I'm so happy to share with you this super easy Vegan No-Churn Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Ice Cream that can be made without an ice cream maker.
Yes, you read that right!
A vegan ice cream recipe with only 5 healthy, clean ingredients and you don't need an ice cream maker to make it...only a little patience for it to harden in the freezer.
I based it off my Clean Eating Chocolate Fudgesicles recipe which is just a basic plain chocolate ice cream made with my Vitamix, but I added a creamy peanut butter swirl for this recipe.
I remember back in the day when we used to get ice cream from one of the popular ice cream chains, my husband's favorite flavor to get was the chocolate peanut butter swirl.
I won't lie to you...it tasted good and looked good, but at what expense?
It wasn't vegan, wasn't made with clean ingredients and had 99.99% ingredients that weren't good for the human body. Actually, I'm looking over the ingredient list again and I don't even see the 0.01% that would be good for the body.
S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) Baskin Robbins Chocolate N' Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Ingredients: Cream, Nonfat Milk, Peanut Butter Ribbon (Peanuts, Cottonseed and/or Peanut Oil, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt), Sugar, Corn Syrup, Chocolate Liquor and Cocoa processed with alkali, Whey Powder, Emulsifier/Stabilizer Blend (Cellulose Gum, Mono and Diglycerides, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Polysorbate 80).
S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients: Cream, Water, Sugar, Sugar Liquid, Milk Nonfat Condensed, Peanuts, Wheat Flour, Corn Syrup, Milk Condensed Sweetened Nonfat, Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Coconut Oil, Eggs Yolks, Soybeans Oil, Eggs, Rice Brown Syrup, Chocolate Liquor, Corn Oil, Cocoa, Peanuts Oil, Butter, Egg Whites, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Vanilla Extract, Sodium Bicarbonate, Carrageenan, Flavors Natural
Their ingredients include GMO's (milk, butter, eggs, soybean oil, soy lecithin, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, corn oil), pesticides (peanuts), refined sugar and salt, stabilizers and preservatives and unknown flavorings.
Our taste buds have been trained to seek out, enjoy and crave these chemically concocted, processed foods when the S.A.D. diet (Standard American Diet) is followed.
My healthier and clean version has only 5 ingredients and it's vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free and contains no refined sugar and can be made with a Vitamix.
Kaielyn's Expert Tips + Ingredient Substitutions
Here are some of my expert tips to make this recipe perfectly:
Tip #1: You don't have to soak the cashews ahead of time if you don't want to. I've made it both ways (with and without soaking) but they blend easier, and the mixture is creamier when they are soaked.
Tip #2: You don't have to put the canned coconut milk in the refrigerator the night before, but I find the mixture is a little creamier when the hardened fat from the coconut milk is used. I always keep a can in the back of my refrigerator to have ready when I need it, but if you don't have a can ready or don't want to wait you can just use a non-refrigerated can.
Tip #3: I've lined my baking dish with and without parchment paper and I actually prefer to not use it. Once the ice cream gets soft and you start scooping it out, the paper gets soggy and starts to tear and it makes a big mess. So, I have the parchment paper in the photos, but it's not necessary to use it so I didn't put it in the instructions.
Tip #4: I like to use the raw coconut crystals because it's raw and low glycemic and sometimes use non-GMO xylitol, but feel free to use your favorite granular sweetener. Also, I don't like my desserts overly sweet, so I only used ¼ cup of the raw coconut crystals. If you find you want it a little sweeter, just increase the amount of sweetener you use.
Tip #5: I use homemade peanut butter which is very thin and creamy and can almost drip from the spoon. I was able to just drizzle it on top of the chocolate mixture then swirl it in. If you use a different kind of peanut butter or a thicker kind, you may want to add a tablespoon of coconut oil or liquid sweetener (maple syrup) to thin it out a little so it will be easier to swirl in. Just make sure you use organic peanut butter because non-organic peanut butter can contain up to 8 different pesticides.
