Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Posted May 06, 2018, Updated Jul 01, 2024
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This dairy-free chocolate peanut butter ice cream is easy to make with 6 nutritious ingredients! It’s rich and creamy, and no one would ever guess that it’s dairy-free!
This recipe goes out to all my lactose-intolerant friends who love ice cream. This dairy-free chocolate peanut butter ice cream is one of my all-time favorite treats. It’s rich and chocolatey with peanut butter chunks in every bite!
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 recipe.
Using coconut cream instead of other non-dairy milk makes this dairy-free ice cream smooth and creamy and rich.
Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream: Substitutions & Ingredients
- 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.
How to Make Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Let’s discuss how to make this recipe, and don’t forget to watch the video.
Make the Peanut Butter Chunks
The first thing you need to do is make the frozen peanut butter chunks! 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 the desired amount of your favorite peanut butter onto a tray lined with waxed paper. Then freeze it for one hour.
Make the Ice Cream
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!
Turn on Ice cream maker
Turn the ice cream maker 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!
Assemble
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 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.
Either mix the peanut butter balls in by hand, or add them to the ice cream maker before the base forms a ball too solid to add mix-ins .
Freeze/Store
Once the ice cream is finished, freeze it for at least 1 hour before serving. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Serve
You may need to remove it from the freezer for 5 minutes to soften enough to scoop and serve. Serve it with your favorite toppings or plain!
Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Recipe FAQs
When stored in an airtight container in the freezer it lasts for up to 2 months.
Yes, but you will either need to churn it in two batches or use a larger ice cream maker.
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Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Equipment
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Chunks
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
- 14 ounces coconut cream
- ¼ cup honey (or maple syrup)
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
Make the Peanut Butter Chunks
- Cover an 8×8” baking pan with wax paper. Drop 1 teaspoon spoonfuls of peanut butter onto the waxed paper.
- Put the baking pan in the freezer until the peanut butter is hardened.
Make the Ice Cream
- Add all ice cream ingredients in the order listed to the container of a blender.
- Blend for 30-60 seconds or until the mixtures is smooth.
- Turn on the ice cream maker and pour the mixture into the machine while it is spinning. (**See note below if you do not have an ice cream maker)
- Churn the ice cream 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 the ice cream to an airtight, freezer-friendly container and freeze for at least 2 hours, or until completely frozen.
Video
Notes
- 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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m with you on the chocolate/pb combo, but my favorite is peanutbutter ice cream with hot fudge. Can’t wait to try this ice cream though.
I have just placed my first batch in the freezer for the suggested 1 hour wait! I had to go with what I had on hand, given sheltering in place pandemic restrictions so I used coconut milk instead of coconut cream….I taste I had while cleaning the ice cream maker was fabulous!!!! I know this will be my favorite ice cream from here on out! Blessings to you and your beautiful family!
I can’t say enough good things about this recipe! I became lactose intolerant about a year ago and have been buying dairy free alternatives from the store, but they just don’t taste the same and chocolate and peanut butter is my favorite too! I was nervous as I don’t like coconut and have been learning to like it. It came out so good and not one hint of coconut taste! My dad can’t stand coconut and when he tried it was shocked! We both couldn’t get over how much peanut butter taste comes through! Thank you so much! This will be my go to recipe from now on!!
Thank you Darcie! It’s one of my favorites too! 🙂
Do you taste the coconut flavor from the cream??
I never do! But my husband, who I swear is a super-taster for coconut, says he can.
I am obsessed with your ice cream recipes!! I have had some disasters with other recipes, but yours come out SO good!! I cannot believe how creamy and chocolatey this one is. Amazing! Chocolate and peanut butter are my favorite combos, and I am like you-if I go to a shop and they don’t have what my taste buds want then I’d rather leave and not get anything than settle. haha! I would LOVE any more ice cream recipes that you create esp as the hot months are approaching.
Side note-my ice cream maker is the kind that I cannot pour the base in while it is churning. After about 20 minutes of churning the base was very soupy still, and I was getting nervous. I gave it 10-15 more minutes and in that time period it starting forming up nicely!
IF I were to substitute monkfruit sweetener for the honey, what ratio would you recommend?
Hey Lori, I am not familiar with monkfruit sweetener. So I cannot advise on that substitution!
Lori Landsberg, I just made this recipe. My grandson cannot have dairy, sugar or peanut butter. I used Lankato Maple flavored syrup (made with monk fruit and you can get in on Amazon or Sprouts) for the maple syrup substitute. I used Sun Butter for the peanut butter but I added 1 tsp of Classic monk fruit and 1 tsp of Golden monk fruit and 1 tsp extra of cocoa powder. It turned out great. But next time I will add more cocoa powder and adjust the Monk fruit just because I like chocolate!
THank you, it’s a wonderful, easy recipe! I tried and was a success – my first dairy-free ice-cream. I just used a normal electric hand whisk. THank you!
So glad you love it!
WARNING: COCONUT AFTER-TASTE!!!! This recipe turned out pretty good, however, I did not care for the coconut oil after-taste. If you don’t mind the after taste then this is a great dairy-free recipe for you, The texture was spot on! Just like real ice cream! Maybe I just need to find a substitute for coconut cream, Oat milk maybe?
Thanks for your comment Faith! I never taste the coconut, but my husband does! He can tell if there’s even a shred of coconut in a recipe! LOL! Some people are super-tasters for it, maybe you are one of those people! 🙂
I’ve made this several time and it definitely did not leave a coconut aftertaste at all!! In fact, it the best ice cream I’ve made and I served it to non-coconut lovers and they loved it!
It’s very hard to impress me, and this ice cream is AMAZING. Thank you so much! I made it for a friend who is off dairy for now, and WOW I am going to keep making it for myself! I also love that it doesn’t need to be refrigerated pre-churn. Thanks again!
Thank you Melanie! This is one of my favorites! 🙂
Darn, I love peanut butter chocolate ice cream but I’m alergic to coconut. Your pictures make it look amazing though!
Same here for my better half. Substitution suggestions???