Last week we wore sweaters and slept under blankets. This weekend it’s 90 degrees and we’re sporting shorts and tees. We spent Saturday at a track meet in the blazing hot sun and arrived home with sun-kissed cheeks and shoulders. The air-conditioner is on and we’re doing our best to keep cool. I reached for my favorite ice cream book for a smooth and cold creamy dessert. I’ve discovered that the white sugar called for in most ice cream recipes can be replaced with maple syrup or honey without making any major alterations to the end product. I used coconut milk instead of heavy cream and we were all pleased with a creamy, rich, and chocolaty dessert with minimal effort. If you’re looking for a good ice cream book for the warmer months, I highly recommend David’s book.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
If you’d like, you can substitute the peanut butter for another nut butter, the honey for maple syrup, or heavy cream for coconut milk. Adapted from The Perfect Scoop
Makes about 1 quart
2 cups coconut milk (I prefer Native Forest. It’s an organic coconut milk without a BPA-lined can)
1/4 cup cacao powder
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
Place coconut milk, cacao powder and maple syrup in a medium saucepan. Heat the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly until it comes to a simmer. Remove from heat and whisk in peanut butter. Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and pour chocolate mixture through the sieve. Cover the bowl tightly and place in the refrigerator to chill for about 2 hours. Freeze mixture in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions. Serve.
Posts may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, your costs will be the same but Deliciously Organic will receive a small commission. This helps cover some of the costs for this site. We appreciate your support!
 |
I rave about myself every night at the dinner table, “Honey, can you believe I made this??” And it’s all thanks to you!! (and teaching me that organic butter is welcomed and embraced! No more fat free, yay!!
{ 44 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks like a wonderful treat! Love the idea of using coconut milk over cream!
Thanks Lori!
Hi Carrie -
Looks great!
Does the Native Forest can say BPA free? The ones I’ve looked at didn’t, and I can’t find verification that they are BPA free, even though I’ve heard it several times.
Thanks.
Amy G.
Their cans don’t say BPA free, but I called them a while ago and they said all of their canned products (except mushrooms) are BPA free. I originally leaned about this company in this article: http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/7-companies-you-can-trust-to-use-bpa-free-cans.html (Also, the negative reviews on Amazon were from orders quite a while back. I’ve been ordering via subscribe and save for many months and the coconut milk is coming from Native Forest (despite what some of the commenters said).
I’ve read about Native Forest being BPA-free on a few other trusted sites: http://livingmaxwell.com/bpa-free-cans-organic-food, http://www.marksdailyapple.com/are-your-canned-foods-safe-to-eat-a-bpa-free-buying-guide/#axzz1ss8pULuN
This looks amazing and so much better for you than any recipe that I’ve seen. I love it!
Thanks for all your good research on the Native Forest cans. I will purchase them now!
Amy G.
YUM! Life just got better around our household. I never would have tried to replace the sugar with maple syrup on my own when making ice cream, thanks for testing the waters, so to speak. You simply amaze me. Your photography makes me want it NOW!
)
Thanks Karen!
This sounds great! Going to sub maple syrup for golden syrup (boyfriend’s favourite) but keeping everything else the same. Finally – I’ve got a use for that can of coconut milk that’s been sitting in the cupboard for ages! Pinned!
I love PB and chocolate. Thanks for sharing the recipe. What is the purpose of sieve? Do you lose any of the chocolate and PB doing that as it would be sticky?
The maple syrup prob helps make this ice cream especially creamy. How pronounced is the coconut flavor from the coconut milk? I would love to make this for a vegan friend, but not sure if he’s a fan of coconut flavor. Thanks for the recipe and the idea of using alternate sugar and coconut milk instead of regular milk. One last quick question, can you always replace the eggs in an ice cream recipe just by using coconut milk, or did this one work without eggs because it gets it’s creamy-ness from both the maple syrup, coconut milk, and peanut butter?
Thanks!
I don’t think the coconut flavor is very strong, but if he has a strong aversion to coconut it might not be his favorite. The original recipe didn’t have eggs in it, but I usually like to add yolks for extra protein, minerals and creaminess. It seems this recipe didn’t need the yolks because the coconut milk and peanut butter make it extra creamy.
