Blueberry Swirl Ice Cream :: Dairy Free Option

I have one of those kids that has her mind made up.

You know the type. She decides she wants something and she won’t let you forget about it until it happens. I have *no* idea who she gets this from…ahem…but each of my 3 kids is so different from the other, and this kid just has this driven focus on her ideas that you just can’t change!

Soooo…last year after we went blueberry picking, she decided that for her birthday next year she wanted a blueberry cake with blueberry ice cream. And she has reminded me of this desire every week since last summer 🙂

Since we live in blueberry country, I literally have a shelf full of 60-70 pounds of frozen blueberries to play with all year, so I was excited to pull out the last bag from our picking last summer to make her birthday wishes come true.

I decided I didn’t want a full on blueberry ice cream since we were also having blueberry cupcakes at her party, and thought adding a “pie filling” type swirl would do the trick. She was thrilled – and it turned out really delicious!

You can’t go wrong with fresh, whole cream and real blueberries swirled together! It was pretty amazing!

Product links in this section are affiliate links. It does not cost you anything and helps maintain the free information on this site, as well as answer the questions of “what brand do you use?” Please know I never personally recommend any product I wouldn’t use on my own family.

A quick note on ice cream makers! I have a super simple ice cream maker that works so well. You really don’t have to overspend on one unless you want to. It is a nice investment for your kitchen, and I have had mine for over 6 years now and it still runs perfect (and it gets a work out in the summer!). I do have this larger ice cream maker on my wish list so I can make birthday party amounts of ice cream without doing it in batches/shifts though 😉

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Blueberry Swirl Ice Cream :: Dairy Free Option

Blueberries make a perfect addition to homemade vanilla ice cream.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Chill8 hours hrs

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: blueberry swirl ice cream, blueberry swirl ice cream recipe, homemade blueberry ice cream

Servings: 6 servings

Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

BLUEBERRY SWIRL ::

• 1 ½ cups frozen blueberries
• 2 TB water
• 2 TB tapioca flour
• ¼ cup raw honey or pure cane sugar if your blueberries are on the sour side you may want to add more – ours were from our summer picking picked at the peak of the season so they were very sweet!

ICE CREAM ::

• 2 cups organic whole cream Preferably raw. Or preferably not ultra pasteurized. If you are dairy free you can use whole coconut milk.
• 1 cup organic whole milk Preferably raw. Or preferably not ultra pasteurized. If you are dairy free you can use whole coconut milk.
• 1/3 cup organic pure cane sugar Raw honey or pure maple syrup works too
• 1 TB vanilla extract
• 3 TB tapioca flour If you tolerate eggs, you could use a few egg yolks instead for creaminess!
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 1 TB organic vodka This is optional and the ice cream will be fine without it – but it does keep the ice cream from getting rock hard in the freezer. If you choose to leave it out you can just leave the ice cream on the counter for a bit before scooping.

Instructions

• Make the swirl. Put the blueberries, water, and tapioca in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Once everything is warmed through and thickened, turn the heat off and add the raw honey. If you are using pure cane sugar you can put it in right along with the berries so it can cook/dissolve. Set the berry mixture aside.
• Make the ice cream. Put all the ice cream ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and blend with hand beaters to combine. Put the ice cream mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes, stir through, and then process in your ice cream maker according to your manufacturer’s instructions. Mine goes for 30 minutes. I have a very simple ice cream maker and it works great - no need for fancy equipment if you can't do it!
• Transfer the processed ice cream to a container with a lid, and fold in the blueberry mixture.
• Freeze the ice cream

Looking for more frozen treat ideas? Check out my Treat Ideas board on Pinterest!

More real food ideas you might like:

Blueberry Breakfast Bars

Maple Vanilla Ice Cream

Tropical Blender Sorbet

Blueberry Jam