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. FYI. You will need to find another coconut cream. The link is to the Traders Joe Coconut Cream which contains 2g sugar per 1/3 cup. Paleo does not allow refined sugars

    1. Hey! You just need to look at the ingredients of the coconut cream you choose to use and make sure there is no added sugar. The 2g of sugar listed in the nutritional information in this case occurs naturally in the coconut cream itself and does not come from the addition of sugars. Trader Joe’s now makes an organic variety which I love!

  2. I’m a HUGE fan of anything chocolate and peanut butter! I have to say this ice cream has become my favorite one of ALL time that I’ve ever made!! Thank you for sharing!

    1. Hey Amanda. I do not recommend using almond milk. The ice cream will turn out icy and hard, not creamy.

  3. Love the sound of this ice cream. Chocolate with peanut butter is my absolute favorite! Quick question, because of some very strange food reactions I cannot use honey, sugar or maple syrup. I can however use stevia. Any guess on how much? TIA

  4. What a great recipe! I’m excited to share with a vegan guest at a retreat I co-host every year. I just wanted to give a heads up about the use of honey. Because it is an animal by-product it would not be considered vegan (it’s one of those sneaky ingredients like marshmallows). I see you have a sub for maple syrup… do you think it would it work with agave?

  5. Laura,
    I’m not a huge fan of coconut but I really want to try this recipe. Does the end result have a strong coconut flavor to it?

    1. Hey Christine! It honestly does have a slight coconut flavor to it….however it’s not too strong. However however (LOL), I love coconut so I might not be the best one to judge. I haven’t tried this myself, but you could try to sub a non-dairy creamer for the coconut milk and see if it works well. I’d chose one that isn’t sweetened or flavored if you wanted to go that route. If you do make his with coconut cream, please report back and let me know if it was too coconutty for you! 🙂

  6. Laura,
    My husband got me an ice cream maker for Christmas last year and I had given up on dairy-free ice cream until I tried this recipe. We ate the entire batch in 24 hours! The vanilla one is in our freezer right now waiting to be devoured. Thank you so much! I hope to see some more ice cream recipes this summer! Strawberry?

    1. Hey Jennifer! I’m so so SO glad you didn’t completely give up and gave this one a whirl! I definitely have some more ice cream recipes coming this summer, sea salt chocolate is one I’m working on! And sounds like I definitely need to add strawberry to the list! 😉 Thank you for stopping by to let me know you enjoyed this, it means so much!

  7. Made this yesterday and it’s still not frozen after more then 24hrs in the freezer. I used a hand crank ice cream maker (tub was in the freezer for 2 days). It never got super thick with hand churning so I gave up and decided I would just place in the freezer.

    Ice cream is thick and sticky. Is this from the honey? I know I used the right amount. But maybe I’ll use less next time. Anyone have any tips?

    The sticky mess tastes good at least!

    1. Hey Katie! I’m so sorry that happened! I have made this recipe many times and have never experienced something like this. Usually my ice cream is so frozen it’s difficult to remove it from the ice cream maker! That being said…did you make any substitutions? Did you use full-fat coconut cream? If you didn’t make any substitutions I would recommend using an electric ice cream maker!

      1. Hey Katie! It actually looks like that might not be just plain coconut cream…after researching that it might have been blended with a sugar solution?! I use this Coconut Cream and it works beautifully. As long as the ingredient list just says “coconut cream” you should be good to go! Again I am so sorry that it didn’t turn out for you! It’s very strange to me that it STILL isn’t frozen an entire 24 hours later! I’m completely puzzled by that! I wish I could’ve been in your kitchen with you to observe the process! Yes! I found my awesome ice cream maker on a yard sale page for $20! If you search around you can definitely find one that’s great and budget friendly!

      2. Thanks for the recipe! I plan on making this very soon. One question though…. in the reply to this comment thread, you link to a 5.4 ounce can of coconut cream. In the ingredients list, you link to a 14 ounce can. Can you please tell me which size can is best for this recipe? Thanks so much! 🙂

      3. I had the same result using cream of coconut. Thought it was the same stuff. Still gooey. Hope to use it on a cake or something because it still tastes amazing!

      4. I think cream of coconut is something very different than coconut cream! Try using coconut cream next time!

  8. BTW…I used So Delicious Culinary Coconut Milk. It’s mostly coconut cream, and you can buy it at Walmart. More convenient than having to go to the health food store or Indian market.