Vegan Ice Cream

My church was having a summer function and there was an ice cream competition.  I didn't actually think I would win it, but knowing that there were vegetarians, vegans and some with milk allergies, I decided to get creative and make a vegan ice cream.  After doing some online searches, I came up with some that looked promising.  I actually made two, so there would be choices.  Who doesn't like having options?  I only photo documented one of the two attempts, though, so that's the one I'll be describing here.

I made chocolate peanut butter ice cream, using a bit of coconut cream.  I used chocolate flavored almond milk and made ice cubes out of it.  These ice cubes went into my food blender.  Here I added the peanut butter.  I used the more liquid portion of the coconut cream to help smooth out the ice cream, since I had it for the other recipe.  Then I poured this out into a gallon size freezer container and froze overnight.

 As you can tell, I was not particular about the almond milk or about the peanut butter.  I used what was on hand.  As to the coconut cream, I spent a considerable amount of time weighing my options and reading the ingredient list.  I picked the one I used because it seemed to be the closest to being just coconut cream, without lots of additives.

The end result doesn't look delicious at all in this picture, but it was actually pretty good.  I would definitely do it again.  The only thing that I really would change for sure is that I would make it just before I intended to eat it rather than leave it in the freezer overnight.  Vegan ice creams do not fare well when left to freeze solid.  This proved to be true in both cases. Keep this in mind, should you venture out on your own with a non-dairy ice cream.  Happily, both were enjoyed anyway.

Have you made ice cream at home?  What tips or tricks helped you?