Paleo ice cream recipes & tips

So good everyone likes it. No white sugar so kids can eat it before bed and still sleep. No dairy so lactose intolerant folks, enjoy!

I also call this "No Hangover Ice Cream".

Even before I went Paleo ice cream gave me a hangover - a kind of "Ug, why did I eat that?" dulled, not-so-good feeling.  Now I can eat ice cream and there is no hangover.  Yay!

"Sure Kids, Have As Much As You Want!"
Kids want ice cream at 9:00pm before bed?  No problem!  This ice cream has no processed sugar in it and so the kids don't freak out and start climbing the walls.  Me, either.   I let them eat it anytime because there are no negative consequences in my household with it.

Non-Paleo Friendly Because It's That Good
Homemade Paleo ice cream is crazy good and I don't just think that because I didn't eat ice cream for two years before this.  Even my non-Paleo peeps adore it.  Visiting kids love it.  I am asked to bring it to family parties and make it for my lactose-intolerant friends.  (They like having no hangover, too.)

I have made a lot of ice cream this summer.  Through trial and error here is what I have learned:

My Size and Type of Ice Cream Machine
I have the 1.5 quart Cuisinart ice cream machine. It's just the right size for two cans of coconut milk which is what most Paleo ice cream recipies ask for. It makes a batch big enough for my family of four to eat as much as we want in one sitting with some left over, making it big enough for our soon-to-be family of five.  I also appreciate the 1.5 quart size because homemade ice cream doesn't keep as long as store bought - you'll want to eat it within a few days or it will start to crystallize in the freezer.  This will not be hard to do.  

I do not have the top-of-the-line stainless steel machine, I have the next one down. It works great.  People in the reviews complain it's loud.  It is.  But heck, you only run it for 20 minutes and it's making you Paleo ice cream for goodness sakes!!! I have no complaints. ;)

Read your ice cream machine manual.  It tells you how to take care of the bowl, the necessity of turning it on before you pour and other important stuff like that such as no metal spoons in the bowl, ever!

You Have To Freeze The Ice Cream After You Make It
Right out of the machine the ice cream is really soft, softer than soft-serve and it melts too fast to eat it.  You have to freeze homemade ice cream for a few hours to turn it into a real ice cream consistency.  I use BPA-free 1.5 or 2 quart plastic containers and I have experimented with freezing it for 1-6 hours before I eat it.  Usually I need 4 hours in the freezer to get it right but your freezer or ice cream may vary.

The Honey You Use Matters
I use raw, organic honey so it has pollen and good stuff in it.  Regardless, the color and consistency of honey you use matters. I have found that dark honey has a stronger, more overpowering taste in the ice cream, especially in the vanilla ice cream. Light colored honey (which has a lighter taste) blends in better and my family greatly prefers it.

(My very favorite light-colored honey Y.S. Eco Bee Farms Raw Honey. I've seen it at Whole Foods or Sprouts but you can also get it on Amazon.)

That being said, the dark honey I get is pourable, making it very easy to use.  Just pour the ingredients into a bowl, mix it up with a whisk, and dump it into the ice cream machine.  The thick, light honey I have to wrestle into the batch with a spoon and then I need to use an electric hand mixer or blender or the ice cream will have honey lumps in it.  Although maybe you will like this. :)  Whenever I get lazy and I just use the dark, pouring honey I regret it.  The taste is worth it for me to get out the mixer.  Experiment with the honey you use and see for yourself what taste you like best.

The Coconut Milk I Use
The coconut milk you use matters! I have tried so many brands and the only brand I will use is the organic Native Forest brand full-fat coconut milk. This brand makes a smooth, creamy ice cream while other brands have made a chalky ice cream. I like that it is in a BPA-free can.  If you don't have a Whole Foods grocery store nearby you can buy cans on Amazon.

Toppings:
You can make hangover-free Paleo chocolate sauce for your ice cream!  Make it with the ratio below or use even more cocoa powder for a fudge-like consistency.  Make the sauce thinner by using less cocoa so that it will harden into a chocolate shell on your ice cream.  (My favorite!) YUM!

I put our stainless steel pot on "low", mix up as big a batch as we want and have at it.  Here are the ingredients and the basic ratio:

Chocolate Sauce Recipe
1 TBSP coconut oil
1 TBSP honey
2 TBSP cocoa powder

Melted Honey "Caramel"
There are Paleo caramel recipes but I haven't tried them yet.  For now we take the thick, raw, light colored honey and melt it in a stainless steel pot on "low".  When you dribble it warm over the ice cream it hardens a bit into a caramel consistency. Even more yum!

And now, without further ado, here are the Paleo Ice Cream Recipies!

Paleo Vanilla Ice Cream
2 cans of Coconut Milk (refrigerated for at least 24 hours)
1/2 cup Honey
2 TBSP Vanilla Extract

Directions: Empty the two cans of coconut milk into a large mixing bowl, add in the honey and vanilla extract.  Whisk the ingredients together until the honey is dissolved (if you use thick honey you may need an immersion blender or regular blender as mentioned above in this post).  Follow ice cream maker directions.

Paleo Chocolate Ice Cream
2 cans of Coconut Milk (refrigerated for at least 24 hours)
1/2 cup Honey
1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions: Place your cold coconut milk, honey, vanilla and cocoa powder into a blender and mix well. (Mixing by hand won't work well. An immersion blender works if you take care to mix it first so the cocoa doesn't explode all over the kitchen.)  Follow ice cream making directions.

Basic Fruit Paleo Ice Cream
(Use whatever fruit you want - strawberries, peaches, etc. The variations are endless.)
3 cups Fresh Fruit (chopped)
2 cans of Coconut Milk (refrigerated for at least 24 hours)
1/2 cup Honey (more or less to taste)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions: Put all the ingredients into your blender and process until pureed.  Taste to make sure the sweetness is right, then follow your ice cream maker directions.

Note: This recipe makes a bit more than my 1.5 quart ice cream maker can take so I pour as much as I can into the ice cream machine and then I just drink the rest like a smoothie. ;)


.... And there you have it!
If you do an internet search for "Paleo Ice Cream Recipes" you will see there are a lot of options involving nuts and chocolate and more.  I have even heard of people topping their vanilla ice cream with olive oil and salt.  Someday I will look for a recipe that involves bacon, I just know it.  

Enjoy!