk
I really wanted a rich and creamy base for this vegan chocolate ice cream recipe, and felt like full fat coconut milk fit the bill. The chocolate in this recipe really covers up the coconut flavor. So if you’re not a fan of coconut, still try it! It is very important to use a coconut milk that is unsweetened, and has a large amount of fat in it. I really wanted this ice cream to accessible to the masses, and coconut milk is widely available.
Use a canned coconut milk that works well when you make whipped cream. After trying a handful of brands, I actually really like target’s brand. It’s cheap, widely available and has a high fat content. Other brands I would recommend are Aroy-d, and Savoy. These are not as widely available but are highly recommended online as great coconut milks. I will note, check your can sizes as some of these are 14 oz cans, and my recipe calls for 13.5 oz. So you will not use all of the can if you are buying Aroy-d or Savoy! A scale here works great and will give you the best results overall while making this ice cream. Ice cream really is a science, so perfection is key!
Notice I call for coconut milk powder. You should have some leftover if you made my cornflake marshmallow cookies! Coconut milk powder increases the water-binding power. It is another way to add in creaminess to this ice cream, and helps emulsify the mixture.
The last thing you can do to make your ice cream extra creamy and scoopable is to add in cocoa butter. This is completely optional. There is some cocoa butter already in the chocolate. But the extra I add in, just makes the ice cream a tad better. Also, quick note about the chocolate, as always… just use your favorite chocolate! I always use these tcho chocolate disks, as it makes a luscious chocolate ice cream.
You can also achieve extra creaminess by adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of alcohol such as vodka or bourbon. It won’t affect the flavor but will help with the freezing point of the ice cream as alcohol doesn’t freeze. This results in a more scoopable and creamier ice cream. Be careful not to add too much! If you add too much alcohol your ice cream will never set and you will end with something more like a milkshake. A little goes a long way. You can read a little more about this method and the science behind it from David Lebovitz here.
Sugar and Glucose
Sugar is very important to this recipe, don’t try to cut down on the amount. It helps make ice cream scoopable, and soft. If you omitted sugar, you would have coconut ice cubes. So don’t try to omit! For sugar, just use a granulated sugar, I have also used cane sugar and raw sugar in the recipe successfully. For the glucose, you can buy it in a large tub of it here. If you would like to buy it locally, you can find it in many craft stores in the baking aisle. They’re usually sold in smaller amounts, and cost very little. Even the smaller containers will make a good amount of ice cream too.
You can 100% skip the glucose, and use corn syrup, but be warned the relative sweetness is not the same. If sucrose (regular granulated sugar) has a relative sweetness of 100, glucose has a sweetness of 70. Glucose also helps lower the freezing point, which makes for a fluffier, creamier ice cream. To read a bit more about different sugars and they’re relative sweetness, I really like this breakdown. Please invest in the glucose! It’s about the same price as corn syrup, but your ice cream will just be better! If you do purchase glucose, it can be used in a variety of other ways such as in cookies, hot fudge sauce, ganaches, etc. It is a very versatile ingredient.
Churned vs. No Churn
I gave the option of a no-churn vegan chocolate ice cream, but let me tell you why you should invest in an ice cream maker. Ice cream makers do two things, rapidly freeze your ice cream base and whip air into your ice cream. The reason you want your ice cream to be rapidly frozen, is it will result in smaller ice crystals, which in turn result in a creamier vegan ice cream. This no-churn method will be slowly frozen in the freezer, which will result in bigger ice crystals. It will still be good, just not as good.
The other thing an ice cream maker does is whip air into your ice cream to make it fluffy. While the no-churn method, does whip some air into it, it doesn’t get to same amount of air in an ice cream maker. I know some people oppose buying another appliance, or just don’t want to invest the money, hence why I gave the two methods. But they are not equal. Your no-churn ice cream will be great, but your churned ice cream will be amazing! This is the ice cream maker I use, it is a great price for an entry level ice cream maker.
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream
- V
- VG
- GF
- DF
Nutrition per portion
Ingredients
- 2 ½ tbsp (20g) Coconut Milk Powder
- ¾ cup (150g) Granulated Sugar
- 1 tbsp (10g) Tapioca Starch
- 2 13.5oz Cans Unsweetened Coconut Milk
- 2 ½ tbsp (50g) Glucose
- ¾ cup (4.5oz, 125g) 60%-80% Dark Chocolate, Roughly Chopped
- 1 tbsp (10g) Cocoa Butter (Optional, will add extra creaminess)
- 1 tsp (4g) Vanilla Extract
- Pinch of Kosher Salt
Method
- Combine coconut milk powder, sugar, and tapioca starch into a bowl and whisk together.
- In a large saucepan, add glucose and all of the coconut milk. Heat the saucepan over medium heat, whisk to dissolve the glucose.
- Add in the sugar mixture into the saucepan with the coconut milk and whisk constantly until mixture is heated up to 140°F*.
- Turn off the heat and add the chopped chocolate, cocoa butter, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt into the saucepan. Whisk slowly until chocolate and cocoa butter are fully melted.
- Immediately pour the ice cream base into a shallow metal or glass bowl. Working quickly, fill a large bowl two-thirds of the way with very icy ice water. Nest the hot bowl into this ice bath, whisking occasionally until it cools down.**
- Transfer the ice cream base into a blender, and blend for 30 seconds. This step is optional but will result in the smoothest possible and a well combined ice cream.
- Transfer the ice cream base into a container and refrigerate overnight. If you have an ice cream maker that needs the bowl to be frozen, now is the time to place it to freezer (it needs to freeze for at least 24 hours).
- The following day, take out your ice cream base and give a quick whisk. Pour your ice cream base into the bowl of your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The ice cream is ready when it thickens into the texture of soft-serve ice cream and holds its shape, typically 20 to 30 minutes.
- Pack your ice cream into an airtight container and store it in your freezer until it hardens completely, between 4 and 12 hours. Or enjoy your ice cream immediately; it will be similar to soft-serve.
- The following day, place a large glass or metal bowl into the freezer and freeze for about an hour.
- Take out your ice cream base and give a quick whisk. Take your frozen bowl out of the freezer and pour the ice cream base into it. Using a hand mixer on the highest setting, whip the ice cream until it is nice and fluffy. This will take about 10 minutes.
- Pack your ice cream into an airtight container and store it in your freezer until it hardens completely, between 4 and 12 hours.
