Dairy-free Date Honey Caramel Vanilla Ice Cream

Prep all things that need chilling and soaking: I recommend soaking cashews and placing the ice cream churning bowl in the freezer the night before you want to make the ice cream! Note: this step is not counted in the total time.

Add cashews (soaked and drained), full fat coconut milk, agave nectar, vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon sea salt, and melted coconut oil to a blender then blend on high until completely smooth, creamy, and liquid.

Using a rubber spatula, scrape contents of the blender into a bowl (cover with lid or plastic wrap) and chill mixture in the fridge for at least 4–6 hours (preferably overnight if you have the time). You want this mixture to be very firm before churning, otherwise it will not churn properly (and not be super ice-cream-like).

During the 4–6 hours while waiting for your ice cream base to chill, make the date honey caramel. Soak dates for at least 10 minutes in hot water then drain. Place soaked and drained dates in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until only small bits remain. Add in honey, bourbon, water, and remaining 2 teaspoons of sea salt to the food processor bowl, then pulse until mixture becomes fully incorporated and looks gooey—like caramel!

Once the ice cream mixture is thoroughly chilled, scoop it into the churning bowl and churn for at least 45 minutes (or according to manufacturer’s recommended time; mine is the KitchenAid mixer ice cream maker attachment). If you find that after 45 minutes the ice cream is not looking like thick and creamy ice cream, place the ice cream churning bowl (with the ice cream) back into the freezer for about 1–2 hours then churn again until the ice cream looks like ice cream.

Pour churned ice cream into a freezer safe container. Using a butter knife, scoop some caramel onto the knife then dip it into the ice cream and swirl it around to create a marbled pattern of ice cream and caramel. Make sure to evenly distribute the caramel throughout the ice cream! Lastly, top with a few more pinches of sea salt!

Place ice cream with swirled caramel in its container in the freezer for 2–4 hours or until ready to eat. I recommend letting it sit out for about 10 minutes before scooping. It will be much easier on your forearms/biceps.