You will be hooked on this Cherry Chocolate Vegan Ice Cream! It has a natural cherry flavor from juicy Bing cherries, as well as generous amounts of crispy chocolate flakes and cherry pieces mixed into a delicious dairy-free vanilla ice cream base. So rich, creamy, and delicious - definitely better than any store-bought vegan ice cream you will try!
Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream
This ice cream is truly amazing. It's better than any vegan ice cream that I've ever had and rates on par with the best non-vegan frozen creamy treats out there. The combination of flavorful, sweet Bing cherries, creamy vegan vanilla ice cream base, and generous amount of crispy chocolate flakes makes every mouthful nothing short of amazing.
This recipe is like a copycat vegan Cherry Garcia ice cream... only better! Because it's made with love, and it's a large batch for a fraction of the cost of store-bought ice cream.
This recipe does use an ice cream instead of simply combining the ice cream ingredients and letting them freeze. Trust me when I say it is worth the effort to make homemade ice cream with an ice cream maker versus. It helps make a rich, creamy, silky ice cream instead of hard-as-rock impossible-to-scoop ice cream. We all know you can't make friends with that kind of ice cream. 🙂
An ice cream maker is the BEST kitchen investment for summers!
Related recipe: Vegan Mango Popsicles
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups pitted Bing cherries, fresh or frozen
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons organic sugar
- ⅓ cup vegan chocolate chips (or chop chocolate into chunks)
- ½ cup + 1 teaspoon refined coconut oil (make sure it's melted/liquid)
- 3 ½ cups unsweetened pure soy milk, such as Westsoy (more on this later)
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
You'll also need:
- A 1.5 quart or 2 quart ice cream maker - tip: keep the ice cream maker bowl in the freezer before you begin!
- Blender
- Small saucepan
- Parchment paper
- Optional: 2 loaf pans to transfer the ice cream
Related recipe: Vegan Fudgesicles
Ingredient notes and tips
→ Refined coconut oil: please make sure to use refined coconut oil, because the unrefined one quite a strong coconut smell and flavor!
→ Soy milk: for best results, use soy milk that has only two ingredients: soy beans and water. No additives, no thickeners, no flavors, no sugar. If you're using sweetened soy milk or vanilla soy milk, consider reducing the sugar or the vanilla extract in this recipe. I like Westsoy, and it is available on Amazon if you can't find it in stores.
→ Fine sea salt: make sure to use fine sea salt (such as this), or regular table salt, unless you like little bits of salt for that sweet n salty effect.
→ Xantham gum: do not skip this! It helps make the texture of the ice cream smooth and thickens it a little. It also helps make sure that the ingredients don't separate, making for really smooth ice cream. Just a tiny bit of xanthan gum goes a long way!
Related recipe: Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Instructions
Step 1: First of all, plan ahead and make sure your ice cream maker bowl is frozen cold. I always keep mine in the freezer so it is ready to make ice cream whenever the ice cream cravings hit!! While you're at it, make sure your soy milk is at room temperature - remove it from the fridge if it's not in a shelf stable container (that's another reason I like using Westsoy - I keep it in the pantry and it's ready to use for ice cream).
Step 2: Cut your frozen cherries into quarters - this doesn't have to be exact.
Step 3: Place the chopped cherries into a small saucepan with 2 tablespoons sugar and heat over medium heat until the cherries release juice and the sugar melts - about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a heat-safe glass jar, and chill in the fridge or freezer until cold.
Step 4: Combine the ⅓ cup chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon coconut oil and melt in the microwave in 30-second increments, or until melted. Mix until smooth, and then spread on parchment paper and allow to cool and harden (place in the freezer if necessary). Once cooled, break the chocolate into chunks/pieces.
Step 5: Pour the room temperature soy milk into a blender, start blending, and very slowly pour in the melted coconut oil. Taking 1-2 minutes to pour the coconut milk in is key so that it incorporates with the soy milk.
Step 6: Now add the 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 cup sugar, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum. Blend for a few seconds until it's well incorporated. Then either transfer the contents to a gallon-sized zip lock bag and refrigerate, or place the blender jar into the fridge. Allow to cool to fridge temperature completely, preferably overnight.
