Creamy, dreamy, we all scream for ice cream….without the cream! Sheryl Ellinwood, co-author of Three Plates at the Table, shows us how easy it is to make a dairy-free version of a classic dessert.

Chocolate Dream Ice Cream

Level 1 2 3

Ingredients

2 13.5 oz cans coconut milk

5-6 TBSP raw cocoa nib powder* (raw cacao is considered by some to be a Superfood)

1/3 cup agave

2 TSP stevia

1 TBSP coconut oil

2 TBSP arrowroot powder

1 TSP vanilla extract

pinch of Celtic sea salt

* You can substitute organic unsweetened cocoa powder

Optional Add-ins:

½ cup chopped almonds

Unsweetened Coconut flakes

Mix arrowroot with 1/2 cup coconut milk and set aside.

Combine the remaining ingredients, except the vanilla or almond extract, in a 4 quart sauce pan. Bring just to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, add arrowroot slurry and cook, stirring constantly just until the mixture thickens. This will be less than a minute.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and almond extract (if using) .

Pour into ice cube trays and freeze.

Once frozen, process the ice cream cubes in a food processor until the consistency of ice cream. (You may want to let them thaw for 3-5 minutes before processing.) It may seem like your food processor is going to break—it won’t—keep processing, scraping down the sides if necessary.

Stir in your “add-ins” right before serving.

You can also chill the mixture for at least 6-8 hours and process in an ice cream maker, following the manufacturer’s instructions–but the food processor method results are the best!

Makes about 3 cups.

Chocolate-Almond Ice Cream

Add 1/2 TSP almond extract to the ingredients

Level 3

Follow the recipe for Level 1 & 2:

You can substitute cornstarch for the arrowroot powder.

Due to the large amount of high glycemic sweetener it would take to replace the agave and stevia and the quite different result you would obtain, we want Level 3 to use the agave and stevia combination as the sweetener for this recipe.

Note: Because homemade ice cream doesn’t have the added chemicals and preservatives it is more challenging to scoop right out of the freezer. Having a plastic zip lock bag of ice cream cubes in the freezer means you can make ice cream at a moment’s notice!

*Recipe and image courtesy of Sheryl Ellinwood, co-author of Three Plates at the Table. Visit her website at www.empoweredhealthresource.com.*