Featured Recipe
Vegan No-Churn Cinnamon Roll Ice Cream
2 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk or cashew milk, 1 1/4 cups pitted and packed Natural Delights® Medjool Dates (about 14 dates), 1 cup raw cashew butter*, 1/4 cup unsalted natural almond butter**, 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, 3/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt. Cinnamon Roll Swirl Sauce: 1/4 cup cashew butter or almond butter, 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1/8 teaspoon sea salt.
Preparation For the Vegan No-Churn Cinnamon Ice Cream: Line a 5"x10" loaf pan with parchment paper. In a high-speed blender, combine the almond milk, dates, cashew butter, almond butter, cinnamon, vanilla, and sea salt. Blend on high for 3 to 4 minutes or until completely smooth.
Preparation For the Cinnamon Roll Swirl Sauce: In a small saucepan, whisk together the cashew butter or almond butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, and sea salt over low heat for 3 minutes, or until smooth and glossy. Let cool slightly.
To assemble: Pour about half of the cinnamon ice cream base into the lined pan and drizzle with about half of the cinnamon roll swirl sauce. Use the pointy end of a chopstick or a toothpick to gently swirl the sauce into the ice cream base. Top with the remaining ice cream base and drizzle the surface with the remaining swirl sauce. Again, use a toothpick or chopstick to gently swirl the sauce into the ice cream base.
Loosely cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 8 hours, or until the ice cream has set.
Let the ice cream stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes before scooping or serving. Then, dip a scoop in hot water and use it to scoop the ice cream. Serve.
Store the ice cream in the freezer, loosely covered, for up to one week.
Recipe Notes
*Make your own cashew butter by blending 3 cups raw cashews in a food processor for 6 minutes or until smooth (it should be very thick), stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. If the cashew butter is chunky and clumping as it moves around the food processor, add 1 to 3 tablespoons of filtered water to encourage blending and to yield a smooth, creamy cashew butter. Measure off the amount needed for the recipe and store the extra cashew butter the refrigerator in an airtight jar or container.
**To simplify, you can omit the almond butter and use a full 1 1/4 cups cashew butter (that said, I very much prefer a hint of almond butter in this ice cream); however, do not omit or substitute the cashew butter—it's very important to the texture of the ice cream.
