Vegan and Deceivin’ | Vanilla Macadamia Nut Coffee Coconut Ice Cream

Vanilla Macadmia Nut Coffee Coconut Ice Cream | Once Upon a Recipe

Well ahoy there, friends! Pardon my absence – I have been without Internet access for the past while. Looonnnggg story. But tonight finds me stationed at a coffee shop, a ginormous green tea lemonade by my side, and free access to the Interwebs. Huzzah!

I have decided that I need to do this more often – not for the free Internet – but for the sake of quiet and the absence of distractions. It is nice to come to a place and just sit and write, without leaping up every five minutes to fetch Bella’s ball for her, change the load of laundry, or feel the urge to turn the TV for background noise. Perhaps it will become a regular event.

Vanilla Macadamia Nut Coffee Coconut Ice Cream | Once Upon a Recipe

However, let’s get back to the food. I have to be honest. I’ve had a few busts in the kitchen lately. I’m a believer in only sharing food and recipes that I really love, and that I think you’ll love too, and I have not been churning many winners out of my kitchen lately. A big part of that has been a result of a busy schedule, and the fact that I typically have time to make one big pot of something that I feast on throughout the week. Day 5 leftovers = not my favorite thing.

Despite my lackluster kitchen efforts, I did manage to get around to dusting off my ice cream maker this past weekend and made the first batch of ice cream of the season. And I had to share.

Vanilla Macadmia Nut Coffee Coconut Ice Cream | Once Upon a Recipe

Almost a month has passed since Dana first shared her Coffee Coconut Ice Cream recipe. I immediately bookmarked it. However, I bookmark a lot of recipes, and sometimes things get lost in the shuffle, despite my good intentions. Thankfully, I follow a few great food blogs (read: several hundred…) and occasionally the same recipe will have caught another blogger’s eye, prompting them to post the recipe (or their version of it), which then gives me a nice little reminder about that bookmark I made. Ahh, the circle of life blogging. It’s totally a thing.

So…when the lovely Clara re-posted Dana’s recipe last week, I knew I had to take it as a sign from the food gods that I was intended to make this ice cream. One should never ignore a sign from the food gods!

Vanilla Macadmia Nut Coffee Coconut Ice Cream | Once Upon a Recipe

Oh goodness, am I ever glad that I listened. First of all, I changed up the recipe just a little. In place of the regular brewed coffee, I used the vanilla macadamia nut coffee that I brought back from Hawaii last month. I added a bit more vanilla, and then tossed in some toasted macadamia nuts and mini dark chocolate chips. This ice cream is vegan, peeps. That may be a selling feature for some (ie. Vegans, the dairy-intolerant, etc.). However, I can assure you that no one will ever know that it is. Oh, and surprisingly, the coconut flavor is not overwhelming. The creaminess is so deceiving, you’ll think you’re eating regular ice cream. It’s vegan and deceivin’! (Yep, came up with that one all by myself…)

One more thing – if you don’t already own an ice cream maker, you may want to change that. I was given mine as a gift, and to be honest, I never thought I would enjoy it as much as I do. The fact is, there’s something rather lovely about homemade ice cream, and it’s darn easy to make too. I declare Summer 2013 as the season of ice cream adventure!

Vanilla Macadamia Nut Coffee Coconut Ice Cream | Once Upon a Recipe

Vanilla Macadamia Nut Coffee Coconut Ice Cream (adapted from Minimalist Baker)

Makes about 1.5 quarts. Feel free to experiment with different flavors of coffee, if you’re so inclined. Change up the add-ins too! And use premium quality coconut milk, if possible. It will make a big difference. 

2 cans full-fat coconut milk

¾ cup brewed coffee (I used vanilla macadamia nut coffee)

¾ cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

¾ cup toasted and chopped macadamia nuts

½ cup mini dark chocolate chips

Combine the coconut milk, coffee, and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add in the vanilla. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until well chilled (at least 6 hours or overnight). Churn in your ice cream maker (according to manufacturer’s instructions). Mine took about 25 minutes. Fold in the macadamia nuts and chocolate chips. Transfer to a Tupperware container (or loaf pan!) and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the plastic wrap to touch the surface of the ice cream, as this will help prevent ice crystals from forming. Freeze for at least 4 hours. Scoop and serve!

Vanilla Macadamia Nut Coffee Coconut Ice Cream | Once Upon a Recipe

Comments

  1. Love this, and really really love the presentation. It’s like a tea party.. with ice cream! Best of both worlds! Nice to see another post from you, hope you are doing well!

  2. As usual amazing photos! it kinda looks like the ice cream is wearing party hats 😉
    also I love the idea of working from a cafe, I find the distractions on home get a little over whelming.

    • …and my Internet is fixed. I am both happy and disappointed at the same time! Ah well, I will still make an effort to venture out every so often for some undisturbed writing! Thanks Megan!

