Today looks like the first day of Spring. Theoretically, I love Spring – the air is fresh, the skies are blue and the flowers are blooming, it’s lovely!
The only problem is… I’m allergic to it. Who else has hayfever? Have your symptoms kicked in yet?
But despite the sneezing and puffy eyes, I’m really enjoying this weather. I was even inspired to make ice cream!
…A vegan mint chocolate chip ice cream which makes a wonderful palette cleansing dessert – and the mint also acts as a natural decongestant (bonus for the hayfever sufferers!)
The ice cream is coconut milk based and those who are familiar with my blog, know how much I love coconut milk ice cream :-) But there is another surprising ingredient in this ice cream…
Promise you won’t run away when I tell you what it is??
It’s spinach!
Yes, I put spinach in ice cream but I’m not a monster, I swear!
The spinach is added to give that natural green colour but trust me- you cannot taste it at all. But you can feel completely smug about eating something as healthy as spinach in your dessert. It’s win win!
And seeing as this is a green dessert, I’ll take this opportunity to mention St Patrick’s Day which is on it’s way soon. Do any of you celebrate or “go green” for the occasion?
I’m from an Irish family and I’m ashamed to say I don’t do an awful lot on the day, usually. Other than, perhaps, enjoy some Irish whiskey…
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream {Vegan}
A delicious and refreshing ice cream with a secret healthy ingredient!
Ingredients
- Approx 80g baby leaf spinach
- 3 x 400ml cans of coconut milk - chilled in the fridge for at least 3 hours
- optional 1 heaped tbsp coconut flour
- 180 ml honey or maple syrup
- 1 1/2 tbsp peppermint extract
- 150 g chocolate chips
Instructions
- Place spinach in a blender with a few tbsp of water, just enough to make it blend. Mix until smooth and transfer the juice to a small saucepan. Cook on a medium heat, uncovered, until the liquid has been reduced and you are left with a thick puree. Leave to cool completely.
- Make sure the coconut milk is chilled until the fat is separated. Discard the liquid left in the can (or save to add to a curry!) and keep the thick, coconut cream.
- Using a food mixer, or a bowl and a whisk, mix a small amount of the coconut cream with 1 tbsp of the spinach puree and (optional) coconut flour until thick and smooth. It should be a nice green colour! The coconut flour helps thicken it but isn't strictly necessary.
- Add the rest of the ingredients (apart from the chocolate chips) and whip until a smooth, creamy mixture is formed.
- Add the mixture to your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions. Add the chocolate chips during the churning.
- Once churned, transfer to a shallow, freezer safe container and let it set in the freezer for at least a few hours before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
I like to blitz the chocolate chips in the food processor before adding to the mixture. This gives a more "speckled effect" to the ice cream.
Coconut Milk Ice Cream by Aimee Ryan
For more delicious ice cream recipes that are vegan, paleo-friendly and free from refined sugars, check out my book – Coconut Milk Ice Cream!
It’s available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle format or direct from my site in PDF or EPub format.
what is the best replacement for coconut milk for this recipe that is vegan, i want to make this but my sister is allergic to coconut.
Hi Jazzmin, this recipe relies heavily on the coconut milk because of it’s high fat content (which other dairy free milks don’t have) but you could experiment with a cashew base. I don’t have a recipe for this but if you google “vegan cashew ice cream” then you can use that as a base, adding in the flavur additions from my recipe. If that makes sense!
I bought coconut milk waitrose own brand and despite being in the fridge almost 8 hours hasn’t seperated (which happens to all coconut milk I’ve previously bought without putting them in the fridge! Argh.
What amount roughly should be used (ml)
Oh it did work!! Ignore/delete comment!!
Haha! No worries :-) I think I recall that Waitress brand is particularly watery… If it sloshes about when you shake it, it usually means it has less fat. I get mine from Sainsburys, I can’t remember the name but it’s in a blue tin and it doesn’t make a sound when you shake it (it’s solid coconut cream inside)
I don’t understand why this calls to make so much spinach puree to only use 1 tablespoon? I didn’t realize I wasn’t supposed to add the rest in so I put it all in and good thing I tasted it before putting in the ice cream maker! I am not vegan so I added 2 organic pastured egg yolks, some raw heavy cream from the top of my fresh raw milk and added an extra teaspoon of peppermint extract and a 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract. It came out delicious! It worked out because my 4 year old is very difficult to get veggies into him so this was perfect. Will probably make it the same way next time just so I can have that extra spinach in there.
