Vegan Strawberry Basil Creamsicles

Regardless of the temperature outside, I do consider dairy-free frozen desserts to be treats worthy of enjoying year round. Just bundle up and enjoy! Nonetheless, I couldn’t let the height of “cool and creamy” season pass by without sharing N’ice Cream and this beautiful recipe for strawberry basil creamsicles.

I first reviewed N’ice Cream: 80+ Recipes for Healthy Homemade Vegan Ice Creams for the Allergic Living summer issue. However, my writing space is limited in print, sometimes to less than 100 words! Here I can share a few more notes and a sample recipe from this pure dairy-free dessert book.

Visually, N’ice Cream is stunning. It’s a sturdy paperback, which includes a beautiful full-color photograph for nearly every recipe. The introduction in this book is brief, just touching on ingredients and ice cream making tips before diving head first into dessert. I’ve included the recipe chapter titles below along with a few sample recipe titles from each section to give you a little taste:

• Creamy Ice Creams – Raspberry White Chocolate Ice Cream, Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream, Black Sesame Licorice Ice Cream (Note: this chapter also includes many ice pops)
• Instant Ice Creams – Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream, Coconut Sundae, Sweet Potato Gingerbread Ice Cream (Note: this chapter is very heavy on bananas)
• Ice Pops and Sorbets – Strawberry Basil Creamsicles (recipe below!), Kiwi-Lime Sorbet, Choco Bananas (Note: sorbets and pops can be found in the other chapters, too – lots of comingling!)
• Milkshakes – $5 Milkshake, Minty Triple Chocolate Milkshake, Salted Caramel Milkshake
• Ice Cream Cakes and Cookies – Dreamy Blackberry Ice Cream Cake, Raw Chocolate Ice Cream Cookies, Berry Cookie Crumble Ice Cream Cups
• Additions and Toppings – White Chocolate Sauce, Cake Crumble, Oat Ice Cream Bowls

As for top dietary concerns, every recipe churned out by these authors is free of dairy, eggs, gluten, soy and refined sugars. Many of their concoctions do use nuts, but they have included icons to denote nut-free options. And speaking of top allergen-free, Virpi and Tuulia’s Strawberry Basil Creamsicles are pretty much everyone-friendly …

Special Diet Notes: Strawberry Basil Creamsicles

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, plant-based, vegetarian, and paleo.

Strawberry Basil Creamsicles

 

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

These creamy, dreamy dairy-free strawberry pops have a hint of basil for a nice surprise. You can also turn this recipe into a lovely milkshake! Just use cold ingredients and add some ice when you blend. (Please note that the Prep time does not include freezing).

Author: Virpi Mikkonen and Tuulia Talvio

Serves: 6 dairy-free creamsicles

Ingredients

• 2 cups (480 ml) fresh strawberries
• 1 (14 ounce / 400ml) can full-fat coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup or other sweetener
• 10 to 15 fresh basil leaves

Instructions

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Taste and add more basil or sweetener, if desired.
3. Pour into ice cream molds, add ice cream sticks and freeze for 4 to 6 hours, or until firm.
4. Remove the molds by dipping them into hot water for a moment.

Notes

Reprinted from N’Ice Cream by arrangement with Avery Books, members of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © 2016, Virpi Mikkonen and Tuulia Talvio.

3.5.3208