Nut-Free, Dairy-Free Chocolate Sunflower Butter Ice Cream

Who needs peanut butter? This frozen dessert instead makes use of the wonderful taste of sunflower seed butter. To create a next-level indulgence, we then spike the ice cream with chocolate seed butter cups. Both elements are free of the top allergens and gluten-free.

If you’re making my recipe for homemade Chocolate Seed Butter Cups below, make those first. Then break pieces of the cups into the Sunflower Butter Ice Cream once you’ve made that – and just before you put the dessert into the freezer.

The recipe calls for pea milk, which is my favorite beverage choice for an allergy-friendly, coconut-free ice cream that’s nice and creamy.

However, if there’s an allergy to peas in your family, see the Recipe Tips below for other milk options. Most other dairy-free and allergy-friendly milk beverages should work in the recipe. The results will just be slightly less creamy. Photo: Andrew Grinton

Makes: about 1 quart
Free of: gluten and all top allergens

Ingredients

Chocolate Sunflower Butter Ice Cream

  • 2 3/4 cups unsweetened pea milk beverage (see Ice Cream Tips)
  • 3/4 cup creamy sunflower seed butter
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup dairy-free, soy-free buttery spread
  • 1 tbsp pure vanilla flavoring or paste
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
  • 10 – 15 allergy-friendly mini chocolate seed butter cups, chopped (recipe below or store-bought)

Chocolate Seed Butter Cups

  • 1/4 cup powdered confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/2 cup creamy sunflower seed butter, divided
  • 1/2 tbsp dairy-free, soy-free buttery spread
  • 9 oz (1 1/3 cups) allergy-friendly semi-sweet chocolate chips

Recipe Tips

Get more allergy-friendly ice cream making tips at Allergicliving.com/icecreamtips

Don't own an ice cream maker? See Godairyfree.org/make-ice-cream

Instructions

  1. For the Ice Cream: Put milk beverage, seed butter, sugar, buttery spread, vanilla and salt in a blender. Puree until emulsified and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add xanthan gum and blend for 1 minute.
  2. Place blender jar in the refrigerator for 2 hours, or until chilled.
  3. Briefly blend the cold ice cream mixture. Then process it in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.
  4. Pack ice cream into a freezer-safe container. Cover and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.
  5. For Chocolate Seed Butter Cups [if using]: Line 20 mini muffin cups with paper liners or place 20 silicone mini muffin cups on a baking sheet that fits in freezer.
  6. Sift powdered confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl. Add 1/4 cup seed butter and buttery spread and stir until smooth, but a little sticky. Shape into 20 half-inch balls and slightly flatten into thick disks.
  7. Put chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until chocolate is barely melted. Whisk remaining 1/4 cup seed butter into melted chocolate.
  8. Drop a teaspoon-sized dollop of chocolate mixture into each mini muffin cup. Set a seed butter disk in center of each cup and press part way into chocolate. Drop another chocolate mixture dollop on top of each disk. Tap cups on counter to level.
  9. Freeze for 20 minutes, or until set. Cups can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. When making the ice cream above, in Step 4, stir in pieces of the seed butter cups. Then follow the directions for freezing.

is a contributing editor to Allergic Living magazine and the author of Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook for Milk Allergies, Lactose Intolerance and Casein Free Living, and founder of http://www.godairyfree.com