Sunday, July 27, 2014
Beating the heat, dairy free style…….
I do not often partake in dessert type delectable goodies. But let’s face it, on a hot summer day, nothing screams, “Let’s cool off!!” like ice cream. I mean ice cream is a sweet, creamy, frozen bit o’ goodness. Don’t we all still get a little giddy every time we hear the music of the ice cream truck?

As a child, my favorite flavors were Superman and Bubblegum. Oh, Yummo! But as we grow/learn and start to read labels, we realize that those oh-so-yummy-brightly-colored-frozen-bits-o-heaven tend to be filled with all kinds of interesting ingredients. Additives, preservatives, and colorings, OH MY! As an aware parent, I struggled with giving my children such things. Two of the children have issues with sugar, one has issues with dairy, and all have issues with the food dyes. But I still wanted to give them that summer time sweet treat experience. Thankfully, we have two solutions in this house. One is a frozen banana based “ice cream”, the other is a coconut milk based ice cream.
*Save those too ripe bananas!! Peel them and stick them in the freezer to have on hand. The “ice cream” will be sweeter the more ripe the bananas are. Also keep cans of coconut milk in the refrigerator so you are always at the ready. For best results the coconut milk should be the full fat kind with NO other additives. That is seemingly more difficult now, so if it contains guar gum, it is ok. There will just be some added work.*

The kids love both of these recipes equally and ask me to make them often. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Dairy Free Banana “Ice Cream’

1-2 very ripe frozen bananas (peeled-slightly thawed)
2-3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
any other add-ins you desire: nuts, peanut or nut butter, etc.

Add the slightly thawed bananas to a food processor. Buzz them up until smooth. If you are having difficulty obtaining smoothness, add a tiny bit of rice/almond milk. Add the cocoa powder and any other mix-ins. Mix just until everything is incorporated. Spoon out and serve. Enjoy!

*note- this is more of a make-on-demand kind of treat. You can keep excess in the freezer, but my experience is that it will freeze solid.

Dairy Free Whipped Ice Cream

2 cans of chilled full fat coconut milk (over night in the refrigerator is best)
1/2 cup of honey (local is best)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon

Open the cans of coconut milk carefully. The water and the coconut fat will separate due to being chilled. You only want the coconut fat, not the excess liquid on the bottom of the can. I opt to puncture the bottom of the can with a can opener, letting the liquid drain into the sink. Once the liquid is out, I open the top of the can (place it on a towel to catch any remaining drips) and spoon out the coconut. Add both cans to a bowl. Beat on high until it resembles whipped cream. If your coconut milk contains guar gum, it won’t necessarily whip up as much. If that is the case, just beat it until it is smooth and foamy. Gently fold in the honey, vanilla, and cinnamon. Stir gently just until it is mixed. Place in a freezer safe container, and place it in the freezer. If you happened to have the guar gum coconut milk, you will need to take the container out every 30 minutes for a couple of hours, to stir it.

*other options. I have omitted the cinnamon and added in other ingredients. My favorite is to add cocoa powder and almond butter. The almond butter is best added after the mixture has become more solid so you can swirl in ribbons of it. Another household substitution is adding mint extract in place of the vanilla (you probably need less than a teaspoon. It is very potent.) and adding some dairy free chocolate chips.

Note- this recipe will work with heavy cream if you desire actual dairy ice cream. Enjoy!

Here’s to dairy-free, sweet frozen numminess! 🙂