Vanilla Ice Cream Made Cleaner

I love ice cream and so does my family.  If my kids had their way, we would eat ice cream everyday!  Good thing they are not in charge of our diets.  I did however, want to be able to still give them ice cream once in a while, after all you have to enjoy life and childhood, but I hated feeling so bad about all the refined sugar and artificial colors.  I also wanted a recipe that didn't involve cooking and cooling - that would take too much time for the kids to be satisfied making it at home or planning too far ahead that we might not actually do it.  This is what inspired my vanilla ice cream recipe that is easy, in the machine in minutes, and processed free.

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/8 cups sucanat (find out more about this here)
3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 Tblsp. pure vanilla extract

In a bowl, combine the milk and sucanat and mix with a hand mixer on low until the sucanat is dissolved, about 1-2 minutes.  Add the cream and vanilla and mix another few seconds to incorporate everything.  The base is now ready! 

Follow the directions for your ice cream maker.  Mine is a cuisinart with the metal cylinder that you keep in the freezer until you are ready to make ice cream.

I insert the cold cylinder, turn on the machine and pour in the ice cream base and let it mix until it thickens.  This takes about 25 to 30 minutes.  When it's done, it will be a soft, creamy consistency.  If you want it to be firmer, put the ice cream in an airtight container and place it in the freezer for 2 hours or more.  This will make plenty of ice cream to last for a few treat-time events, about fourteen 1/2 cup servings.  When I get it out of the freezer, I usually put it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds to make it scoopable or let it sit out for a few minutes before serving.  

Coffee-Free Mocha Version:
substitute the sucanat for coconut palm sugar and it will give you a lovely mocha background to the vanilla ice cream without adding coffee! 

I recently had a friend tell me that she wants to go processed free, but doesn't think her husband would go for it.  Her idea was to cook cleaner meals without telling him and see if he notices a difference.  She asked specifically what I do about ice cream since this is one of his favorite treats.  I happened to have some of this on hand and gave her a spoonful to try.  Her eyes instantly lit up and a huge smile spread across her face as she said, "This is amazing!  Better than what you get in the store.  This will definitely go over well!!"  It just goes to show that processed free doesn't mean taste free.  I'll have to share my homemade, processed free chocolate magic shell soon too.