Vegan Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream

This is my standard chocolate "ice cream". Because I cannot have dairy, this is how I get the creaminess that I desire without the dairy. I'm not supposed to consume chocolate, either. More than just a little and my digestion gets upset.

Pineapple enjoys this recipe so I make it mostly for her. The darker version of this recipe is also great for mixing with some of the tart sorbets like raspberry or strawberry.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Oat milk
• I go with gluten-free, higher fat versions
• Dairy alternative: regular milk
• 3/4 cup Coconut Cream
• I prefer the "Aroy-D" brand coconut cream because it doesn't have guar gum (see the notes, below)
• Dairy alternative: heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon Vegan Cream Cheese
• I prefer Daiya plain cream cheese because it doesn't use nuts or potato starch
• Dairy alternative: cream cheese
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• I prefer organic cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• As mentioned in my Vanilla Lemonade Smoothie recipe, I prefer the Villa Vanilla Super Extract
• 2-6 Tablespoons Baking Cocoa
• Pineapple and I prefer Dutch Process cocoa, but regular cocoa is also great
• 2 Tablespoons for more milk-chocolate intensity
• 4 to 6 tablespoons for a darker chocolate flavor

Instructions

1. Prepare the coconut cream
1. Empty the entire container of coconut cream into the blender
• You will likely need a rubber scraper to get all the cream out of the container
2. Blend until smooth (typically 1 to 2 minutes)
• Start at a low speed and ramp up to about 70% of full speed, otherwise you will end up with a large clump of oil on the jars' lid
• At some point in the process you will see clumps/specs of coconut cream clinging to the side of the blender jar: keep blending, you're almost there
• You want to see a smooth mixture bouncing up the sides of the jar
3. Measure out 3/4 cup of cream for the next step
• Refrigerate the remainder (or make more pints 😉)
2. Combine 1 cup oat milk, 3/4 cup coconut cream, 1 tablespoon cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 2-6 tablespoons cocoa into blender and blend until smooth
• Consider making a double-sized batch for 2 pints
3. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes
• The blending process introduced a lot of air, which we want to release so we get more cream in the final pint
• You may want to lightly stir the mixture to help release that air
4. Pour the mixture into the CREAMi pint(s), up to the "max fill" line.
5. Freeze for 24 hours
6. Spin as "ice cream"
7. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

This recipe is similar to my Coconut Vanilla Ice Cream recipe. The only difference is the addition of cocoa powder. Please refer to the Vanilla recipe for tips on preparing the coconut cream.