Strawberry Ice Cream (Dairy- & Refined Sugar-Free)

Strawberry Ice Cream (Dairy- & Refined Sugar-Free)

The perfect summer treat!

A few weeks ago when we were planning our Fourth of July menu we decided homemade ice cream was really the only appropriate dessert, which made total sense seeing as we’d never made homemade ice cream and didn’t own an ice cream maker, ha! So down the rabbit hole we went.

Ryan spearheaded this adventure and was so invested in making me something dairy free, which was so sweet (pun intended)! I kept telling him I was more than fine with store-bought, or with nothing at all, like, seriously. But no, he persevered, and I’m so so so glad he did because it was delicious!

So many of you reached out to ask about the dairy-free strawberry ice cream recipe after I posted the video of him dumping strawberries into the machine, and rightfully so, it was fabulous. And not too sweet, which I really appreciated. This was our first try at homemade ice cream, so I’m sure with a little tweaking we could make it even better, but honestly? I wouldn’t mind another scoop right now.

The base is cashews making it genuinely creamy. You’d never guess! And about the sweetener, since a few of you asked: we swapped agave for maple syrup, and ended up using twice as much. It sounds like a lot, I know, but maple isn’t as sweet as agave, so it more or less evens out. This is still very much a not-too-sweet ice cream.

Dairy-Free Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe

Rich, creamy, and secretly just cashews and summer berries. Serves 6.

You’ll need: a blender and an ice cream maker

Prep: 10 min | Soak: 30 min to 8 hrs | Churn: about 20 min | Freeze: 30 min

Ingredients

• 2½ cups raw cashews
• 6 medium strawberries, stems removed
• 1 cup non-dairy milk (we used coconut milk, full fat)
• ½ cup maple syrup
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp pink salt

To churn in:

• 1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped

Instructions

1. Make sure ice cream maker barrel is completely frozen. (This is the one step you really can’t cheat on!)
   
2. Cover cashews with hot water and let them soak for at least 30 minutes. If you have the time, a few hours is even better for creaminess, but half an hour will absolutely do the job.
   
3. Drain cashews and add to your blender along with milk, maple syrup, vanilla, salt, and six whole strawberries. Start low, work your way up to high, and let it go until it’s completely silky. No grit!
   
4. Get ice cream maker going and pour in the cashew base. Churn for about ten minutes, then add chopped strawberries. Keep churning until it’s thick and stops swirling around, usually another ten minutes or so.
   
5. Scoop mixture into freezer-safe container and freeze for thirty minutes. Or eat it right out of the machine like soft serve, which is what we did. Twice!
   
6. Store leftovers covered in the freezer. And know once the ice cream is frozen, it’s FROZEN. Take it out with plenty of time to soften before serving.

Adapted from Kathy Patalsky’s vegan strawberry ice cream.

If you try it, you’ll have to let me know! xoxo