Coconut Dairy-Free Ice Cream (Ninja Creami, Dairy-Free Program)

Canned coconut milk is about 20 percent fat, more than most dairy bases, so this recipe needs no added cream or egg to come out dense. The challenge is sugar: with none in the base the block freezes too hard to shave, so we use a third of a cup of allulose, which lowers the freezing point like sugar without countable carbs, plus a quarter teaspoon of guar gum to hold the water. We tested it on the Ninja Creami NC601 with the Dairy-Free program and it scooped after a single 160 second cycle with zero re-spins. Each serving is an estimated 215 kcal, 2 g protein, 4 g carbs and 22 g fat.

Tested recipe

Coconut Dairy-Free Ice Cream

A rich coconut ice cream made from one can of full-fat coconut milk and allulose, with no dairy and about 4 g of carbs per serving.

Dairy-FreeNC6010 re-spins

Prep

5 min

Freeze

24 h

Process

3 min

Total

24 h 8 min

Servings

4 per pint

16 oz pint24 oz XL tub

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups (420 g) full-fat canned coconut milk, shaken
• 1/3 cup (67 g) allulose
• 1 tsp (4 g) vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp (1 g) guar gum
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 2 tbsp (10 g) unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted (optional mix-in)

Equipment

• Ninja Creami NC601
• 24 oz Deluxe XL tub (16 oz pint on NC301 and NC351)

Method

1. Warm the coconut milk in a saucepan over low heat until the solids melt and the liquid is uniform.
2. Whisk in the allulose, vanilla and salt until the allulose dissolves.
3. Sprinkle in the guar gum while whisking and blend with a stick blender for 20 seconds.
4. Pour the base into the tub or pint, stopping at the max fill line.
5. Lid the container and freeze it for 24 hours on a level surface.
6. Lock the frozen tub into the outer bowl, fit it to the machine and press Dairy-Free (Lite Ice Cream on other models).
7. If the top is crumbly, press Re-spin once.
8. For the coconut flakes, make a well in the center, add them and run Mix-In.
9. Scoop, or level the top, lid and refreeze.

Nutrition per serving (estimated)

Calories

215 kcal

Protein

2 g

Carbs

4 g

Fat

22 g

Program: Dairy-Free · Tested on NC601 · By Mike Lala

Tips

• Warm the coconut milk until the solid cap melts. A can straight from the pantry has a layer of fat on top and water below, and a pint frozen that way separated into a greasy top and an icy bottom that the paddle could not blend.
• Freeze on a level shelf with nothing resting against the tub. The flat-top rule matters more with a high-fat base, because a sloped surface leaves one side of the block much thicker and the Dairy-Free cycle only runs once.
• Re-spin once if crumbly before adding liquid. If a second re-spin is needed, add 1 tbsp of coconut milk first. Our test tub needed neither on the NC601; on the Lite Ice Cream program of a 16 oz model expect one re-spin, as our guide to crumbly results explains.
• Toast the coconut flakes in a dry pan for 3 minutes and let them cool fully before the Mix-In step. Warm flakes melted a ring around the well.
• Taste the base before freezing. Allulose is about 70 percent as sweet as sugar, and if you want it sweeter add up to 2 tbsp more before it goes in the freezer rather than after.

Variations

• Coconut lime: add the zest of one lime and 1 tbsp (15 g) of lime juice to the warm base for a flavor close to our pineapple whip.
• Chocolate coconut: whisk 3 tbsp (18 g) of unsweetened cocoa into the warm coconut milk and raise the allulose to 1/2 cup (100 g).
• Almond joy style: run the Mix-In program with 2 tbsp of chopped toasted almonds and 2 tbsp of sugar-free chocolate chips in place of the coconut flakes.

Storage and refreeze

Level the remaining ice cream with a spoon, lid the tub and return it to a flat shelf at 0 F for at least 24 hours before the next spin. Coconut bases refreeze well because of the high fat content: our XL tub went through four refreeze and re-spin cycles over ten days and the texture score stayed at 4, with the only change being a slightly firmer top that one Re-spin corrected. Always run the Dairy-Free program first on a refrozen tub, then Re-spin if needed. Do not store the tub with a partly processed, soft center; let the machine finish and then refreeze, or the soft section forms a dense ice core.

The model and pints we used

We used the two 24 oz XL tubs that come with the NC601, which fit the NC501 as well; spare tubs are on the Deluxe XL tubs page, and 16 oz machine owners will find the original pints on the pints page. The NC601 measured 83 dB at 1 m. For the sugar substitute and plant fat ratios this recipe is built on, see the base ratios cheat sheet. Our other coconut and oat recipes are in the dairy-free hub, and the low-carb versions are in the keto hub.

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