Coconut Bliss & Butterscotch Malts [Recipe]

I keep coming back to ice cream...seriously this is one of the hardest parts of going dairy-free. Well, that and cheese. Anyway I came across Coconut Bliss at my local Jewel (very limited flavor selection, but I believe you can most if not all their flavors at Whole Foods), and decided to give it a try. You guys, this is it! This is seriously the best ice cream sub I have found. The texture and melt are perfect! The only downside is you will definitely get that hint of coconut, it does not go away. I haven't tried every flavor, but of the 6 I've tried so far this has only been off-putting in their Vanilla Island. And in all honesty, it was only an issue for me when eaten plain; I loved topping apple pie with this flavor! If you can have, and like the taste of, coconut, then definitely try this stuff out. They even have ice cream bars and other treats.

Now... ever since I was little, I've loved butterscotch malts. They were a special thing I shared with my dad. Ever since I've been dairy free, I knew this was something I would probably have to give up. However, now that I found an ice cream I like, I was on the hunt to make my own malt!

Butterscotch Malt

2 scoops Coconut Bliss vanilla island
1 cup coconut milk
3 Tbsp non-diastatic barley malt powder
3 Tbsp Jello instant butterscotch pudding mix*

* I plan to replace this with a home-made dairy-free butterscotch syrup next time, but was way too impatient once my malt arrived n_~

My next adventure will be converting a garlic cream sauce to dairy-free. The guys love when I make it with chicken (or sometimes I even make a sort of chicken alfredo), and honestly I love it too. If that is successful, you can expect a new post soon!

Let's Talk Ice Cream

I've been taking a stab at this dairy-free lifestyle for a while now. Everyone has a different reason for making this decision, and for me it was due to allergies. I've had a progressive lactose-intolerance that has been getting worse over time (which logically makes sense: mammals are not meant to imbibe milk after a certain age so most humans do develop some level of intolerance and it does get worse over time as we get farther in years from our milk drinking age). As that has started to affect me more and more, I started moving away from dairy and noticed other health issues arising when I did partake, which lead to an allergy diagnosis. Now, minus milk, I love dairy. Butter is the best, cheese is my favorite snack, and oh man do I love ice cream. So this decision has been forced on me more so than a personal decision; I was alright cutting back but removing dairy entirely was like a slap in the face. Since this happened later in life, I'm well aware of how things should taste and feel, so I am pickier than others for sure. Sometimes I'll make the concession with cheese or butter, limiting my quantities, taking a combo of allergy medicine and lactaid, and paying the price for my decisions. But ice cream...who eats 1 Tbsp of ice cream? So I've been searching for some good replacements.

Cado ice cream had become my hands down favorite. Made with avocado, the texture is perfectly creamy. I am actually inspired to attempt my own at home. The flavors are good too, but very limited. Seriously. There are 3 flavors. The chocolate is divine, and so rich that you really don't need or want a whole lot, which is great because these pints are a tad pricier than others. The mint chip was alright, it would probably be great if I enjoyed peppermint, but I don't. The other flavor, which I have yet to try, is lemon. I also expect great things, but I crave other flavors so have been searching.

So Delicious offers a few varieties. I have only tried their coconut milk and cashew milk varieties. I have no problem with the tastes of either. My issues are more of a texture thing (I'm a very textural eater). The coconut milk ice cream is hard like a sorbet, which is not an initial issue, I just find it to be gumy as it softens up. Generally speaking, this is a problem I have with coconut milk across the board: soups, smoothies, ice cream...there are very few applications where I do not find the texture becoming gummy. I'm sure over time you get used to it, but I'm stubborn so moved on to cashew. This actually isn't bad in terms of texture, just much more similar to a frozen custard so it's a thicker, richer ice cream. Pretty good overall, but I still found avocado to have a texture closer to what I craved.

I've also given Ben & Jerry's almond milk ice cream a try. It's honestly somewhere in between the coconut and cashew milk versions. Admittedly, I started out with chocolate fudge brownie so there was a fair amount going on in that pint. However, texturally I found this to be very pleasing and a happy medium between coconut and cashew. Still not as great as avocado, but definitely a closer and more easily available option. The only real hang up here is that the almond flavor is very strong. Even with all that chocolate going on, the almond came through strong. It wasn't bad, but I can see it being something I won't want all the time.

While shopping around a couple weeks ago I came across Nana Creme. I'm not the biggest banana fan honestly, but I like it in things. I always include banana in my smoothies, am a fan of banana bread, and even like it in a fruit salad. I'm just not a fan of bananas on their own. So, I figured a banana based ice cream would probably be fine, especially as I went with Brownie (which was on clearance at my local Jewel, so bonus!). This was just not for me. The banana flavor was overpowering and I barely noticed the chocolate. My roommate tried it too and he thought the banana flavor was too artificial, like the banana runts. So this brand is a hard pass for me.

My most recent excursion was originally to search for Talenti sorbetto, which someone had posted on the Deliciously Dairy Free Facebook group. Talenti makes a delicious gelato, so I really wanted to try their sorbetto. Unfortunately my local Jewel did not carry the sorbetto, but I did find Sorbabes which is a vegan sorbetto. I grabbed the coffee almond flavor and it was delicious and creamy, very similar to the Hagan Daz coffee ice cream. This might actually replace Cado as my favorite...time will tell!

Now to try out some whipped creams. My boyfriend got me a dispenser for Christmas, and so far I have only tried making a coconut whipped cream. This tasted alright, but I found I had to remove my dispenser about 15-30 minutes prior to when I wanted whipped cream as it got too thick in the refrigerator. This week will be full of some experiments....check back in to see which recipe is the winner!

