ice cream recipes Archives - Raising Generation Nourished

Healthy Kids and Teens Occasional Treats Real Food 101 Real Food Tips

Dairy Free Pumpkin Ice Cream

September 3, 2023

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!

Print Recipe

Dairy Free Pumpkin Ice Cream

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

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!

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Healthy Kids and Teens Occasional Treats Products & Books We Love! Real Food 101 Real Food Tips

Simple Homemade Ice Cream :: An e-book for every family!

June 28, 2023

Use this simple, easy to follow Simple Homemade Ice Cream e-book to create 15 yummy ice cream recipes!

A new project for summer!

Ok, ok, I realize we are already at the end of June, but have you ever decided to create an e-book before the craziness that is May with kids in school?! Not my brightest moment, but I am super proud of this project, “Simple Homemade Ice Cream,” and cannot wait to hear about all the fun, yummy ice cream recipes you make this summer with the kids!

My first E-Book! “Simple Homemade Ice Cream”

Part of the “taking a long time” to get this done part happens to be because I’ve never made an e-book before! It is a whole different ballgame than my other published products, Nourished Beginnings, and The Little Lunchbox Cookbook. I can do the writing content part all day long…but the figuring out the technical, computer part of publishing?! I am happy to say I figured it out with some extra time, and I think it was worth all of the online tutorials, late nights and early mornings to bring this to you. You’re going to find 15 ice cream recipes in this e-book, some that are absolutely classic (like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Butter Pecan, Rocky Road, Rich Chocolate, and Mint Chocolate Chip), as well as some new, fun twists (like S’mores Ice Cream, Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream, Triple Berry Ripple, Sea Salt Caramel, and Chocolate Covered Strawberry!). I’ve also included a recipe for how to make sorbet with any fruit you have on hand, as well as links included for my favorite ice cream recipe ingredients!

FAQ’s

DO I HAVE TO USE AN ICE CREAM MACHINE? Your ice cream will turn out creamier & fluffier using an ice cream machine with the recipes in this e-book, though you can technically blend it very well & freeze in a container without churning it. You will not have the same scoop-able texture though.
WHAT KIND OF MILK SHOULD I USE? My household is dairy free, so all of the recipes in this book are non-dairy! I prefer to use full fat coconut milk (this is my favorite coconut milk for cost effective, creamy ice cream!), but if you like oat milk, macadamia nut milk, or almond milk, those will work too. If you tolerate dairy, full fat milk or cream (raw if you can get that is best!) swap perfectly in all of the recipes.
HOW DO YOU SWEETEN ICE CREAM NATURALLY? Whenever I can at home, I try to date-sweeten our ice cream. Sweetening with fruit keeps the fiber up which naturally helps our blood sugar from spiking. I have found that doesn’t change the flavor for most ice creams, & dates are packed with minerals & vitamins too! If you do not have access to dates, maple syrup or raw honey work well too. Coconut sugar, maple sugar, & date sugar work as well, but keep in mind they will darken the color of your ice cream. You’ll notice organic cane sugar in some of the recipes, & if you stay away from sugar, you can swap the cane sugar for any of the natural choices above.
DO THE ICE CREAM RECIPES HAVE EGGS? If you are familiar with traditional methods for making ice cream, you’ll know that typically egg yolks are used to set the ice cream & also make it creamy. There is nothing wrong with eggs if you can tolerate them! This method usually involves cooking & tempering the eggs into the ice cream mixture – which also means cooling it off before churning. It’s a more time intensive process, & I have found that my blender methods & using full fat milks yield the same creamy ice cream in a more realistic time frame for busy families, as well as families that don’t tolerate eggs.

Tell me about your ice cream containers!

Ice cream containers have made ice cream making something I actually want to do on a weekly basis. Let’s face it, when you have to take up those precious storage containers in your stash for something other than leftovers, you tend to think twice! But super fun storage options like 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!

My endgame…

I created this little Simple Homemade Ice Cream recipe book for families looking to create beautiful summer memories with their kids, & who want to show them that ice cream doesn’t just have to come out of a carton from the store! I want to empower you, whether you are mom, dad, grandpa, or auntie, that you can take control of the ingredients coming into your home, even for something as simple as a special summer treat like ice cream! You’ll notice a very simple rhythm of ingredients as you work through making these recipes. In all reality, you’ll realize that just about any store-bought ice cream can be re-created. Take these recipes & run with them! If you have a favorite store-bought flavor that isn’t included here, find one in this book that is similar in technique, & make the swaps! My endgame is for you to show this generation of kids that we can both care about the ingredients we put in our body & have fun at the same time…because it’s ok to enjoy food & make some memories!

I need this e-book! How do I get it?!

We’re keeping it super simple here, friends. Because that is the season of life I’m in right now. Simply hop through this link and you can order through Amazon! That’s it! At just $4.99, I’m hoping everyone can start making ice cream this week!

