Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

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This dairy-free chocolate peanut butter ice cream is made with 6 healthy ingredients and takes 5 minutes of hands-on prep time! It’s rich and creamy, and no one would ever guess that it’s dairy-free! 

Overhead view of a bowl of Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream with a spoon in it


This recipe goes out to all my lactose-intolerant friends. Those of us who truly can’t eat dairy without serious consequences. Who wish we could go swimming in a sea of ice cream or sail away on a boat made of cheese.

Whose tastebuds scream for the cream but our tummies beg us to stay away. This Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream is the answer to all your dairy-less life problems.

So many dairy-free ice cream recipe turn out icy or rock-hard and definitely lack in the creaminess department. But that’s not the case with this Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream.

Using coconut cream instead of other non-dairy milk makes this dairy-free ice cream smooth and creamy and rich!

front view of a bowl of Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream with a spoon in it

Let’s start with the fact that there are only six, good-for-you ingredients that make up this Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream! It is free of dairy, gluten, soy, and refined sugar!

Plus it can be made vegan by substituting maple syrup for the honey! You can even make this paleo if you use creamy almond butter instead of peanut butter! There are so many healthy options with this amazingly creamy dessert recipe!

Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream: Substitutions & Ingredients

This ice cream is absolutely the best when made exactly as written!

Front view of all the ingredients in dairy-free chocolate peanut butter ice cream
  • Peanut Butter: If you are allergic to peanuts you can use any nut or seed butter.
  • Honey: Maple syrup can be used in place of honey for a vegan version.
  • Coconut cream. Full-fat coconut milk works just as well as coconut cream. I don’t recommend any other substitutions.
overhead view of a spoon taking a bite of Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream in a bowl

How to make Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Let’s continue with the fact that this recipe is insanely easy!

Make the Peanut Butter Balls

The first thing you need to do is make the frozen peanut butter balls! Everybody knows that the absolute best chocolate peanut butter ice cream has lots of chunks of peanut butter mixed in.

There have been (many) times that I actually added extra peanut butter balls to store-bought ice cream because there simply wasn’t enough, which is why I prefer homemade ice cream.

I prefer to use pure peanut butter (not add any sugar to it). Simply portion out your desired amount of your favorite peanut butter onto a tray lined with waxed paper. Then freeze it for one hour.

Overhead view of peanut butter chunks on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper ready to go into the freezer

Blend & Churn

Once the peanut butter is frozen, add all of the ingredients for the ice cream into the container of your Vitamix and blend until smooth.

Then pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and let it churn! It’s important that (unlike many other recipes) you do not chill the chocolate peanut butter ice cream mixture! It must go directly from the Vitamix into the ice cream maker.

The bowl of your ice cream maker must be frozen in order to churn the ice cream!

Collage of two pictures, one is an overhead view of the ice cream mixture blended in the vitamix, the second is a side view of the dairy-free chocolate peanut butter ice cream base being poured into the ice cream maker

Turn the ice cream maker on, then add the mixture

Important tip: When using an ice cream maker it is crucial that you turn the machine on before you pour the mixture into it! Pouring ice cream into an already moving container ensures that it will not freeze to the bottom or sides, which could hinder the churning process by preventing the machine from rotating.

When your Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream forms a ball and no longer has a liquid consistency, it is done! At this point it could become so thick that the ice cream maker stops rotating, which is another indicator that it’s ready!

overhead collage of two photos of the dairy-free chocolate peanut butter ice cream in the ice cream maker. One with it in the maker, one with the paddle lifted out showing the consistency of the ice cream

Assemble the ice cream

Once the ice cream is churned, mix in the peanut butter balls and freeze again.

The peanut butter balls will thaw very rapidly, especially if you choose to use an all-natural variety. This means that you need to mix in the chunks as  quickly as possible when you remove them from the freezer.

overhead view of the churned dairy-free peanut butter ice cream in a rectangular glass container with the baking sheet of frozen peanut butter balls next to it

You can either mix the peanut butter balls in by hand, or add them to your ice cream maker before the base forms a ball too solid to add mix-ins .

overhead close up view of the peanut butter balls on top of the dairy-free chocolate peanut butter ice cream base before being mixed in.

Freeze

Once the ice cream is finished, freeze it for at least 1 hour before serving. You may need to remove it from the freezer for 5 or so minutes to soften enough to scoop and serve.

overhead view of dairy-free chocolate peanut butter ice cream being scooped out of a container

Recipe FAQs

How long does this ice cream last?

When stored in an airtight container in the freezer it lasts for up to 2 months.

Can I double this recipe?

Yes, but you will either need to churn it in two batches or use a larger ice cream maker.

Overhead view of a spoon with a big bite of Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream on it resting on top of a bowl of Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

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Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Laura
This dairy-free chocolate peanut butter ice cream is made with 6 healthy ingredients and takes 5 minutes of hands-on prep time! It's rich and creamy, and no one would ever guess that it's dairy-free! 
4.96 from 69 votes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 1 pint (6 servings)
Calories 276.4
Prep Time10 minutes
Freezing Time2 hours
Total Time2 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients 
 

Frozen balls of PB

Ice cream:

Instructions 

To make PB Balls:

  • Cover an 8×8” baking pan with wax paper. Drop 1 tsp spoonfuls of PB on the waxed paper. Put in the freezer to harden.