So Delicious Cashew Milk Ice Cream & Coco Whip

I meant to start trying out my new purchases last night, but alas we got caught up in game night and I had a burger with regular American cheese. I was looking for a sweet treat before lunch and decided to try out the So Delicious cashew milk ice cream. I grabbed the vanilla, because who doesn't like a good vanilla (although watch out, as they basically have an unflavored version which I almost mistook for vanilla).

Disclaimer: My trip took longer than intended yesterday so things did get a bit melty.

Taste: Pretty good. This was like your standard French vanilla, so a little buttery without a super strong vanilla flavor. Some hints of cashew, but much less than the almond in Ben & Jerry's. I definitely want to check out some of the other flavors.

Texture: Much better than the coconut milk! Maybe even better than almond milk? Or at least comparable. There was that obvious refrozen texture though, so I may update this as I get farther into the pint or when I try a new flavor. That aside, this was a very thick and creamy ice cream.

Overall: I think this is m favorite so far. I am really looking forward to trying some of the other flavors, and to see what new ones So Delicious comes out with.

Update: So I made a bowl tonight and topped it with coco whip. I stand by my previous thoughts. Very thick and creamy (closer to frozen custard actually), and the cashew flavor does come through a bit. It was not jarring though, and I think in other flavors it will be left in the background. As I got farther in the texture was definitely better but still thicker and heavier than expected (this was not due to melting though as I hit the middle of the pint)

As for the coco whip...this is great! I am a little disappointed it's more like cool whip than whipped cream, but from what I've read coconut whipped cream lasts about 2 days in the refrigerator. That being said it's got a great creamy texture, even better than cool whip. It definitely tastes like coconut though (although not as strongly as I anticipated), so if you don't like coconut flavor this is not for you. I love coconut and was very pleased. This was a great topping to my cashew ice cream, and actually melts better than regular whipped cream.



I'm sure I'll review other brands/types over time, but this concludes a pretty good summary of my experiences. I'm not sure if I'll give soy ice cream try...my brother also has dairy problems, is allergic to soy, and there is a small correlation between the 2 so I am not planning to up my intake drastically. I may attempt rice milk, and others as they become available. I am also planning to do some experimenting on making my own and will share those results on the blog.

Ben & Jerry Dairy-Free Ice Cream

Based off the recommendation of many friends, and given that it is the only other dairy-free option at my Jewel, I picked up a pint of Ben & Jerry's The chunky monkey came highly recommended, but I'm not a banana person so I went for Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

Taste: Holy crap, this tastes just like brownie batter. It's thick and succulent. There is a hint of almond flavor (given that this is made with an almond milk base), so that may catch you off guard at first. However, going in knowing that it should not deter from your enjoyment.

Texture: This is creamier and softer than the So Delicious coconut milk ice cream. When it melted, the texture was as expected. This was definitely closer to ice cream.

Overall: Highly recommended. The almond flavor definitely comes through, so if this is something you dislike stay away. Otherwise the flavors they are offering are good and the texture is wonderful. I will definitely be buying more and trying more flavors as they become available (minus the Chunky Monkey lol).

Dole Whip

I've come across this recipe in the past, but it popped up again on my feed today and in light of my new adventure I decided I wanted to give it a try.

First of all, if you attempt this I highly recommend a food processor. I've tried this in both a large blender (although maybe not high power enough? also I only did 1/4 of the recipe for a single serving), and a small personal sized blender (16 oz). I was not able to get the pineapple fully processed, so those chunks were rather jarring in terms of both texture and flavor.

That being said, I love this! Oh so smooth and creamy. The pineapple is such a subtle flavor, which surprised me given the 4:1. This is so light and refreshing, and reminded me of a sherbet. I'm seriously considering attempting this with other fruits (especially lime...man, do I miss lime sherbet). Also, for those of you who don't like or can't have pineapple, I think it would be worth attempting with other fruits. I'm sure you could use any non-dairy milk of your choice, as Gemma even says she's used the light coconut milk so you know fat content isn't make or break.

I'm getting a suspicion that most of what you will be reading about here will be ice cream related...Over time hopefully that will change! Then again, nothing wrong with a dairy-free dessert blog, right?

Update 9/16/16: If you have a stick/hand/immersion blender, I have found that works rather well when making a single serving. If it came with a vessel, pour everything into there, otherwise use a tall/narrow container large enough for your blender to fit into.

So Delicious Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Given the results of my recent experiment, I decided to try out a non-dairy ice cream. The Jewel by my house has very few options, including So Delicious (coconut milk) and Lactaid (which defeats the purpose since I'm pretty sure this is an allergy at this point). My two favorite flavors are butter pecan and mint. Luckily So Delicious has a mint chocolate flavor so I picked it up.

Flavor-wise, this is delicious! It does not taste like coconut at all (not that I would mind, but in case you were concerned...). The mint flavor is great and perfectly refreshing. I really love how this ice cream tastes and am definitely curious about the other flavors.

Texture-wise, it's a bit lacking. The coconut milk freezes harder than a dairy ice cream and has more of an initial texture of sorbet. Not that this is a turn-off, but definitely something to keep in mind if you are really craving that creaminess. The part where it started to bug me was as it defrosted and softened up. I usually let my sorbet sit a bit to soften up, and given the lack of dairy it becomes liquidy faster than ice cream, so this is what I was expecting with the So Delicious. Unfortunately it seemed to get gummy as it melted which I found off-putting. Maybe I'll get over this over time, but initially I am not a fan.

Overall: delicious! This is really good. But the texture as it melts will take some getting used to. I will definitely come back to this and give it another try at any rate.