Dairy Free Vanilla Ice Cream is a refreshing basic to which you can add fruit, chocolate, nuts, or any of your favourite toppings. This one is also free from gluten, nuts, eggs, soy, and nightshades!
When I shared my Maple Walnut Dairy Free Ice Cream on social media, someone suggested a vanilla ice cream. I'm happy to report that it is finally here! You might also like Dairy Free Pumpkin Ice Cream.
Vanilla Extract
I had to test this Dairy Free Vanilla Ice Cream recipe many times! I know, rough job...It needed a little extra vanilla flavour while keeping the texture right. The flavour was good with 2 tablespoons of pure vanilla extract. However, the alcohol in the pure extract keeps the ice cream from freezing before my ice cream machine bowl warms up. (See more notes on the timing of homemade ice cream in my Maple Walnut Dairy Free Ice Cream post.)
I have not tested this recipe with artificial vanilla extract. I don't use artificial flavours. However, with the high price of pure vanilla extract these days, I might be tempted! If you do have some artificial vanilla extract in your cupboard and decide to try this, let me know how it goes! Share a pic on Instagram and tag me @CathysGlutenFree.
Scrape Out a Vanilla Bean
So, I used an actual vanilla bean. It's not too difficult to slit it open and scrape out the contents. There are good instructions for scraping out a vanilla bean here: Beanilla.
Homemade Dairy Free Vanilla Ice Cream
Homemade ice cream freezes very hard because it does not contain any antifreeze. Therefore, you might want to freeze it in single scoops on a parchment-lined tray. After a few hours, transfer to an airtight container.
I use a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker.
So, whether you like your vanilla ice cream with cake, pie, in a sundae, or on its own, I hope you'll enjoy this often throughout the summer! Drop me a comment below and tell me how you eat vanilla ice cream.
Recipe
Dairy Free Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup unsweetened coconut milk from a carton, divided
- 2 pouches gelatine powder (enough to set 4 cups (500mL) liquid
- ½ cup boiling water
- 1 400 mL 13.5 oz can full fat coconut milk
- 8 soft dates pitted
- ¼ cup coconut butter
- 1 vanilla bean scraped
Instructions
- Sprinkle gelatine powder over ½ cup coconut milk from carton. Add ½ cup boiling water and stir constantly until dissolved.
- Add remaining 1 cup coconut milk from carton, coconut milk from can, dates, coconut butter, and vanilla scrapings to high speed blender. Puree until smooth. Chill in refrigerator for an hour.
- Following manufacturer's instructions, pour the mixture from blender into chilled ice cream machine bowl and process until it firms up, about ½ hour.
- Enjoy the ice cream right away or freeze for later.
Charlotte says
I've actually never made dairy-free ice cream but I'm thinking this looks so creamy and delicious I need to give it a try!!
Cathy says
Let me know how it goes for you!
Colleen says
Looks so good, Cathy! Vanilla is my go to flavour, and you just can't go wrong with it, right? I also, only use real ingredients, so artificial vanilla isn't in the cards. Luckily, I have a stash from my last trip to Mexico. 🙂
Cathy says
Now there's a good souvenir!
Lisa says
Wow, Cathy! I can almost taste it! Love the idea of the coconut milk and the dates...fabulous!
Cathy says
Thank you, Lisa!
Terri @foodmeanderings says
Looks delicious! I'm going to make this for my son's birthday, as his good friend is allergic to dairy!
Cathy says
Wonderful! Hearing this sort of thing makes it all worthwhile!