Probably not a good idea to feed your kid raw milk though.
Huh! Raw milk is the best for babies/young children outside of breast milk. Remember humans survived on raw milk for millennium which helped the population grow.
All of your ice creams look so delicious, but my daughter is allergic to coconut. Can you suggest any non-dairy alternatives to coconut milk and coconut flower? Please? I’d love to make this ice cream.
Thanks Jaci :-) you can use pretty much any milk you like along with the arrowroot powder which I use in most of my ice cream recipes (or instead of coconut flour in this recipe.) I haven’t personally tried other milks with this recipe but would suggest also adding something creamy like a soy creamer or maybe adding in some soaked and blended cashews for a thicker, creamier texture. Let me know you get on if you decide to experiment!
Looks delish! Is there any way to get by without an ice cream maker?
Thank you Mariah! I haven’t tried this but here is a guide on making ice cream without a machine: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2007/07/making-ice-crea-1/ David Leibovitz knows his ice cream so it’s worth a go. Please let me know how it turns out if you try it :-)
Oh Aimee, you’re an amazing dessert queen! This is awesome – a spinach ingredient to make the ice cream to go green! Oh I wish I have an ice cream maker, I really need to get one since summer is approaching soon! I can’t wait for summer and some good ice cream of yours! I’m bookmarking this recipe, thank you for the amazing recipe! Thank you!
love it! i have yet to make my own ice cream! thanks for the boost of confidence!
I love the idea of adding spinach to ice-cream. The color of this is definitely lovely! And the flavor combo is a winner as well. I really like the sound of this! : )
Did not see that coming…spinach! Super healthy ice cream. And I am loving this early British spring, perfect for ice cream!
Sneaky spinach! I’m loving the Spring too although it seems to have disappeared again today :-( Let’s hope it’s just temporary…
Now I would NEVER have considered putting spinach in ice cream! Much as I love the flavour………….. Are you really sure you can’t taste it? Now coconut milk/cream sound divine. I have been using it in lots of things recently, but I really MUST try it as an ice cream base.
I promise, Kate! I would never give you spinach-flavoured ice cream, I’m not evil ;-) It’s a lovely creamy, pepperminty taste with the odd crunch of chocolate. Doesn’t sound so bad now, does it?! But yes, I urge you to try the coconut milk ice creams. Really lovely :-)
Oh my!! the spinach is soooo clever.
I love it!!!!! :)
Thank you Ice :D
What an AMAZING idea!!!! Not only do I LOVE mint chocolate ice cream – but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the spinach in this ice cream! This is the sort of ice cream I would love to feed my daughter – and let her have 2-3 servings-with pleasure!
Thank you Shashi! I might have to use the leftover spinach to make those panckaes!
I love mint chocolate chip ice cream – it is one of my favourites :) I love your vegan version with the baby spinach and coconut milk! It looks incredible and sounds amazing – can’t wait to try out your recipe :)
Thank you Kelly :-) I hope everything is going well with you x
Yummy! My favourite ice cream flavour is mint choc chip so this is my kind of recipe, love the fact you got some spinach in there too x
Yes, I sneaked some in! I love how refreshing this ice cream is, perfect for the (slightly) warmer weather we’re getting now :-)
I recently made something similar but instead of spinach & coconut milk I used avocado and coconut cream
I *love* the idea of avocado ice cream. Do you have a recipe?
That sounds delicious! I’d love trying new ingredients out. Hasn’t the weather been lovely, I used to get hay fever but fingers crossed I’ve been okay so far. I’m featuring this on my blog on a weekly featuring that I do. Also I now co-host Sweet and Savoury Sundays and would for you to link up with us and share your delicious recipes :) Have a great week Aimee :)
Thank you so much, Laura! How lovely of you :-) I will look into the link up in a bit. Have a great week too!
Wow – spinach is certainly a surprise. The color is spot on and I love mint chocolate chip ice cream; I’m sure I would enjoy this one!
I love the colour it gives (with no taste, thankfully!)
Hi, Aimee! Wow, what a fabulous idea to make ice cream out of coconut milk! And to colour it with spinach … absolute genius! I really like the lovely shade of green it’s created. Happy St. Patrick’s day! (well, in a week anyhow!)
I always use coconut milk now, I love it – gives such a nice creamy texture. And happy St Patrick’s Day to you (for next week!) :-)