To make Ice cream:

  • Add all ice cream ingredients in the order listed to the container of a Vitamix (or other high-powered blender).
  • Blend for 30-60 seconds or until the mixtures is smooth and homogenous.
  • Turn the ice cream maker on and pour the mixture into the machine while it is spinning. (**See note below if you do not have an ice cream maker)
  • Let the ice cream churn for 20-25 minutes until it becomes a firm ball or the ice cream maker stops rotating.
  • Add the peanut butter chunks at the end of churning. You can add them to the ice cream maker just before the mixture becomes too hard, or you can mix them in by hand.
  • Transfer to an airtight, freezer-friendly container and put in the freezer for at least 1 hour, or until completely frozen.
  • Makes about 1 pint of creamy DELICIOUSNESS!

Video

Notes

To churn by hand:

You can church this ice cream by hand. Pour the ice cream mixture from the Vitamix into a freezer-safe container with a lid. Mix it by hand every 15-20 minutes until it begins to harden. Once it’s soft and has a milkshake consistency, add in the frozen peanut butter balls. Keep churning every 20 minutes until it is hardened.
Ingredient Substitutions
  • Peanut Butter: If you are allergic to peanuts you can use any nut or seed butter.
  • Honey: Maple syrup can be used in place of honey for a vegan version.
  • Coconut cream. Full-fat coconut milk works just as well as coconut cream. I don’t recommend any other substitutions.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.333cup | Calories: 276.4kcal | Carbohydrates: 18.5g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 21.6g | Saturated Fat: 10.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5.4g | Sodium: 102mg | Potassium: 36mg | Fiber: 2.6g | Sugar: 13.6g | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 0.3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you enjoy this recipe? Have a question? Leave a comment below!

This Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream is one of my top 10 favorite dessert recipes ever. I am so excited that I get to share it with the world! I hope that it will be just as life-changing for you as it was for me. Want to take this to a whole new level? Serve it on top of dairy free brownies (recipes here, here, and here) or on top of cookies (like these, these or these)!

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208 Comments

  1. I am going to try and make this SO HARD! May be a little tricky as I live in Korea, but I need this in my life.

  2. First, this looks and sounds amazing. However,I need some clarification please. First you state “It’s very important that (unlike many other recipes) you do not chill your ice cream base. It must go directly from your Vitamix into the ice cream maker.” Then the recipe instructions say “Put mixture in the fridge to cool for at LEAST 1 hour, preferably 3 (while peanut butter balls freeze). Which is the best to do? Chill first or not? Thank you.

    1. Gayle!!!! Thank you SO SO Much!!! I wrote a rough copy of the recipe and tried chilling it first but it became very thick in the fridge and did not churn well in the machine at all…looks like I used the wrong draft! Yikes! I fixed it though so no more confusion! Thank you times a million! I can’t believe I missed that!

    1. LOL Kristy!!!! Since you and I have the same dinner brain (first eggs then salads loaded with all the same ingredients) how about you cook dinner and I’ll make dessert and we can make it a date?! 😉

  3. This looks soooo good. I wish I had a very large bowl of this right now … and I have to say, this is probably my all-time favorite ice cream flavor. Living in Spain, where there is an overall aversion to all things peanut butter (I have no idea what they’re thinking!!) I have started becoming obsessed with trying to create what I can’t find here at home. What are my prospects of making this ice cream without an ice cream maker??

    1. Hey AJ!!! What?! I am obsessed with Spain (it is my dream to visit one day!) but hearing that there is a general peanut butter aversion is seriously alarming! 😉 If you do not have an ice cream maker you can still make this…after you make the ice cream put it in the freezer, then stir every 15-20 minutes or so until it’s hardened. It will be more dense and you’ll probably have to let it sit on the counter for a little longer before scooping to soften…but it’ll still taste amazing! ????

      1. Totally worth manually churning … and if you ever visit Spain, pack peanut butter or hit me up and I’ll share my hoard with ya!

      2. LOL! Praise the Lord for Amazon Prime and Vitacost (or your favorite online health food store) for the ability to hoard peanut butter even in the most hostile environments! 😉

  4. OH WOW… I am totally just so thankful that you posted this, because we have a sister in Christ who is staying with us at our house, and she is dairy free. I have a can of coconut cream too. This is going to be wonderful!

    1. Emily!! Coconut cream is a dairy-free eater’s DREAM! It is so rich and delicious, especially as an ice cream base! I hope you have an amazing weekend with your sweet sister in Christ! And that it involves lots of chocolate and peanut butter! 🙂

  5. Wow, this looks absolutely DELICIOUS. Seriously, my mouth is watering. I love that it’s so healthy, and yet it literally looks just like ice cream. Sadly, I don’t have an ice cream maker. This recipe is making me really want to buy one though.
    Thanks so much for sharing! <3

    1. Hey Savannah!! Thank you so much! It’s hard not to salivate at the sight of chocolate peanut butter anything…let alone creamy ice cream! 🙂 If you don’t have an ice cream maker (which I HIGHLY recommend! I bought my first one on clearance at target for $7 and it did the job well enough!) you can make it, put it in the freezer, then stir it every 20 minutes or so until it’s hardened. It will be more dense and you’ll probably have to let it sit on the counter for a little longer before scooping to soften…but it’ll still taste amazing! 🙂

      1. 5 stars
        Thank you, you’re an amazing blogger. You ever thought of making and selling or working for Ben and Jerry’s as a tester? Their ice cream could use a queen like you! Chocolate PB is the only to eat. If you get to Austin TX, go to SWEET RITUAL on Airport Blvd. I drive 40 mins one way to get 2 scoops.

      2. Hey Margaret! Oh man being in ice cream tester is only like a DREAM job! 😉 LOL! I would have plenty of opinions too! We have family that lives in Texas so I will have to keep that place in mind!

  6. I would never been able to tell hat this is dairy free. It looks so delicious. Great recipe.

  7. Oh yum! What an awesome recipe! It looks so creamy and delicious and I love that you didn’t skimp on the PB!