Enjoying Gluten-Free Life

A Frozen Fantasy

I just bought my first ice cream maker so I started searching for recipes to try. I found so many that look delicious that I just had to share.  We broke the all-time record high temperature in Nashville, Tennessee, last week – 109 degrees – and I know it’s been hot elsewhere so it’s definitely time to get your ice cream maker going.

I don’t eat dairy and feel best when I don’t eat refined sugar, but I also don’t eat stevia. If I have more than a tiny amount of stevia I get a headache. My husband does eat dairy (so I would substitute that in any of these recipes) and does best with stevia* as the sweetener. He was diagnosed as pre-diabetic last year, and we’ve gotten his numbers back to normal just through diet. With all of these considerations, I’ll be making two different kinds of ice cream most times, but I can live with that.

I tend to think first of fruity ice creams in the summer. This strawberry ice cream at The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen sounds luscious. I’m intrigued by Elana’s Peach Almond Ice Cream that she sweetened with dates and a small amount of stevia, but I don’t (yet) have a high-speed blender so will have to think around that. Alta at Tasty Eats at Home also came up with a Grilled Mango Ice Cream spiced with ginger and garam marsala that should taste exotic. The pomegranate sherbet over at Gluten Free Easily has been on my list of things to make for a while. And I couldn’t leave out these yummy, easy banana pops just because they aren’t technically ice cream. Hey, they’re still frozen, right?

A fan of chocolate? The Spunky Coconut’s Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream is making my mouth water. And the brownie recipe she links to is grain-free. (If you don’t know yet, Kelly from Spunky Coconut recently released a cookbook of dairy-free, refined sugar-free ice cream.) Cheeseslave seems an unlikely place for this but their dairy-free chocolate ice cream with honey or stevia options would work for us. I don’t know about you but I also enjoy carob - Creamy Carob Ice Cream.

I’ve always liked peanut butter so these sound great – and you should be able to sub a nut or seed butter for the PB if you need to. Peanut butter ice cream from Go Dairy Free sounds like fun as does Tasty Eats at Home’s spin on it – peanut butter and jelly.

Don’t have an ice cream maker? No problem. These two recipes use frozen fruit and a blender or a food processor. Peach ice cream from Pure2Raw and Blueberry Ginger Ice Cream from Choosing Raw.

Even if you do have an ice cream maker, you may enjoy these methods for making the frozen treat including one that uses a Ziploc bag and ice. Perfect for a party.

Finally, if you want to make the sundae at the top, here are a couple of gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free chocolate sauces, one from The Healthy Happy Wife and another from Hope for Healing that has just three ingredients. Put some of Gluten Free Easily’s Honey Whipped Cream on top. (The pie on the recipe page looks delish but we aren’t here for pie today – maybe tomorrow.) I’ve made dairy whipped cream with stevia and a dash of vanilla and it’s quite good. As to the cherry on top: consider skipping this food dye-filled, sugar-soaked “fruit.” A fresh cherry or berry on top would be beautiful, healthy and taste great.

Enjoy!

*If you’re new to stevia, please know that the amount to use in a recipe varies hugely depending on brand and type – straight stevia powder, stevia mixed with something else (like Truvia), liquid, etc. Too much stevia can make something bitter and inedible. You may have to make a batch or two before you have it just right.

Photo courtesy WP Clipart.