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Occasional Treats Real Food 101 Real Food Tips

Homemade Dairy Free Mackinac Island Fudge Ice Cream

August 1, 2022

Reminisce your summer vacation memories on your favorite horse-drawn carriage, bike riding island with your own, clean ingredient & dairy free Mackinac Island Fudge Ice Cream!

Homemade Dairy Free Mackinac Island Fudge Ice Cream

A most special vacation spot!

Around these parts, Mackinac Island is a pretty popular summer vacation destination, but I would imagine that if you don’t live near the Mid-West, perhaps this beautiful island in the middle of the Great Lakes of Michigan is unknown to you!

Simple summer fun!

Mackinac Island is located to the Northeast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, surrounded by Lake Huron. This super special island is well known for it’s gorgeous, crystal clear fresh water lake, and you’ll also notice that there is no motorized vehicles on the island! Between biking and horse drawn carriages, tourists are able to explore the 8.2 miles around the island, as well as the beautiful hiking spots within the island too.

But that fudge though!

One of the things that Mackinac Island is most known for, are their many fudge shops! With super fun set-ups to allow you to watch the process start to finish in each fudge store, it makes for a fun experience, and the best treat to enjoy on your vacation! Our favorite fudge stop is Ryba’s since they have a dairy free fudge option, and the ingredients are are pretty clean for a store bought dessert (ie – not something we have everyday!). Just cocoa, powdered sugar, maple syrup, cane syrup, coconut oil, and cocoa butter – that’s it! Compared to a lot of the other fudge on the island, this one is the best option as far as ingredients go. We enjoyed a block of fudge while on vacation, and then wrapped up a block to bring home with the goal of making the famous “Mackinac Island Fudge Ice Cream” that you find in so many stores here in the Mid-West. I ended up only using half of the fudge for one back of ice cream – so you can get 2 batches out of one brick of fudge!

A fun project for my teen

Earlier this spring, my oldest and I went on a trip with her middle school to Mackinac Island, and she had the wonderings about how we could possibly make the famous ice cream with the yummy fudge from the island in it. We had the conversation on the way home from the trip, and decided that when we went back for summer vacation, we would make it happen! Mackinac Island Fudge ice cream is basically a vanilla ice cream base with chunks of fudge and swirls of chocolate rippled throughout. Easy right? We made my staple date-sweetened vanilla ice cream base to start. If you are in the market for an ice cream maker for the family, the one pictured below is the same one I bought to make ice cream for Chloe’s 3rd birthday – which means it is 10 years old and still works like new!

Now for the fudge!

Once the ice cream churned, we transferred it to my ice cream container, and sprinkled the fudge chunks. These fudge chunks were frozen after I chopped them which made them easier to stir in and keep separated. The fudge is soft at room temp, and I wanted them to keep their shape, so if that is your goal too, keep the fudge in the freezer while your ice cream churns. Again, I only used half of the brick of fudge for one batch, so you can freeze the chunks of fudge you don’t use for another time!

And the chocolate ripple!

After we folded the fudge into the ice cream, we used a store bought organic, dairy free chocolate sauce to ribbon in too. If I didn’t have this sauce already in the fridge from a past birthday party, I would have made my own. Don’t go out and buy something that you don’t need to! Here is the store bought version that I used – our Meijer stores carry this, but you can take a peek at the ingredients here if you wish!

And then…we wait!

You’ll have to have some patience for a good 4 hours for the ice cream to freeze up, but it is so worth the wait. We were blown away at how amazing the texture of the fudge was in the ice cream – not rock hard like a brick to chew, but soft and fudge like! And of course that ice cream base is not our favorite ice cream for nothing! I have a very “coconut detecting” husband that was surprised to hear that the ice cream base was made with coconut milk and dates – it is so creamy and delicious, and the other flavors mask the coconut flavor completely. It’s pretty enough to be on store shelves!

What do I use if I don’t have access to Mackinac Island Fudge?

If you are thinking this ice cream is drool-worthy enough to make yourself, but don’t have a trip planned to Mackinac Island, you have options! I don’t know how it works in other cities, but in our area, we have our own little shops that make their own fudge, and any fudge will really do. If you want to go the extra mile and make your own fudge, the ingredients in this homemade dairy free fudge are fantastic, and similar to that on Mackinac Island itself! And in a pinch, I think the Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks or Trader Joe’s Chocolate Chips would be just fine too!

Empowering our kids with kitchen know-how

So what did the teen think of her work? Well she was thrilled. I was completely hands off on this project, and that sense of accomplishing a project like this is super empowering. This kid truly doesn’t digest dairy very good – well, the processed kind of dairy. And so she truly has never gotten to experience Mackinac Island Fudge Ice Cream, and it is priceless to be able to do that for her. AND! To give her the tools to fuss with recipes to make them work for her dietary needs or to flip flop a processed food to make it with whole foods is a life skill that will be with her forever.