You can still enjoy your favorite fall pumpkin spice flavors even if it’s scorching hot outside with this super rich and creamy dairy free pumpkin ice cream!
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Scorching hot September…
It may surprise some of you that aren’t from around here that it really does tend to be pretty hot around here in early fall! We are typically off to the first few weeks of school in shorts and tank tops, and absolutely still spend after school evenings and weekends at the beach with our toes in the sand!
Local pumpkin ice cream discovery…
The little beachy town ice cream stands around here have really figured out how to extend their seasonal revenue and take advantage of those warm summer temperatures that sneak into September. We were on the way home last week when the girls discovered the sign on one of these ice cream spots advertising pumpkin ice cream, and they just had to know what this could be! I wouldn’t have minded letting them try a bit, but they weren’t carrying a dairy free option, and we just don’t tolerate it well, so I told them we could easily make it at home. We set to it right away, and the result was…delicious!
Like frozen pumpkin pie!
If you were to blend up pumpkin pie into a milk shake, that would be a great description of this ice cream! At first taste, all 3 girls exclaimed, “It tastes like Thanksgiving!” We made the ice cream super creamy with full fat coconut milk and yogurt. The yogurt gives just a slight tang that really works with the flavors, and of course those signature pumpkin pie spice staples swirled throughout.
The Method :: Blend it up!
My dairy free ice cream method couldn’t be easier. In fact, I wrote an entire e-book this summer with 15 yummy ice cream recipes that can all be blended up in a blender! Simply dump all of the pumpkin ice cream ingredients into your blender and blend until super smooth.
The Method :: Churn it up!
Once your ice cream mixture is blended up, you can churn it in your ice cream maker. My ice cream maker takes a good 35 minutes to fully churn. From there, you can serve it “soft serve” style, or fully freeze it in a freezer safe container. By the way! That ice cream maker in the photo is a good decade old! I’ve had it a very long time and it makes a really great investment if you’re making ice cream during the summer to save money and also control the healthier ingredient choices.
Talk to me about those toppings!
I decided to top our pumpkin ice cream with dairy free whipped cream. You can whip your own coconut cream from a can with maple syrup, or I like to use the So Delicious brand coconut whip (you can find this at most grocery stores in the frozen section by the whipped cream)! I also ended up crumbling some gluten free graham crackers on top!
Freezer safe storage
When I was first starting to make my own ice cream, I used empty coconut oil containers to store ice cream, and that absolutely works! If you plan to make ice cream on the regular, it’s nice to have dedicated ice cream freezer storage. These cute quart rounds, and easy to scoop longer containers, not only keep the ice cream frozen well, preventing freezer burn, they will keep your freezer organized better…and they are super cute!
Dairy Free Pumpkin Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups full fat coconut milk
- 1 cup full fat coconut yogurt or more coconut milk
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar or organic cane sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 – 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Make sure that your ice cream maker bowl is completely frozen before starting your ice cream.
- Blend all of the ingredients together until smooth. I use my high speed blender, but any blender should work.
- Pour the ice cream mixture into your ice cream machine, and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions, until thick. My ice cream maker takes 35-40 minutes to do this.
- Once the ice cream is churned, you can serve it "soft serve" style right out of the ice cream maker, or scoop it into a freezer safe container and freeze for at least 4 hours until hard.
Notes
- I find scooping homemade ice cream much easier if you let the frozen container sit at room temperature for about 15 to 20 minutes before scooping.
- These cute quart rounds, and easy to scoop longer containers, not only keep the ice cream frozen well, preventing freezer burn, they will keep your freezer organized better…and they are super cute!
- If you love making this kind of easy homemade ice cream, you’ll love my e-book, Simple Homemade Ice Cream. It is filled with 15 recipes for homemade ice cream from classics like chocolate, mint chip, and butter pecan, to new twists like S’mores, cherry cheesecake, and sea salt caramel!
Did you love this easy homemade ice cream?!
Then you’ll love my e-book, Simple Homemade Ice Cream! It’s only $4.99 and is filled with 15 yummy dairy free ice cream recipes that are easy to make! There are classics like chocolate, butter pecan, and mint chocolate chip, as well as new spins on fun new flavors like sea salt caramel, cherry cheesecake, and s’mores!
Wow! My family of four regularly enjoys Renee’s recipes, but this one is tops. My husband, neither a big pumpkin fan nor a veggies-in-my-ice-cream kinda guy, called it “award winning!” *swoon* Thank you Renee for earning me such a great compliment!
I did modify it: 3 cups of our own raw goat milk instead of coconut, plus 2 pastured egg yolks.
Hi Amanda! Those are great swaps, and I’m so glad you all enjoyed it! I’ll take that award LOL!!