Time to break-out the ice cream maker. This is first on my list!
Wow – love the combo of ingredients in this one! Anything chocolate, peanut butter and organic is a must try!
This recipe made me finally buy an ice cream maker! Can’t wait to try it!!
I think you’ll be happy you took the plunge!
Will this recipe work if I just use the freezer rather than an ice cream maker?
You could pour the mixture into a small baking dish (8 x 8″), place in the freezer, and stir with a fork every 30 minutes or so for about 3 hours until frozen. It will have a much more icy consistency, but still taste pretty great.
I’m definitely giving this try. Thanks, Carrie!
This looks dreamy!! Awesome creation!
oh my absolute word – this looks so delicious i’m licking my monitor. definitely going to try it. one question – why do you sieve it? what’s in there that needs to be sieved out, or does it just give the mixture a smoother consistency or something? thanks!
I put that step in there to remove any tiny bits of cocoa powder that might not have dissolved. It ensures the ice cream is nice and creamy.
Does a person need to use an ice cream maker to make this?
I want a scoop!
oops. Sorry. Should have read ALL the comments before posting my question. I had a 3 yr. old speeding up my reading abilities.
Looks wonderful Carrie!!
This looks great! What kind of ice cream maker do you have ?
I have a cuisinart. I have it for at last 8 years. I bought a few extra bowls and always keep them in the freezer. Love it!
oh geez…really?? this looks ridiculously amazing!!!!!!!!!
This will be the first recipe I try when I buy Cuisinart. Thanks for posting.
BTW. You I could not find a print option and sharing (email)was quite tricky.
Carrie, I only have the light coconut milk from Trader Joe’s but do have some cream on hand. I really want to make this do you think I could do like 1 1/2 cups coconut milk with 1/2 cup cream or more cream. I’ve been trying to think of a way to make this without getting more coconut milk. Or should I just use the light coconut milk and egg yolks. What do think would produce the best/creamiest consistency for this recipe.
Thanks! I’m so excited to try this low carb version of ice cream. Yummy!
1 1/2 cups coconut milk with 1/2 cup cream should be a good substitute. Or 2 cups light coconut milk with 2 raw yolks would be nice too (and the yolk would add extra nutrients!).
Carrie, this looks amazing. So luscious!
Do you switch out the exact amount of white sugar for maple syrup? Just wondering because I’m just reading up on some other recipes!
Yes, I usually replace the white sugar with maple syrup 1:1 (sometimes I’ll reduce the maple syrup, just to keep the sugar content down. Nice thing about making ice cream is you can taste as you go. If it’s not sweet enough, add a little more!). I use maple syrup if it’s a chocolate, vanilla, caramel, etc. type flavored ice cream. Any ice cream dessert with a fruit flavor, I use honey.
How does this do after being in the freezer for a couple of days? I tried ice cream with coconut milk once and it got pretty hard in the freezer. Is this best just served fresh?
Of course, I’m asking this assuming that this will last long enough for storage!!!
Haha….It might not last long enough for storage, but if it does, it’s best to let the ice cream thaw a bit before eating since it becomes very hard when frozen.
I just made this today and it is delicious! And also very, very rich. I only needed a few bites and I was full. Thanks for the great recipe!
Wow this looks amazing!! Thanks for sharing it! Do you think I could use rice milk instead of coconut? And also, do you have to freeze it in that special container, or can you freeze it in anything? This is so great!
I don’t advise using rice milk because it will cause the ice cream to turn out very icy. If you can’t have coconut milk, you can always substitute with heavy cream. You can freeze the ice cream in the bowl it’s frozen in, but it will become very hard. I usually scoop it out and put it in another bowl (if there are leftovers!).
Thank you for responding and the advice! I will be making soon.
Thank you for the recommendation on coconut milk. I’ve been very worried about which brands were safe.
I discovered that this recipe doubles as a great pudding recipe if you simply omit the freezing in an ice cream maker step! Once the stuff sets, it’s a delicious and thick peanut butter and chocolate pudding! I actually used half the maple syrup to achieve a darker tasting pudding. Really good treat!
Thanks for the tip! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
{ 12 trackbacks }