Cashew Vanilla Ice Cream | Vegan, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free

Nothing says summer like a generous helping of smooth, creamy ice cream. This recipe is full of natural ingredients, it's easy to make and it's free from refined sugar, dairy and eggs. Although higher in calories than the classic banana-based nice cream, there's certainly a place for this indulgent treat. And with the intense richness, let's just say that a single scoop goes a long way.

As well as a vanilla flavour, I also made a matcha and chocolate chip version using the matcha superfood mix by YourSuper. They've been kind enough to provide a discount code if you want to check out their products. Use TOMI15 at checkout to get 15% off! Visit their store here.



Ingredients
- 2 cups cashews (soaked overnight and then drained)*
- 1 and 1/4 cups cashew milk**
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp melted food safe shea butter*** (I used SuperFoodLx cbd shea butter) or coconut oil 
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

* It is important to soak your cashews in order to enhance the creaminess of the ice cream. If you're short on time try and soak them for at least 3 hours, though overnight is preferable.

** You can make your own cashew milk at home by blending a handful of soaked cashews with a cup  or so of water. Use a high speed blender and blend until smooth.

*** The addition of shea butter helps reduce crystallisation during the freezing process and it also adds to the creaminess of the ice cream. Shea butter has a strong taste so if you're not a fan, you can replace it with melted cocoa butter or coconut butter.

 

Method

1. Place all the ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Depending on the strength of your blender, this may take a few minutes. If your mixture is struggling to blend, you can add extra tablespoons of cashew milk, slowly and one at a time, to loosen the mixture slightly. You want to be left with a thick, smooth, airy consistency.

2. Transfer to a container, seal tightly and freeze for at least 3 hours until the ice cream has set.

3. Serve plain or with your favourite toppings.

Note: you can have fun experimenting with different flavours. Fresh strawberries, mangoes, cocoa powder, peanut butter and matcha powder are just a few you can try.

Matcha and chocolate chips

You might also like: 
- Maltina Ice Cream
- Nice Cream
- Almond Milk