This recipe for paleo coffee soft serve ice cream was shared with us by Tina Turbin of Paleomazing. Tina is the author of numerous books and ebooks, all focused healthy, paleo, and gluten-free living. Fortunately for us, most of her work is dairy-free, too!
I know, it’s still technically winter. But does dairy-free indoor ice cream season ever really end? Even if you aren’t ready for cool and creamy treats, your going to want to pin this paleo coffee soft serve ice cream for your summer bucket list. It’s an indulgent dessert that is just a little bit guilty.
The secret to this paleo coffee soft serve ice cream is actually rum! Pure distilled spirits in moderation are considered acceptable by most in the paleo circles. Plus, the recipe uses a very small amount of rum, and some of the alcohol is cooked out.
So why use rum at all? Alcohol helps to prevent ice crystals from forming and provides more of a soft serve consistency in homemade dairy-free ice cream. Brianna also uses it in her Paleo Honey Vanilla No Churn Dairy-Free Ice Cream. You can omit the alcohol, but when you freeze the ice cream, it may become quite hard packed.
Special Diet Notes: Paleo Coffee Soft Serve Ice Cream
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, soy-free, optionally vegan, vegetarian, paleo, and top food allergy-friendly.
- 2 14-ounce cans regular, full-fat coconut milk
- ¾ cup to 1 cup honey or maple syrup
- ¼ cup instant coffee (rounded if you prefer a stronger coffee flavor)
- 2 pinches vanilla powder, optional
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon rum
- Place the coconut milk, sweetener, coffee, and vanilla, if using, in a saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat while whisking. When very hot to the touch add the rum.
- Gently simmer while stirring the mixture for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for about 10 minutes.
- Pour the coffee mixture into a glass dish. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours to chill completely.
- Stir and then process in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions (make sure you have pre-frozen the machine's container, if needed).
- Serve immediately. Pack leftovers into a freezer-safe container and freeze. The rum will keep it from hardening too much.
15 Comments
Hi
I made your Paleo Coffee Soft Serve Ice Cream it was very good.Is the first time it was still creamy after frozen for a week. Other dairy free turn very hard. By chance do you have other flavors of ice cream that stay that soft. I have try a lot .
karen
Hi Karen, the softness is due to the addition of rum. Alcohol doesn’t freeze, so it helps to lower the overall freezing point of the ice cream, keeping it softer. You can add a little alcohol to any dairy-free ice cream recipe to help achieve this. Typically 1 or 2 tablespoons doesn’t affect the taste much. I prefer rum, but you can have fun with it and use other types of alcohol. They will all perform similarly, but will have different flavors. I hope that helps!
This sounds fantastic! We are not concerned about dairy free, however, so I was wondering if you think this would work with dairy heavy cream. I just got decaf coffee packs and am dying to try them in ice cream! Thanks ☺️
Yes, that would probably work. It’s about 3 1/2 cups of coconut milk in the recipe, so you would want to swap in that amount. Although, I recommend trying the coconut version some day 🙂
Can these ice creams be made with Almond Milk or Cashew Milk…I really dislike Coconut?
Hi Nancy, this recipe uses coconut milk, not coconut milk beverage. So swapping in another milk beverage wouldn’t yield creamy results. See this post to better understand coconut milk products and subs -> http://www.godairyfree.org/news/what-is-coconut-milk
Hi! Is there a version of this yummy treat without an ice cream maker?? Thank you ?
Here you go Jacquelyn – http://www.godairyfree.org/news/tips-for-making-homemade-dairy-free-ice-cream-without-an-ice-cream-maker
does this recipe work without the coffee? As well as other flavors?
Yes, it will work just fine with other flavors! We have other coconut milk ice cream recipes up too – just sweeten to taste.
Dairy free coffee ice cream – this could be a winner for my hubby who’s a dairy free coffee lover!!
I hope both you and he get the chance to enjoy it Amy!
I must admit, ice-cream is my guilty pleasure! Since discovering my dairy allergy, I really miss Ben & Jerry’s! This recipe looks lovely, thanks for sharing Alisa!
Hopefully homemade will fit the bill for you Paul 🙂
Look for Coconut Bliss Ice cream when you don’t have time to make ice cream. They have a lot of flavors and the consistency is that of Hagen Daaz!