I’ve always loved ice cream. Even though I don’t tend to eat a lot of it, I certainly enjoy a few scoops of Green Tea ice cream or Cardamom ice cream every now and again.

You couldn’t pay me to eat a “low fat” ice cream. No way! The milk fat is what gives ice cream its true creamy texture and that rich taste. Plus, the fat is what gives ice cream all of its nourishing properties. Without it, you’ve just got a sugary waste of calories.

Recently, someone asked me if coconut oil can replace milk fat in ice cream.

Now, I have made decent tasting ice cream with full fat coconut milk but I have never even thought of leaving out milk fat and replacing it solely with coconut oil. Plus milk is sort of what makes ice cream, well, ice cream.

Curiosity got the better of me though. What if you could use something like Hemp Milk – not a fatty milk, but then add the fat back in with the coconut oil. Hmmm… could it really work?

I did some digging and found this article on PubMed. It would appear that yes, coconut oil can become the necessary fat in ice cream.

Naturally, I got right down to the business of making coconut oil ice cream without using coconut milk or dairy milk!

Can coconut oil replace milk fat in ice cream? The verdict is…

I’ll spare you the details but 6 attempts later, I made it work! Yes, you absolutely can make ice cream with coconut oil as the main fat. And it is delicious!

Now it isn’t exactly like traditional ice cream, or even coconut milk ice cream, but I actually like it a lot more now that I’ve tried a number of different variations. All of the kids where we are living also enjoyed it and these children are used to Dryers ice cream and the like. So that says a lot. They couldn’t really tell the difference. Ha!

Here is the basic recipe you can follow. It’s pretty forgiving so feel free to use more or less honey to accommodate your taste preferences. You can also add in additional spices if you so choose. I made a pretty amazing cardamom peach ice cream! My daughter enjoyed the blueberry ginger ice cream a lot.

Berry Delicious Coconut Oil Ice Cream With Vegan Option

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Additional Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 40 minutes

Coconut oil ice cream? Yes! It is a thing. Berries compliment the coconut oil to create a truly delicious dairy free treat.

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Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 1/3 cups of fresh fruit or berries
• 1/2 cup raw honey
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• Up to 2 teaspoons of additional spices like cinnamon, ginger, allspice, etc...
• 1½ cups hemp milk, nut milk, or rice milk
• 6 pastured egg yolks (for VEGAN option see notes below)

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the coconut oil over low heat. Add the fruit, honey, and vanilla. Simmer on low for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove from heat.
3. Add the milk and stir until well combined.
4. Pour the mixture into a blender and blend on low until smooth.
5. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks.
6. Slowly and gradually add in the blended mixture. You want to do this in small batches, whisking until smooth.
7. Return the thickened mixture to the saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently until it thickens, about 3 minutes.
8. Remove from heat. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until the mixture has cooled.
9. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker. Follow the manufacturer's directions to chill the mixture to an ice cream consistency.

Notes

Looking for a Vegan option?

Raw cashews, soaked and ground to a very smooth cream, have very similar
properties (high in fat and protein) to whisked egg yolks. They do not add any flavor to the ice cream.

If you are going to use this method I suggest soaking the 1/4 cup of cashews in 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk (like this one). Then use in place of the egg yolks.

Egg yolks do help ice cream remain frozen once removed from the freezer so be aware that the Vegan option will melt a little faster. But it will taste just as good!

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 cup
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 209Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 284mgSodium: 86mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 3gSugar: 11gProtein: 8g

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered from Nutritionix. Nutrition information can vary for a recipe based on many factors. We strive to keep the information as accurate as possible, but make no warranties regarding its accuracy. We encourage readers to make their own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.