I first had vegan hazelnuts ice cream nine years ago at a charming little vegan restaurant in St. Sebastian in the Basque Country. It was creamy and delicious. Over the years, I tried to recreate it – but with no success: I got lumpy ice cream with pieces of ice grains, so I gave up.
About a year after launching the blog (its first post is vegan vanilla ice cream – English version – soon): I gained more experience developing recipes and figured out the “rationale” behind the recipe.
In short, dark chocolate and Hazelnut Butter are a winning combination!
Funny how easy it is to make this ice cream! especially if you have got Hazelnut Butter at hand (which you can make at home).
And the good news: the recipe doesn’t require an ice cream machine! Since the mixture is rich and creamy – leave it in the fridge overnight, mix a little, transfer it to an airtight container – and place it in the freezer. If you insist – after a short time in the ice cream machine – you will see it get stuck because the ice cream has already thickened. Don’t say I did not warn you! 😉
Enjoy, and let me know how it turned out 😋
About one Liter/Quart of Ice Cream
- ¼ cup water
- ¾ cup maple
- 50 gram vegan dark chocolate, broke into dice
- ¾ tsp salt
- 4 Tablespoon coconut oil refined or cold press
- 2 Tablespoon liquid lecithin or 6 tablespoon granulated lecithin
- 2 cup Coconut milk 18% fat
- 1 cup hazelnut butter recipe in the notesHazelnut flavored extract: optional, but it gives the ice cream a distinct nutty flavor.
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 10-20 drops hazelnut flavoring extract optional, by taste
Pre Preparation
- Place the bowl of the ice cream machine in the freezer for at least 24 hours.
- Keep in mind that the mixture should also be in the refrigerator overnight.
Ice Cream
- In a small saucepan, place water, maple, and chocolate cubes, and cook over medium heat until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat. And add coconut oil, salt, and lecithin and mix well. Allow the mixture to cool for about 5 minutes.
- Put coconut milk, hazelnut butter, vanilla extract, and hazelnut extract in a blender and process for a few seconds.
- Add the chocolate mixture and process for a few seconds until blended.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl, and refrigerate overnight to allow it to thicken.
- Remove from the refrigerator and stir a little.
- Transfer to a sealed container and freeze.
- Serve the Nutella ice cream with fruit like apricot, cherry, grapes, or raspberries.
- If the ice cream is too hard, take it out of the freezer 10-15 minutes before serving to soften it.
- To make hazelnut butter: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (356 F) Sprinkle 2 cups of hazelnuts on a baking tray; bake for about ten minutes until the nuts turn golden (do not let them brown). Remove, cool for 2-3 minutes, and rub the nuts with a towel to remove the thin skin. Transfer to a blender, add one tablespoon of hazelnut oil or mild oil (optional but recommended), and process for about ten minutes until you get butter. Please note: Nowadays, you can get “blanched” hazelnuts without thin skin.
- Hazelnut flavored extract: optional, but it gives the ice cream a distinct nutty flavor.
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