Step 7: Once the ice cream has cooled, transfer it to the ice cream maker bowl and turn it on. Let it do its thing for about 30 minutes, and once you see a pretty firm texture, add the cherries, juice, and the chocolate pieces. Let it mix everything for a few minutes. At this point you can store it in the freezer, or transfer to other containers, such as loaf pans, for easy scooping.
This recipe needs 2 loaf pans to store the ice cream.
Related recipe: Vegan Ice Cream Cups
Tips for making ice cream
→ Plan ahead! This recipe does require the ice cream mixture, the cherry mixture, and the chocolate to get cold in the fridge before you can add it to the ice cream maker. I usually make this over two days, but it can certainly be done in one day if you start in the morning.
→ Follow the instructions! Anywhere it says to cool something until it's fridge temperature, make sure you do so.
→ Keep your ice cream maker bowl in the freezer so it's ready to use any time!
→ You can skip the step where you make the thin chocolate bark/flakes and simply use chocolate chips or chopped chocolate chunks, however the thin flaky chocolate bark feels so nice in the ice cream!
→ You can swap out any berries you like instead of cherries! Try it with fresh or frozen blueberries, huckleberries, or mixed berries.
Did you make this cherry chocolate ice cream, or any other recipe from this site?? Please leave a comment below, or take a picture and tag me on Instagram (@theveganblueberry) or Facebook (@veganblueberry), I love seeing your creations!!
Looking for more easy vegan ice cream and dessert?
- Vegan mint chocolate chip ice cream
- Vegan chocolate sauce – drizzle it all over this cherry chocolate ice cream!
- Vegan chocolate milkshake
- Easy vegan caramel sauce
- Simple berry sauce
- Easy vegan cheesecake
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Sweet Cherry Chocolate Vegan Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups bing cherries, pits removed (fresh or frozen)
- 1 cups + 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
- ⅓ cup Vegan chocolate chips
- ½ cup + 1 teaspoon Refined coconut oil, divided
- 3 ½ cups Pure soy milk, like Westsoy - no sweeteners, no additives, just soybeans and water
- ¼ teaspoon Fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Xanthan gum, or guar gum
Special equipment
- Small saucepan
Instructions
Before you start:
- 1) Make sure your ice cream maker bowl is frozen cold. 2) Make sure your soy milk is at room temperature - remove it from the fridge if it's not in a shelf stable container.
Prepare the ice cream ingredients:
- Cut your fresh or frozen cherries into quarters - this doesn't have to be exact.
- Place the chopped cherries into a small saucepan with 2 tablespoons sugar and heat over medium heat until the cherries release juice and the sugar melts - about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a heat-safe glass jar, and chill in the fridge or freezer until cold.
- Combine the ⅓ cup chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon coconut oil and melt in the microwave in 30-second increments, or until melted. Mix until smooth, and then spread on parchment paper and allow to cool and harden (place in the freezer if necessary). Once cooled, break the chocolate into chunks/pieces.
- Pour the room temperature soy milk into a blender, start blending, and very slowly pour in the melted coconut oil. Taking 1-2 minutes to pour the coconut milk in is key so that it incorporates with the soy milk.
- Now add the 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 cup sugar, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum. Blend for a few seconds until it's well incorporated. Then either transfer the contents to a gallon-sized zip lock bag and refrigerate, or place the blender jar into the fridge. Allow to cool to fridge temperature completely, preferably overnight.
Make the ice cream in the ice cream maker:
- Once the ice cream has cooled, transfer it to the ice cream maker bowl and turn it on. Let it do its thing for about 30 minutes, and once you see a pretty firm texture, add the cherries, juice, and the chocolate pieces. Let it mix everything for a few minutes. At this point you can store it in the freezer, or transfer to other containers, such as loaf pans, for easy scooping.
Do you think nut milks would work fine?
I've been told that Almond milk works great although I haven't tried it myself. I'm going to soon, so I can let you know for sure, but I would use the purest almond milk you can find. I'll probably just make mine myself and strain it through a cheesecloth or nut milk bag. Let me know how it turns out for you!!