When my friend Kelly offered to share a recipe from her book, Dairy-Free Ice Cream, I couldn’t resist this luxurious Sunbutter fudge ripple ice cream. It merges the comfort flavors of fall with the cool, creamy cravings of summer.
As an added nutrition bonus, the base of the ice cream is sweetened only with dates – no added sugar is required! Okay, the chocolate chips are an extra indulgence, but overall, this dairy-free fudge ripple ice cream practically qualifies as downright healthy!
Dairy-Free Sunbutter Fudge Ripple Ice Cream
Quite a few dairy-free ice cream books have emerged this summer, but every collection is different. Kelly Brozyna, the author of Dairy-Free Ice Cream, focuses on creamy and healthy. She uses rich ingredients like cashews, coconut, and hempseeds to make luxurious and completely plant-based ice cream. For sweetening, Kelly sticks to coconut sugar, medjool dates, apple juice, and honey or agave.
Here is a random sampling of the recipes you will find in Dairy-Free Ice Cream:
Pecan Praline Ice Cream- Spiced Apple Tea Ice Cream
- Frozen Coffee or Tea Lattes
- Brownie Batter Ice Cream
- Carrot Cake Ice Cream
- Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
- Chocolate Chip Cookies (for ice cream sandwiches!)
- Orange Cream Frozen Yogurt
- Almond and Chocolate Protein Pudding Pops
- Strawberry Rhubarb Sherbet
- Sunbutter Fudge Ripple Ice Cream (recipe below!)
Another thing that I love about this cookbook is the simplicity. There is an intro that covers ingredients and tips, but then Kelly goes straight into the recipes.
Her recipe writing is also all about flow. You won’t see complicated lists of instructions, but rather quick instructions placed within the ingredients to keep you moving in the kitchen and done prepping the ice cream within minutes. The Sunbutter Fudge Ripple Ice Cream recipe below is in our site format, but it is written a little differently in Kelly’s book.
Special Diet Notes: Dairy-Free Sunbutter Fudge Ripple Ice Cream
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, optionally nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, plant-based, vegetarian, and paleo-friendly.
Allergic to tree nuts? Use the hemp milk option and see my post for clarification on coconut: Are Coconut-Based Dairy Alternatives Safe for Nut Allergies?
- 2 cups full-fat canned coconut milk
- ½ cup soft pitted medjool dates (soaked first if they are dry)
- 1½ cups cashew milk or hemp milk
- ¼ cup SunButter (sunflower seed butter)
- 1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon guar gum
- Pinch sea salt
- Pour the chocolate chips into a heat safe bowl.
- Heat the coconut milk in a small saucepan until it just begins to simmer.
- Pour the hot coconut milk over the chocolate chips and let them sit for 30 seconds.
- Stir until melted and smooth.
- Add the coconut milk, and dates to a high power blender or food processor, and puree until creamy and smooth.
- Add the cashew or hemp milk, SunButter, vanilla, guar gum, and salt, and puree until creamy and smooth.
- Freeze the mixture for about one hour or refrigerate until cold.
- Pour it into your ice cream maker per your manufacturer's directions.
- Once the ice cream maker has finished, layer the ice cream with the ganache in a freezer safe bowl.
- Cover and freeze until hard enough to scoop.
More Dairy-Free Ice Cream Recipes
Ultra-Rich Peanut Butter Ice Cream (Sunbutter option)
Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream
Pina Colada Ice Cream
7 Comments
I can’t get enough of the PB ice cream I just made but I think this vegan sunbutter version would give it a run for it’s money!
Hi there, def going to make this ice cream. I’ve never used hemp seeds before, do they give ice cream a creamyness like cashews?
Hi Fiona, when made into a hemp milk, they can be used in place of the cashew milk, but will have a stronger flavor.
ok. Does the hemp milk make it creamy?
The full-fat coconut milk and sunbutter are really what contribute to the creaminess most. You can use any non-dairy milk for the hemp milk. Kelly just prefers to use hemp milk or cashew milk, but rice, soy, almond, or flax milk will work fine, too.
Did you know that I just made my first ever batch of sunflower seed butter just a couple days ago!??!? And I’ve been eating it stright from the spoon, which is fine, but I feel like it deserves something more.
Any idea if guar could be replaced with something or just outright omitted?
Well, it could be replaced with xanthan gum, but I think you already knew that! I would say omit. It’s my understanding that gums are added to ice cream to improve consistency and help prevent “holes” where ice crystals form, but it should be pretty darn tasty and creamy without it!