A decadent chocolate gelato made with just 5 ingredients, and prepped in just 5 minutes! Dairy-free, nut-free, sugar-free, and vegan.
If you know my work, you know ice cream is my favorite treat. Favorite.
If there is another dessert to be had – cake, pie, cookies – it better be paired with ice cream!
In my early cooking days I watched a lot of Bobby Flay cooking episodes. I’ve heard him express a similar sentiment about ice cream, that he would choose ice cream anytime over any other dessert.
Yes. Exactly.
There’s something special about making your own ice cream, though. It tastes – well – homemade. You can customize to your sweetness and ingredient preferences, and you can taste the love!
Tricky thing is most homemade ice cream recipes require an ice cream maker, and many of us don’t have this appliance (or we may not want to pull it out any given day)! I have a full ice cream chapter in LTEV, but most of those recipes do use the ice cream maker.
This Chocolate Gelato needs no ice cream maker. It benefits from a high-speed blender, but more of us in the vegan and plant-based world have a rambo blender!
This is also one of those gem recipes that just “came together”. I tested it one day as a pudding, throwing a few ingredients together, and using dates as the sweetener (with my chocolate chia pudding in mind). It literally took 5 minutes to make. I decided to freeze it, just to see how it would turn out. To my delight it froze beautifully. With 5 simple ingredients, and 5 minutes of prep (excepting freezing time), I was happy to retest. And retest. And retest this chocolate gelato. 😉
I think I’ve said enough. Time to make the ice cream! Happy scooping…
Vegan Chocolate Gelato Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup refrigerated coconut cream (from can of regular coconut milk, see note)
- 1 cup (packed) pitted dates (see note)
- 1 cup frozen overripe sliced banana
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 – 1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder or seeds from one vanilla bean or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (see note) optional
Instructions
- In a high-speed blender (I use Blendtec and the twister jar), combine all ingredients (see note if using a standard blender).
- Puree until very smooth.
- Transfer to a container to freeze (see note for mousse/pudding ideas). It will take 4-5 hours to freeze to a firm set, but will soft-set like a gelato in less time (about 2-3 hours). Makes about 2 1/2 cups.
Notes
- Coconut Milk Note: Use regular coconut milk (rather than light) from a can in this recipe. Before using refrigerate it overnight, or for a few days. The thick cream will rise to the top and be easy to scoop and measure. Use only the thick cream.
- Date Note: Dates must be soft to easily puree. Some pitted dates can be old and dry. If your dates aren’t soft, try presoaking them in non-dairy milk for a half-hour or so until they soften. Vanilla Note: I prefer the flavor of vanilla seeds or pure ground vanilla bean, but you can also use vanilla extract if you want to add that touch of flavor.
- Blender Note: A standard blender may have difficulty churning the dates and frozen bananas into a smooth mix. You might want to first process the bananas and dates in a food processor, adding a small amount of the milk and then transferring to a blender to achieve a smoother puree.
- Idea: As a mousse, try serving topped with fresh fruit or layered in a parfait glass with Vanilla Cashew Yogurt!
Share your feedback anytime about this recipe, love to hear from you!
Debbie says
I have seen many questions regarding eliminating the banana and have seen no response. Do you need the banana or what can be substituted? Thanks. Can’t wait to try this.
Dreena says
Thanks Debbie. I don’t always see the comments days or weeks after a post, so easy to miss questions. The banana adds a textural component as well as sweetness. I haven’t tested it without banana, either something needs to stand in for the banana (frozen mango might work) or the liquid needs to be adjusted or both. I don’t like to guess and then have ppl try something that won’t work, so instead I’d recommend a different ice cream recipe, not using banana. I have a couple more on my blog and a chapter dedicated to ice cream in “let them eat vegan”. Hope that helps!
Danielle says
Was wondering if I can eliminate the banana or you need it? I was also wondering when you refrigerate the milk overnight will it prevent the ice cream from getting icy?
Danielle says
Recipe sounds delicious!! Was wondering if I can eliminate the banana I don’t love tasting banana?…. I also have been having a hard time with my ice cream it’s been very icy.. Is the problem solved by refrigerating the coconut milk beforehand??
Dreena says
Hi Danielle, pls see my reply to Debbie about the bananas. As for the icy Q, most recipes will be icy unless you use an ice cream maker. Do you use one? I have a kitchenaid attachment to my stand mixer – very handy. This recipe doesn’t get too icy, but usually that’s the culprit, not churning while freezing. Also, yes, ice creams need a higher fat content to be creamy.
Amanda says
This is seriously amazingly yum! LTEV is our fave cookbook and whenever someone asks me about family friendly plant based recipes I send them straight to your website. Thanks for sharing Dreena 🙂
Dreena says
Yay, stoked to hear you love it Amanda… and I really appreciate that feedback, thank you. <3
Jacky Hood says
I made this for my friend’s bbq and it was a huge success! I used cacao as I prefer that to cocoa and doubled the amount called for. Delicious! And soooo easy! I have a ninja blender and left it to blend for a few mins. Worked well. Thanks!!!
Dreena says
Oh, bet it was uber-chocolately! Glad it worked well, thanks Jacky!