  3. So glad you made this recipe and even gave it your own twist! I MUST try it with nuts and chocolate chips next time. It looks divine. This remains of my favorite coconut ice cream recipes to date! Thanks for the share. xo – Dana

  4. I have ALWAYS wanted an ice cream maker! There are just so many great recipes out there that i’m missing out on.
    xx

  5. Holy cow that looks delicious! Love all the photography too!

  6. Your photos are fabulous! I almost tried licking my laptop screen. No seriously.

  7. I love the teacups and cones! and coffee ice cream is my ever-fave…coconut milk ice cream is so easy, yet so creamy! It’s a total trickster.

  8. This sounds like one flavor packed ice cream! I’d love to have a bowl of it.

    And I always wanted an ice cream maker. I feel like I already have way too many gadgets and appliances in the kitchen, but whatever! It’s an ice cream maker! I’m totally behind your season of the ice cream adventure. Look forward to more!

    • Thanks man! I also have way too many kitchen gadgets, but an ice cream maker is a definite luxury. I bet you wouldn’t regret adding one to your gadget collection!

  9. Yes! This recipe is exactly what I needed to give me that final push to get an ice cream maker. Can’t wait to try out this ice cream.

  10. Looks amazing!

  11. Hi Amanda!

    Your blog came across me when I was into one of my – several! – food blog searching and I just felt in love with it! I also write a food blog (in portuguese, I’m from Brazil), so I love to find some news and see what others are sharing too. I’ll definetely try some recipes of yours 😉

  12. I am seriously impressed that your ice cream is vegan… when I first saw the photo on instagram, I remember thinking how creamy it looked! Good call on that one. I should follow suit and make this as an alternative for my dairy-free older sister.

    And I think there are a lot of positives about not having internet! (temporarily, that is.) it makes me focus on more “real life” things, and makes me much much more efficient on the internet when I do get the chance to be on it, such as in a coffee shop. That being said, I’ve never survived without the internet for more than a few weeks. It can be a little maddening!

    • Oh, I bet your sister would love this ice cream. It’s such a great base to play around with!
      Fortunately/unfortunately, my Internet is back…you’re totally right though, I was so efficient the other night when I only had an hour and a half to get a bunch of stuff done. Kind of makes me want to purposely “un-plug” every so often.

  13. sooooo so so going to make this! It looks so creamy and awesome! I love all forms of frozen creaminess (ice cream, froyo, coconut milk etc) and this looks delicious.

    I have to admit I’ve never tried writing outside of my house. I always fail when i try to write and my boyfriend is watching something on tv.. suddenly I need to be there, what is he watching? do I want to watch it? should we eat snacks? Should i bake granola bars? I hate this show lets go for a walk.. (etc). So distracted so easily. Maybe I’ll give a coffee shop a try.. or the library!

    • Thanks friend! Yes, so many distractions at home. You might be surprised by how peaceful a coffee shop (or library!) is…and they have snacks too! It’s the perfect excuse to drink an indulgent coffee or enjoy a sweet treat while you work…not that I exercise much restraint while at home…

  14. Beautiful!!! I always turn the TV on in the background for noise. I get annoyed with myself because instead of working I get sucked into whatever Bravo marathon is on at the moment. I have little will power these days. I have been saying I need to get an ice cream maker. Where I am going to store it, I have no idea, but I need one! This ice cream is basically guilt free and I cannot wait until I can make it myself.

    • I always seem to leave my TV on the Food Network and then I get sucked into a Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives marathon. Which just leads me to crave very bad food. And be very unproductive! I hope you get your hands on an ice cream maker soon and can make this ice cream!

  15. Look at you and your fabulous ice cream!!! I am in love with this!

  16. This has got to be the cutest presentation of ice cream cones I’ve ever come across. Your blog is enchanting (appropriately!)!

  17. It truly amazes me the things that can be made vegan, especially desserts!!

  18. Your pictures are gorgeous! SO glad I found your page 🙂 I could go for about 5 servings of this ice cream right now!

  19. Yum! I’ve had an ice cream maker in my “saved for later” cart in Amazon, I think the time has come to make the purchase 🙂

  20. This fills my heart with joy. I feel we are destined to be friends. Vegan ice cream, ’nuff said!

    xo
    Lauren

  21. This looks absolutely delish’! Two of my favorite things together…. Coffee & coconut ❤

  22. I adore coconut milk and I love this recipe!!!! ps the photos are so spectacular!

Trackbacks

  1. […] be hooked. Secondly, I’ve added macadamia nuts and cinnamon chips. As I mentioned before, I brought home a sweet little stash of macadamia nuts from Hawaii back in April. I took a bus tour […]

  2. […] tons of time in the kitchen. And guess what? It’s freaking vegan. Remember when I made you that vegan ice cream? Yeah, I hopped aboard the vegan train and you’re comin’ with me! (But don’t worry, I still […]

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