Gluten-Free Vegan No-Churn Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Ice Cream
Equipment
- Vitamix or high-speed blender
Ingredients
For the ice cream:
- 1 cup organic cashews
- 1 can organic full-fat coconut milk 13.5-ounce can
- ½ cup organic raw cacao powder
- ¼ - ½ cup organic granular sweetener
For the peanut butter swirl:
- ½ cup organic peanut butter
Instructions
Prepare the ice cream:
- Optional: Soak the cashews for 30-60 minutes in filtered/purified water, then drain. This step is optional, but soaking the cashews will make them softer and will make the ice cream mixture creamier.
- Add all ingredients for the ice cream to a Vitamix, or high-speed blender, and blend until the mixture is creamy and smooth.
- Pour the mixture evenly into 9 x 5 loaf pan.
- Drizzle the peanut butter over the top of the mixture. Using the tip of a knife, swirl it around evenly in circular motion. The peanut butter will sink to the bottom but it's ok because it will all be there when you scoop it out.
- Cover the baking dish and put it in the freezer for approximately 2-3 hours, or until it gets to the firmness you prefer.
- When ready to serve, remove the baking dish from the freezer and let it sit on the counter at room temperature to slightly thaw before serving.
- Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
The recipe and photographs for "Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Ice Cream" by Karielyn Tillman of The Healthy Family and Home website are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International License and cannot be used without my written permission.Nutrition Information
Copyright Notice
The notes, instructions, and photographs for this recipe are copyrighted material and are protected under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). They cannot be used legally without my written permission.
Want More Healthy Gluten-Free Vegan No-Bake Dessert Recipes?
Check out these:
- Vegan No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake
- Pomegranate and Dried Blueberry Chocolate Bark
- Clean Eating Chocolate Crunch Bars
- or my CLEAN DESSERTS Cookbook with 72 plant-based vegan + gluten-free no-bake dessert recipes just like this one that you will love!
Did You Make This Recipe?
I'd love to hear about it! Please give it a rating and leave a comment below...it would make my day! 🙂
Stacy says
Can I put this mixture in an ice cream maker instead of just in the freezer? Would it make it creamier?
Karielyn says
Hi Stacy! Yes, you can also make it in an ice cream maker and completely skip the freezer part! Just keep in mind that it will have more of a "soft-serve" consistency rather than a more traditional ice cream consistency as shown in the photo.
I'm not sure how the peanut butter "swirl" would turn out since it wouldn't firm up in the freezer and remain separate from the ice cream, but you can try to swirl it in by hand at the end. It may just blend into the chocolate ice cream and not be a "swirl"? But that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing...you would still have a chocolate peanut butter ice cream!
Thanks for the question and I hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Shelby Stolze says
If I make this 2-3 days ahead of serving, will it be too hard to scoop out?
Karielyn says
Hi there Shelby! Yes, you can make it ahead of time, just make sure the container you keep it in is sealed air-tight so it doesn't get ice crystals on it.
When you take it out of the freezer, it will be hard so you will have to let it sit on the counter top for a few minutes so it can get soft enough for you to scoop it out.
I hope you enjoy the recipe if you give it a try...it's really good 🙂
Susan says
Hi...I am excited to try this, but have a quick question. Do you save some of the 1/2 peanut butter to swirl in or just the entire amount and not add any pb to the mixture?
Karielyn says
Hi there Susan! That's an excellent question, because it wasn't very clear in my instructions. You would add all the ingredients ~except~ the peanut butter to the blender to make the ice cream, and then add the peanut butter for the swirl separately.
I updated the recipe with better instructions.
Thanks so much for catching that and I hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
Stephanie says
What can I use in place of the cashew? We have a tree nut allergy in our home.
Thank you
Karielyn says
Hi there Stephanie! You can actually make this recipe and just leave out the cashews all together. I add them because they give it an extra creaminess, but I've made vegan ice creams before without cashews using just the coconut milk.
Thanks for the question and I hope you enjoy the recipe 😉