This Double Chocolate Chip Cherry Ice Cream is easy to make at home and you don’t even need an ice cream maker! It has a rich and creamy texture and loads of chocolate and sweet fresh cherries mixed in. Refined sugar free, vegan, paleo and kid approved!
I recently polled Instagram to see if people preferred a no-churn ice cream or one for the ice cream maker and to my surprise, the results were split right down the middle.
Good news – you can make this one both ways and you won’t be missing out on anything either way. I took my no-churn chocolate ice cream from a couple of years ago and tweaked it to make it even creamier.
Then, I added chocolate chips and lots of sweet chopped cherries because they’re delicious of course! And because I’m currently cherry obsessed and buying a bag every time I hit the store. Even when I don’t need one – it’s possibly becoming a problem – but not really because cherries are just the best, am I right?
But the ice cream, you won’t be disappointed with this one! I’m the first one to admit that making homemade ice cream with coconut milk can be tricky, especially if you’re going for no-churn.
Alone, coconut milk (or even cream) turns into a rock solid block of ice in the freezer. And yes, the no-churn version of this ice cream does get hard in the freezer, BUT it thaws to an incredibly creamy texture with no icy bits throughout.
There are two “secrets” here. The first is we’re going to thicken the ice cream mixture on the stove with a little bit of tapioca or arrowroot. The mixture cools fully and THEN either goes in the ice cream maker, or the freezer.
The second is that I used a good deal of almond butter which keeps the ice cream creamier and just a bit softer because it doesn’t freeze solid. You can easily sub in any nut or seed butter you’d like especially if you want to keep this ice cream nut free.
If you choose the no-churn version, I highly recommend stirring it every hour or so as it freezes to keep it creamy. But, even if you leave it overnight (which I did before taking these photos!) you’ll still wind up with a creamy, scoop-able ice cream after you thaw it on the countertop for 15 minutes or so.
This ice cream is incredibly simple yet SO delicious and even kid approved. You don’t taste any of the coconut flavor since the rich chocolate flavor completely covers it up. You can even adjust the level of sweetness by adding more or less maple syrup – it’s a win win all around!
I hope you’re ready for chocolate cherry ice cream heaven to happen – right now – in your kitchen! Homemade paleo + vegan ice cream as its best – let’s go!
Double Chocolate Chip Cherry Ice Cream {No Churn, Paleo, Vegan}
Double Chocolate Chip Cherry Ice Cream {No-Churn, Paleo, Vegan}
Ingredients
- 2-14 oz cans full fat coconut milk From one can, use the cream only and discard the water
- 2/3 cup raw cacao powder sifted, unsweetened cocoa powder is fine too
- 1 tbsp tapioca starch
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 6 Tbsp creamy almond butter unsalted (or any creamy unsalted nut butter for nut free, use sunflower butter. The nut butter is mainly for the texture of the ice cream
- 1 cup sweet cherries pitted and chopped
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
Instructions
-
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the coconut milk, cream, cacao powder, tapioca, and maple syrup. Heat the mixture over medium heat and cook while stirring with the whisk for about 10 minutes Or until the mixture begins to bubble and thicken slightly. Remove from heat, then whisk in the almond butter, vanilla and sea salt until fully combined and smooth.
-
Allow the mixture to cool at room temperature for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. A film might begin to form on top - this is normal, simply whisk to blend it away. Transfer the mixture to the refrigerator to cool to room temperature.
-
For no-churn, Once room temperature or cooler, mix in the chocolate and chopped cherries and transfer to a loaf pan or other freezer safe container. Cover tightly with plastic wraps and Freeze for 4-6 hours or overnight, ideally stirring occasionally. If frozen overnight, allow the ice cream to thaw on the countertop until softened.
-
For an ice cream maker, add the cooled mixture to the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn 20+ minutes until thick and creamy. Stir in the chocolate and cherries, then transfer to a loaf pan or other freezer safe container, cover and freeze at least 2 hours.
Nutrition
Shop Products and Ingredients:
Want More Paleo + Vegan Ice Cream Recipes? Try One of These!
Chocolate Almond Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream {No-Churn}
Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Paleo Running Momma!
I love chocolate and cherries together! This ice cream looks so delicious and I love how easy it is to make.
Looks delicious! If subbing arrowroot for the tapioca, would you still mix it in right away when beginning the stovetop cooking or at the end since arrowroot is sensitive to heat?
This sounds amazingly delicious! I love the combo of chocolate and cherries. Such a fun summertime dessert!
This looks so delicious and easy to make! I only have crunchy almond butter, will it work too!
It will except you’ll have the nuts in it 🙂
I can’t wait to make this! For the coconut cream cans – is it one can (cream & milk) and then the 2nd can is the coconut cream only, discard the milk?
Discard the water, not the milk. The milk itself separates into cream and water when chilled, so use just the cream for one of the cans.
I liked it but the family wanted it sweeter. Maybe next time I would use semi sweet chocolate chips to improve on sweetness. Otherwise texture and chocolate was delicious.
Just made this in my new ice cream maker. Unbelievable. Can’t wait to try more of your paleo ice cream recipes!!!
Could I swap one of the cans of coconut milk with cashew milk if I only have one can on hand? If so, which one?
This ice cream is amazing!!! Made it exactly per the recipe and did use my ice cream maker…we will definitely be making this again. Thank you for all of your delicious real food recipes!
Can you recommend a way to use less sugar?
Can you use frozen cherries?
Hi, would like to make this ice cream but having problems to convert the
2-14 oz cans full fat coconut milk to cups or ml, can you help me please. Than you!
Very chocolatey, and creamy. I like it has no dairy and no eggs. I used on full can of coconut milk and one full can of coconut cream. Because of all the cream, it took over an hour to make a dent in the ice cream. Still yummy. Thank you for creating and sharing.
Made this ice cream, delicious and kid approved. I used an ice cream maker and I only had coconut cream so next time I’ll make w/ coconut milk and coconut cream combo.
My Mom would have loved this, hands down. You are my favorite paleo blogger! I love your work, but it seems like every recipe I get excited to try has almonds! [The only paleo pizza crust you’ll ever need!]
For me, though? I recently figured out almonds were the reason I had a low-level stomachache for a whole year! [I asked myself, isn’t that also when I started paleo baking?]
Even using sun-butter or Wow Butter in this would make it taste off to me– the only nut I like flavor-wise with chocolate is hazelnuts, [hello Nutella, if only it had no sugar 🙂 ) … but husband cannot have nuts at all.
Just like “real” ice cream! I used almond butter, and I used frozen sweet cherries because I didn’t have access to fresh ones. And I used sugar free chocolate chips. I did not use the ice cream maker, which might have made this a little softer to serve. Nevertheless, the flavors are perfectly balanced, the texture (when softened just a little on the counter) is rich and creamy. This will become a staple!
Indulge in the deliciousness of this Double Chocolate Chip Cherry Ice Cream—no churn needed! It’s rich, creamy, and loaded with chocolate and sweet cherries, making it a guilt-free treat for everyone. While enjoying this dessert, consider taking a break for some fun with the Slope game, adding a dash of excitement to your day!