Vegan Mocha Ice Cream

This luscious vegan mocha ice cream is perfectly creamy (thanks to coconut milk), full of rich dark chocolate and gets a hit of caffeine from espresso! It’s also just 7 ingredients, and has the smoothest texture!

We’re heading into the middle of August (crazy, right?!?) and I have no plans of slowing down my ice cream consumption any time soon. This summer, we’ve been making at least one batch every other week (and certainly buying store-bought versions in between). I say ice cream every day, as long as it’s over 80 degrees! Ya feel me? That should get us through at least mid-September.

There aren’t a whole lot of great vegan ice cream places in Michigan. I have yet to find any that I really like (PLEASE comment if you know of any in the Detroit area!!), but I just got back from visiting Lizzy in Boston and had the BEST vegan ice cream at FoMu. Their blueberry shortcake ice cream was truly sublime. Highly recommend if you’re ever in Boston!

In the meantime, give this homemade vegan mocha ice cream a try!

Just 7 Ingredients to make the Creamiest Vegan Ice Cream

This ultra-creamy vegan mocha ice cream only needs 7 ingredients. And, maybe with the exception of coconut cream, we bet you have them in your pantry already. Also, you can whip everything up in your blender (one bowl!) before transferring it to an ice cream maker.

The ingredients that make lucious vegan mocha ice cream:

1. Full-fat coconut milk. It’s vegan ice cream, after all, so you want that extra fat content for the creamiest texture. Canned coconut milk is the best choice for this ice cream.
2. Coconut cream. Speaking of creaminess, coconut cream is the key to perfectly soft and scoopable vegan ice cream. Plus it boosts the delicious coconut flavor behind the mocha in this recipe.
3. Maple syrup. Our natural sweetener of choice. It’s shockingly versatile, working just as well in savory roasted carrot recipes as sweet desserts like this one. For more on our love for maple syrup, and why you should always choose the pure stuff, see here.
4. Cacao powder. It wouldn’t be mocha without deep, dark chocolate. We choose cacao powder because it’s a bit bitter. With the maple syrup, the sweetness and bitterness balance each other perfectly.
5. Espresso. And to finish out the mocha flavor, we have brewed espresso. We chose espresso for this mocha ice cream, rather than regular coffee, because it has a much more intense flavor. That flavor, once blended into coconut milk and cream, still gets to shine. Coffee, on the other hand, might be overpowered by coconut.
6. Vanilla. This is a secret ingredient that you might not expect in mocha ice cream. However, the vanilla extract actually enhances that chocolaty flavor.
7. Fine sea salt. And finally, sea salt is key to ice cream flavor and texture. We’re big believers in putting a bit of salt in everything, even sweets. Consider that you usually add salt to cookies and cakes. So why not ice cream? In addition, sea salt keeps the ice cream from getting too solid. There’s nothing worse than whipping out a fresh cone, only to find that you have to leave your brick of an ice cream container on the counter for at least 10 minutes before you can attempt a scoop. See the photographic evidence on this page for the absolutely perfect meltiness this vegan mocha ice cream achieves.

The two appliances you need for this (and all) vegan ice cream recipes

You can easily reach the ideal ice cream texture with this recipe. And it only requires two appliances. First, your blender. The ice cream ingredients, like coconut milk, cacao powder, and espresso, are all soft and easily whipped. Therefore, you don’t need any fancy high-speed blenders for this recipe. An immersion blender could even work well. We don’t, however, recommend using a food processor. They tend to be leaky and not ideal for liquid recipes like this vegan ice cream.

The second appliance you’ll need is a bit more important. An ice cream maker. Cuisinart makes wonderful ice cream makers that last a long time. They also come with freezer bowls that help your homemade ice cream solidify faster, which means you can scoop sooner!

This ice cream should churn in the ice cream maker for about an hour. It won’t be totally solid by then, but should have some good structure. Then, you can just pop it into the freezer for a few hours (or as long as you can possibly wait), and it’s sundae time!

The other vegan dessert recipes for a true ice cream party

• Blueberry Lemon Lavender Ice Cream
• Raspberry Green Tea-infused Vegan Ice Cream
• Vegan Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Finally, for the full story, see here for our round-up of all the best vegan frozen desserts from around the web. Remember: it doesn’t have to be summer to enjoy an ice cream cone!

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