One of the best treats in the world might just be ice cream. It is a guilty pleasure that most folks love. Usually, ice cream has whole milk and a ton of sugar in it. However, this recipe has a few secret ingredients in it that you won’t even taste. It also happens to be vegan! You could make this recipe for yourself or for family and friends on Thanksgiving. You’ll definitely have them surprised when you tell them that sweet potato, a Thanksgiving staple, is a key ingredient.
I found the recipe, thanks to a vegan blog called The Vegan 8. I had to find out for myself if the sweet potato would actually work in ice cream. I usually only eat sweet potato around the fall months, so I figured I’d give it a try before I bring it out on Thanksgiving with some pie.
First, you’ll have to round up a few ingredients:
-3/4 cup cooked mashed and packaged sweet potato
-Two cups room temperature lite canned coconut milk (shake the can well)
-1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips (I used a whole 10 oz. bag of Enjoy Life dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips)
-1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
-1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (or any salt tbh)
1. Add the sweet potato, coconut milk, vanilla and salt to a blender.
Don’t blend it yet though, as you will need to prep the chocolate.
2. Melt the chocolate chips.
You can melt them in a microwave or on the stove. I chose the stove just in case I burned them in the microwave. Make sure you keep stirring the chocolate every 30 seconds.
4. Add the chocolate to the blender.
Scrape out all that chocolatey goodness into the blender. Begin blending all the ingredients until incorporated together.
5. Put the ice cream mix into a container that has a lid.
You’ll want to put the ice cream mix into a container. It will be best if it has a lid because it won’t spill anywhere in your freezer while it’s freezing. Pop it into the freezer overnight.
6. Defrost your ice cream
After the mix freezes overnight, you’ll wake up to ice cream that’s hard as a rock.
You’ll want to microwave it for about 45 seconds, or more depending on how soft you want your ice cream. You can always put the ice cream back in the freezer. Scoop some out and enjoy!
This recipe turned out quite delicious. I’m not the biggest fan of sweet potato, but you can’t even taste it in the ice cream! You also won’t be able to tell there’s coconut milk in there either. It’s creamy, chocolatey and the perfect amount of sweet. It’ll go great with cookies, pie and more. I’m actually surprised it turned out so well. It’s also not that bad for you, considering there’s no heavy cream or extra sugar in it. So grab the ingredients and experiment with this recipe, you won’t believe you actually made it and that it’s healthier than regular ice cream!
Photo credits: All photos by author