No ice cream maker required! All you need is five ingredients and a blender for this decadent raw vegan chocolate ice cream.

I do own an ice cream maker. It's not the kind of thing I'd ever think to go and buy, just because it takes up kitchen space and isn't something I'd use terribly often. So I never expected to own one, until a few years ago on a trip to the thrift store when I spotted a super cheap, super old, and super pink ice cream maker of the hand churning variety. It was four bucks and I couldn't resist. I made one attempt at using it. Two summers ago I decided to give vegan ice cream a shot. I think I sat at my kitchen table for an hour and churned intermittently while I worked on my laptop. The ice cream turned out not so good. (I blame myself and my recipe, as opposed to the cheapo ice cream maker, which probably did a fine job.)
Anyhow, after that I was kind of over the whole vegan ice cream thing. I decided it was more trouble that it was worth and my four dollar churner would get re-donated to the thrift store and make them another four bucks. Then a friend told me she had some awesome vegan chocolate ice cream made from mere avocado and coconut cream, and it didn't even require an ice cream maker. Now that the weather is warming up, I'm back in business.
I threw a banana into the mix, only because the combo of coconut and avocado seemed a bit heavy. The banana lightens things up and adds some natural sweetness. You can skip it if you prefer to go all out.
Banana or not, what you'll end up with is rich and creamy enough to rival any ice cream I've ever tasted, and it's raw, and it's vegan, and best of all, it's chocolate.
No Churn Raw Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1-14 oz. can coconut cream or coconut milk refrigerated overnight (the longer, the better)
- 1 ripe avocado pitted and peeled
- 1 ripe banana
- ½ cup cacao powder could sub cocoa powder, but it won't be raw
- ¼ cup agave
- pinch salt
Instructions
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Open the can of coconut milk or cream and scoop the cream into blender, discarding the water.
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Add remaining ingredients to blender and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides of pitcher as needed.
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Transfer to sealed freezer safe container and freeze until solid, about 4-6 hours.
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Allow to sit out for about 10 minutes prior to scooping.
PLEASE post more variations of this! Cause I won't be getting an ice cream maker until I get my own home- in like, 5 years...
Definitely planning on posting more ice cream maker-less ice cream recipes over the summer! :)
Can you post an ice cream recipe that uses soft tofu? Or will that not work?
I've actually been trying to get something to work with silken tofu, but it's been a challenge. It crystallizes quite a bit, I think due to the high water content, so in order to do a scoopable ice cream I think a machine might be necessary. Otherwise, I might be able to get it to work in ice cream pops. Hopefully I can get something to work, and I'll post it as soon as I do. :)
I made this today and it was DELICIOUS. Next time I might add a bit of cinnamon... Thanks for posting it. I had an ice cream maker (wedding gift) and used it twice. Too much trouble, I think. This is way better!!!
Awesome! So funny that you said that - I actually made this again since posting and threw in a bit of cinnamon. It was great! Somewhat like a Mexican chocolate flavor. Glad you enjoyed it. :)
Sounds delicious. Do you have any nutrition information? Serving size calories, etc. Thanks
Thank you! I don't generally calculate nutrition information, but this calculator works nicely if you'd like to give it a shot.
This recipe both looks and sounds delicious! Will definitely be making a big batch of this raw chocolate ice cream! :D
Could the agave be substituted with 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup?
I'm sure either one would be fine. Enjoy!
so the bananas don't need to be frozen prior to blending??? if so thats awesome but if is it creamy? would it be creamier if the bananas were frozen?
Hi Emily! It's not necessary to freeze the bananas. I'm not sure if it would be creamier if you freeze them first as I haven't tried it...it's possible, but either way it will be creamy. :)
could you use almond milk or cream instead of coconut
I wouldn't recommend almond milk. The fat content is much lower than coconut milk, so I'm thinking it will crystallize and not get very creamy. Cashew cream might work, but I'm not sure as I haven't tried it.
Can i replace agave syrup with dates?
I think that would work, though I can't say for sure without trying myself. Please let me know how it works out if you try. Thanks Monica!
In my country we don´t use oz., and I´m not understanting how to convert 1-14 oz to mililiters..
Could you tell me the amount of coconut milk I need in mililiters ? Thanks!
An ounce is just about 30 milliliters, so if you've got 400 milliliter cans where you're at, one of those should do it. :)
This is absolutely amazing and dead easy to make.
I used a frozen banana and added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Thank you so much for sharing. So excited that I found this recipe.
Yay!! I'm so glad you liked it!