Pamela Braun - Frozen Paleo: Dairy-Free Ice Cream, Pops, Pies, Granitas, Sorbets, and More

Copyright 2016 by Pamela Butkowski

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Following the Paleo way of eating doesnt mean you cant indulge your sweet tooth once in a while. But is it possible to actually have a delicious frozen treat thats also Paleo? Im here to tell you it is.

Ive been lactose intolerant for years and have been making dairy-free ice creams for a long time. These frozen treats will satisfy any sweets craving, and keep you on the Paleo path guilt-free.

Making your own ice cream is fun and rewarding. Whats the reward, you ask? A delicious bowl of ice cream that only contains the ingredients you put into it. No additives or preservatives and ingredients you cant pronounce.

If youre thinking that Paleo frozen treats have got to be thin and icybecause theyre missing the fat from all that dairy cream that goes into making normal ice creamI can assure you thats not the case. In many of these recipes youll use full-fat coconut cream to replace the dairy cream. The fact that 1 tablespoon of coconut cream contains 5.20 grams of fat (USDA) grams of fat means you wont be missing that yummy creaminess that youre looking for in a frozen treat.

And its not just coconut cream in these recipes. Youll also find full-fat coconut milk (the stuff in the can not from the carton in the dairy department of your grocery store) and cashew cream. These ingredients ensure the creaminess of your homemade ice cream. While there are other nut creams available, I use cashew cream in these recipes because its creamier and has a more neutral flavor than other nut creams.

Something youre going to notice when you make your own ice cream is that it will be really hard when you pull it out of the freezer. Dont worry, you didnt mess anything upthats just what happens with homemade ice cream. You can let it sit out for about twenty minutes or pop it in the microwave for a few seconds before digging your spoon into it. There are a couple of reasons that this happens: one is that your home ice cream maker doesnt whip in as much air into the ice cream as the commercial ice cream makers do. Another reason is that homemade ice cream doesnt have all the additives that most commercial ice creams have, which are added to make them softer. I think this last one is a really good trade-offknowing exactly whats in the ice cream youll be eating is worth a few extra moments of waiting.

http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/3661

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I recommend organic ingredients for these recipes. I also highly recommend buying the highest quality ingredients you can afford. There are so few ingredients in many of these recipes that you will taste everything thats in the ice cream, so you want the best you can get.

Weve already discussed the base ingredients for the ice cream (coconut cream, coconut milk, and cashew cream) but what about the sweeteners and flavors?

PURE MAPLE SYRUP Make sure that the syrup you are buying is pure maple syrup and not pancake or breakfast syrup. Pure maple syrup has only one ingredient listed: maple syrup. Organic is even better. Pancake or breakfast syrups are made from high fructose corn syrup and flavorings to make them taste like maple. In the United States, theyre not allowed to put the word maple on the label of these products.

Canada produces roughly 80 percent of the worlds supply of maple syrup, and they have a number and letter grading system: #1 includes AA (extra light), A (light), and B (medium); #2 includes C (amber); and #3 includes D (dark).

The United States has a different grading system and only includes two letters: A or B. A is lighter tasting and is for eating straight up, like on pancakes. B is darker and is used more in baking and cooking. Grade A maple syrup is broken down by color, so you may see the terms light amber, medium amber, or dark amber on your bottle of syrup. I tend to use grade B syrup in my recipes because I like the richer flavor it gives to the ice cream, but if you can only find A, it will work the same.

PURE MAPLE SUGAR This is made by boiling off the excess water from maple syrup. Maple sugar isnt graded, so its not as confusing as buying the syrup can be.

Because it is darker in color, it will affect the color of your finished product a little bit.

RAW HONEY You might be asking why specifically raw honey as opposed to just honey in general. Well, when honey is processed, its heated, which causes a lot of the benefits of honey to be cooked away. Raw honey has not been heated, and therefore all the good things that honey contains can still be found in the sweetener. What are these good things found in honey? Well, without getting into too much detail, its been found that honey is an all-natural antibiotic, and contains pre-biotics and some antioxidants.

CASHEW CREAM Making cashew cream is easy to do with a high speed blender. All it takes is 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water overnight, and cup water. After soaking, drain the cashews and pour them into your blender. Add the cup water, cover and blend until the cashews are smooth. This shouldnt take longer than a minute or two. Use a spatula to scrape the cream from the blender and its ready to use. Your homemade cashew cream will last a week in a covered container in your refrigerator. Just re-stir it before you use it.

CASHEW MILK Making cashew milk is also easy to do with a high speed blender. Soak 1 cup of raw cashews in water overnight. Drain the water and toss cashews into the blender. Add 2 cups of water and run the blender until everything is creamy and there are no pieces of cashews floating around. This should take about 2 minutes.

UNSWEETENED COCOA POWDER When buying unsweetened cocoa, the only ingredient listed should be unsweetened cocoa. You dont want to buy anything thats got any fillers or weird ingredients in it. Also, the better quality cocoa you buy, the more intense the chocolate flavor will be in the finished product.

UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE This is the stuff that you accidentally ate as a kid, thinking you scored a super thick chocolate bar, and promptly spit it out because it wasnt sweet and tasted terrible. I use 99 percent or 100 percent chocolate, and the ingredient list on my bars says cocoa beans. (The 99 percent chocolate bar is cocoa beans and vanilla beans.)

RAW COCOA BUTTER You might be more familiar with cocoa butter for applying to dry skin or in the prevention of scars, but theres also an edible cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is made from cold pressing cocoa nibs to separate a cocoa paste from the powder of the nibs. Youll need to make sure you are buying the edible cocoa butter. Some stores carry it but it is readily available online.