This luscious and creamy dairy-free ice cream is flavored with earthy sage and honey. Eat it as-is or pair it with the optional sunflower oat crumble and seasonal fruit. If you’d like to head straight to the recipe, scroll down to the bottom of the post!
A few weeks ago I saw the link posted for this wild honey and sage ice cream on Edible Houston. Of course it piqued my interest because SAGE, obvs. Though I love all herbs for their multiple applications both culinary and medicinal, I have a few favorites and sage is among them. A member of the mint (Lamiaceae) family, sage is heady and astringent with hints of citrus. Since it has an inherent earthiness, it creates a nice contrast in sweet applications.
Since seeing that ice cream recipe I’ve been wanting to make a dairy-free option. But, I still wanted to keep the rich creaminess this particular type of ice cream base imparts. In order to incorporate as much fat as I could, I used a combination of full fat coconut milk, coconut cream, and an avocado. And it created the most luscious dairy-free ice cream base I’ve ever made. Like it’s serrrrrrriously good. And before anyone says wait! There’s honey in this so it’s not vegan! Rather than going into the reasons why I support local apiarists and honey, I’ll just re-direct you to the substitutions I included in the recipe. ICE CREAM FOR EVERYONE!!
As much as I really wanted to serve this ice cream alongside a berry pie or crumble, I couldn’t bring myself to turn on the oven so I created a quick shortcut instead. It’s included along with the recipe as toppings but feel free to completely leave it out so you can get to ice cream eating and enjoying that much faster. Stay cool out there friends!
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Honey Sage Ice Cream (dairy free)
- Total Time: 7-9 hours (for chilling & freezing)
- Yield: 1 quart 1x
Description
A luscious and creamy dairy-free ice cream flavored with earthy sage and honey. Eat it as-is or pair it with the optional sunflower oat crumble and seasonal fruit.
Ingredients
for the ice cream:
- 1 standard can of full fat coconut milk (13.5 oz)
- 1 small can of coconut cream (5.4 oz)
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 bunch of sage, approximately 10-12 leaves (I used Berggarten sage from my garden, but any culinary sage will work)
- 6 tbsp honey (or pure maple syrup if you’d like to make it vegan)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- the flesh of 1 standard avocado
- 2 tsp fresh lime or lemon juice
for the sunflower oat crumble:
- 2 tsp coconut oil
- 4 tbsp rolled oats
- 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
- pinch of sea salt
- 2–3 tsp maple syrup
Instructions
In a sauce pan, combine the coconut milk, coconut cream, and pinch of salt. Whisk together until smooth, then heat the mixture over medium heat. Once it starts to simmer, add the sage, cover the pan, and turn off the heat. Allow the sage to steep in the milk mixture for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, remove the sage. Make sure to squeeze out any liquid from the sage into the coconut mixture. Add the sage infused coconut mixture to a blender along with the honey, vanilla, avocado, and citrus juice. Blend until smooth. This is your ice cream base. Chill it in the fridge for 3-4 hours.
Once the ice cream based has been chilled, add it to your ice cream maker and process it according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (I use the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen-Aid and it typically takes around 15-20 minutes to churn it into a soft serve consistency.) When the ice cream maker is done, scoop the ice cream into a glass or ceramic dish, cover it, and place it in the freezer for an additional 2-4 hours to firm up.
If you’d like to make the sunflower oat crumble, heat the oil in a skillet set over medium heat. Add the oats, sunflower seeds, and salt to the pan. Stir about every minute until the oats and seeds begin to toast and turn golden brown. Add the maple syrup and stir for about another minute or two until the crumble begins to look clumpy. Remove the crumble from the heat, spoon it onto a plate, and allow it to cool and harden.
Whenever you’re ready to serve the ice cream, allow it to sit out at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before scooping. Serve unadorned or topped with the sunflower oat crumble and seasonal fruit if you like. Blueberries happened to be in season when I photographed this recipe so that’s what you see here!
Notes
This process will take most of a day from start to finish to include steeping, chilling, and freezing time. If you start it after breakfast you can have ice cream after dinner. If you can’t find coconut cream on its own, buy a second can of coconut milk, chill it the night before, then scoop out the solid cream the next morning to incorporate into the recipe. Inspired by this recipe.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cuisine: dairy free, gluten free
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