Tried all the non dairy ice cream recipes and haven't liked them? Me too! This flax milk ice cream recipe is THE BEST with a creamy, light and airy taste. Easily adapts to make your favorite flavors!
Giving up dairy during the summer months has to be one of the hardest things I've ever done. And one night those cravings struck hard. I had a major craving for some ice cream.
$30 and five pints later I didn't find any alternatives that I liked very much. Some tasted too coconutty (and when you're eating cookies and cream, I just don't want a strong coconut flavor), rice ice cream, and soy ice cream (bleck).
I looked online for alternatives and finally decided that there weren't any that I liked. Avocado ice cream? Um, no.
But while drinking some flax milk I realized that maybe I was onto something. Flax milk is a little more creamier than most milks and doesn't have the strong flavor that cashew, coconut and soy do. It's also not as thin as almond or rice milk.
Maybe, just maybe it could make a great ice cream.
Oh, it did.
This ice cream has a light and airy taste with a great ability to adapt to a variety of flavors. I've chopped up gluten free Oreos and put them in the ice cream for cookies and cream. This time I made mint chocolate chip. Another time I made a rich vanilla. I've even made cookie dough. Either way I've been really happy with the results and haven't felt like I've missed out.
Ingredients
- 5 egg yolks
- 1 cup sugar (if using sweetened flax milk, reduce to ½ cup)
- 3 ½ cups flax milk
- ⅛ cup cornstarch or arrowroot powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract, or 2 vanilla beans, scraped (reduce to ½ tbsp vanilla or 1 vanilla bean if using vanilla flavored flax milk)
Instructions
- In a saucepan set to low heat, place the egg yolks and sugar. Stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved (around 5-8 minutes). Remove from heat and set the bowl aside.
- While the eggs and sugar are cooking, place ½ cup milk and the cornstarch or arrowroot powder in a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan, place the remaining milk. Stir to combine, then allow to sit until egg and sugar mixture is done. When sugar is dissolved, move egg mixture off the heat and allow to cool. Slide the large saucepan onto the burner and turn heat up to medium. Stir until milk becomes heated and tiny bubbles around the edges form. Remove from heat, than slowly whisk in the egg and sugar mixture, whisking until combined. Add in the cornstarch or arrowroot powder mixture and continuing whisking until combined.
- Finally stir in the vanilla extract or vanilla beans.
- Place mixture in your ice cream container and churn according to your ice cream makers manufacturer directions. When done, place ice cream in a freezer safe container for several hours to firm or to store.
Notes
For Berry Ice Cream: Place 1-2 cups of chopped berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries) during the last several minutes of churning. For Cookies and Cream: Chop 1-2 cups Oreos or gluten free Oreos and add the last several minutes of churning for larger chunks of cookies. For a smoother cookies and cream flavor, add the cookies the last fifteen minutes of churning For Chocolate Chip: Add 1 cup mini chocolate chips the last five minutes of churning. For Mint Chocolate Chip: Add ¼-1/2 tsp peppermint extract or several drops of peppermint oil into the ice cream mixture and 1 cup mini chocolate chips the last five minutes of churning. Note: For dairy free, use Enjoy Life chocolate chips.
For vegans - how can I do this without the egg yokes? It sounds really good. 🙂
I haven't been able to make it without eggs. There are some other ice creams I'm trying that would be vegan so when I find one I like I'll let you know. 🙂
Did you try using an egg replacement ever while trying to make it without real eggs? I use egg replacement all the time for pie/cookies/muffins/etc. Maybe it won't meld properly for Ice Cream though?
If you're talking about the Ener-G egg replacer yes I have and it worked out okay. I've heard rumor gelatin works too but I haven't tried it but hope to soon. I'm working on a peppermint stick ice cream right now but so far not good results. I'll keep you posted if I can get it to work! 🙂
Is it imperative to warm the flax milk? It becomes too warm for my ice cream maker to churn into a nice texture. I end up with soup, really tasty soup, but soup none-the-less. Then the freezer turns it into tasty ice. I'd like to try this without warming the milk. Any thoughts?
Absolutely, go ahead and try it and see how it works. Good luck!
Just an idea... maybe prepare the mixture, then cool it in the fridge for awhile before placing it in your ice cream maker? But... I don't know if that could somehow effect the texture or something.
Good idea!
How much egg replacement did you use in place of the 5yolks?
For every one egg called for in the recipe, I used 1 1/2 tsp egg replacer and 2 tbsp water. So for 5 eggs use 2 1/2 tbsp of egg replacer with just under 1/3 cup water.
Did this work out with egg replace? If so what brand did u use?
It worked okay. I used Ener-G.
Thank you so much! I had the same experience. I tried a number of different dairy free milk and ice cream alternatives and was SOOOOO disappointed because they all tasted off to me or had a weird texture. Like you, I like flax milk so I can't wait to try your ice cream recipe!