Today is National Ice Cream day and coincidentally I have an awesome ice cream recipe to share with you. As some of you are aware of, my oldest daughter is allergic to dairy. If she ingests anything with cows milk she will suffer a severe eczema outbreak which often results in tears and frustration. A few months ago I purchased an ice cream maker because we wanted to make our own dairy-free ice cream just as good as “regular” kind. We’ve made ice cream using a soy base which was good but we’ve been making A LOT of coconut milk based ice cream which is our favorite. In fact, I like this ice cream so much, it is my new favorite, even more so than my beloved Häagen-Dazs coffee flavor. Coconut milk is nearly as creamy as heavy cream when using it as a base. The coconut flavor is very mild, slightly noticeable, but completely complimentary to this chocolate dessert. Best part of this recipe is it uses only 3 ingredients: coconut milk, sugar, and cocoa powder.
Not only is this recipe dairy-free, it’s also vegan. Creamy, chocolately, fantastic ice cream for the whole family to enjoy. So dust off your ice cream makers from the kitchen pantry and give this recipe a go – you won’t regret it. My new favorite ice cream inspired by Abigail.. I present to you chocolate coconut ice cream. Enjoy!
Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients:
1 14oz can coconut milk *Coconut milk can often be found in the Asian section of your local grocery store. UPDATE: I made this with an organic coconut milk which WAS NOT labeled “light” but in fact it was. It was not as creamy as when I use Chaokoh brand. So if your ice cream is silky creamy, it may be the coconut milk you are using.
1/3 cup sugar or 1/3 cup agave syrup
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
Directions:
Place all coconut milk, sugar, and cocoa powder in a blender. Blend everything for 30 seconds and pour into your ice cream machine bowl and follow manufacturer’s directions. Transfer to a Rubbermaid type container with lid.
Here’s the ice cream maker I bought and own. I love it!
Do you mean 14oz of coconut milk or 114oz? How much is that in grams?
I’ve written a lot of recipes for dairy free ice cream and a lot of them use coconut milk (it’s a great substitute). I’m excited to try it with chocolate though! Great recipe, and great instructions, thanks for sharing.
This is such simple and fantastic recipe. I’ve tried it once myself and I can’t wait to serve it to my lactose intolerant boyfriend! The coconut goes well with the chocolate and isn’t overpowering for those who are weary of coconut. 🙂
Found this recipe pretty sweet. Maybe I’ll try half coconut milk half almond with arrowroot powder as a thickener.
Thanks for the starter!
Compared to fresh coconut milk, the canned stuff tastes like an old shoe. It is well worth the effort to crack a coconut and process your own coconut cream.
Kelly, I belive Oreo cookies are dairy free too. Try crushing some next time and adding it as a topping. Unbelievable!
I made this tonight and sprinkled toasted shredded coconut on top. It was SO EASY and really really good, too!
I tried this today and I don’t know what happened but the fat in the coconut milk separated from the rest, so even after blending I had lumps of fat swimming in the mixture. I used regular coconut milk that only contained coconut and water. Any suggestions?
Wow! Made many types of vegan milk free ice creams and I must say this is the BEST and easiest recipes out there! Love it!!! Made a double batch today, looking forward to making more!
Just found out I am allergic to dairy a few days ago (respiratory stuff)…super devastated since I’m a daily-cheese-and-ice-cream gal. I just made this recipe (and ate half of it in one go) and am realizing that dairy-free probably isn’t as bad as I thought. Thanks for this one – I needed it! 🙂
Awesome recipe! My family (allergic to dairy) thanks you! We added vanilla and a little rum to bring out the flavors.
I love coconut milk ice cream! My fiance is allergic to dairy, and had never had any sort of homemade ice cream as a result. I made a batch secretly with the first strawberries from our CSA, and he nearly cried with joy. It was soooo good!
Hi Debbie,
When I’ve made this in the past using “light” coconut milk, the end result was more icy in texture compared to a velvety ice cream texture. You could try using the TJ light version but I’m guessing it won’t be as creamy but still probably really good.
Alice (or anyone else who has made this) – I have a bunch of cans of Trader Joe’s Light Coconut Milk. It’s very creamy and the only ingredients are coconut milk and water, no guar gum, etc. Would it work i this recipe? Thanks so much!
I made this last week because I had all 3 ingredients, and wanted to use up some coconut milk I bought (do I really need an excuse to make ice cream ?). I added an 1/8th of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper just for giggles (and Cinco de Mayo). It turned out great. I belive it’s growing on me each time I try it. I love how it’s different from milk/cream ice cream in that there’s a fresh clean almost “slushy” taste to it. Thanks for sharing!
I just made this and it is so good! And, it couldn’t be any easier to make.
This was so delicious! Thank you thank you 🙂 Any recommendations for other mixins besides cocoa? Would frozen strawberries or pureed mango work the same way?
OMG…This is so good! I had leftover coconut cream from making something else and don’t know what to do with it. I have been going dairy-free on and off and the timing could not have been more perfect. I made this tonight using a good quality hot chocolate mix (Allegro) since I was out of cocoa powder. I added equal parts water and coconut cream to thin it out and make 14 ounces. I have not even frozen it yet and it already tasted so good. The Agave nectar rounded out the flavor. I need more coconut milk recipes…
Thank you Alice!
This looks so good. Do you have directions for making it in a home freezer as I do not have an ice cream freezer. I may need to sneak and buy one.
I found this looking for ice cream recipes that didn’t need cream, since I was craving and we were out. WOW! It froze up beautifully and tasted fantastic! The texture is so much like dairy, it was unbelievable. We added shredded sweetened coconut to ours for texture. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Oh funny I just made this earlier tonight. Before finding your blog. Very rich and creamy ice cream, new favorite is to use full fat organic coconut milk. I plan on making a coconut milk blueberry vanilla tomorrow night since the cocolate is already gone! (3 kids…) I added 1 tsp homemade peppermint extract to mine too, it was so rich and smooth and creamy. I also just whisked mine up real good in a bowl before adding. Plus that coconut milk fat actually boosts metabalism…woohoo, more ice cream please!
Kate and I made this — it was delicious!
I just made this and had to resist the urge not to eat the mix before getting it into the ice cream maker. I just got a 2 quart Cuisinart (is that what I see in your pictures?) and this is the first ice cream I’ve ever made, so thank you! 🙂
It gets really hard in the freezer, but I leave it out on the counter before scooping, and it’s worked well. I think next time, I’ll do one can of regular coconut milk and one can of lite, just so I don’t feel so guilty about the calories. It’s soooo creamy, though!
I love coconut, chocolate and ice cream. I cannot wait to try.
I love your website. I found it while visiting The Pioneer Woman. You are also one of my favorites!
This is wonderful! I just made it this weekend and it was so easy. I tried whisking it first, but resorted to the blender, which was much better in the long run. It’s a delicious alternative to the heaviness of cream, etc. Thank you, Alice!