Cotton Candy Ice Cream – (Vegan, dye free)
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If I close my eyes I can picture my childhood self eating cotton candy ice cream at the fair!
This homemade remake is perfectly sweet, it’s naturally colored with blue Spirulina and dragonfruit, and it’s gluten and dairy free! So go ahead and indulge!
You can find the blue spirulina and dragonfruit powder HERE.
This homemade cotton candy ice cream requires no ice cream maker, but the double freezing method allows it to be incredibly creamy!
Why You’ll Love This Dye-free Vegan Cotton Candy Ice Cream
- It’s allergy friendly! Gluten free, dairy free, and vegan
- No ice cream maker is needed
- There are no artificial dyes
- The kids absolutely love it
Key Ingredients for Cotton Candy Ice Cream
- Coconut Cream – a dairy free alternative for heavy creamy. When frozen coconut cream (just the thick part from a can of coconut milk), turns incredibly creamy
- Cashew Butter – very neutral in taste, while it also contributes to the creaminess, without adding too much coconut flavor
- Pure Maple Syrup – adds sweetness to the ice cream. Pure maple syrup (NOT the same as “pancake syrup,” which contains high fructose corn syrup and added sugars) has a lower glycemic index than table sugar. Pure maple syrup also contains vitamin B2, manganese, and small amounts of calcium, potassium, magnesium, and zinc
- Almond Extract – gives a distinct cake like flavor. A tiny bit goes a long way!
- Raspberry Extract – when paired with the other extracts this gives the cotton candy ice cream flavor we’re all after! Raspberry and almond extracts are what Starbucks uses in their Cotton Candy drinks, too!
- Pure Vanilla Extract – provides traditional ice cream flavor
- Spirulina Powder, Blue – if full is micronutrients while giving that gorgeous blue hue
- Dragonfruit powder – also full of nutrients while giving that eye pretty pink, without the artificial dyes
Process
- Process your ingredients, minus colorants & raspberry extract, together until smooth
- Divide in half
- Stir in blue spirunila powder into one half
- Stir in 2 tsp dragonfruit juice and raspberry extract to the other half (I had frozen dragonfruit that I muddled to get juices out). You can also use 1-2 tsp of dragonfruit powder OR freeze dried raspberry powder
- Pour into ice cube tray or silicone mini muffin liner and freeze for 3hours or until firm to touch
- Blend each color into thick and creamy
- Alternately dolllop blue and pink dollops of ice cream into a 9×5 loaf tin, give a gentle swirl (not too much or you’ll blend into purple), and place in the freezer another 3+ hours
- Scoop and enjoy!
- Keep stored, covered in the freezer
- If thawed for 10min it’s more soft serve consistency, or more ice cream like if eaten right out of the freezer
Kitchen Tools Needed
- Loaf tin– it’s depth is needed for ice cream to freeze fully throughout, without getting icy around the edges, which is more likely with a shallow but larger dish
- Blender or food processor – you will need to blend all ingredients together until completely smooth
- Mini silicone muffin pan, or silicone ice cube tray – pouring the liquid ice cream into the mini liners, and then allowing to freeze fully, before blending again and pouring into a loaf tin allows the mixture to become creamy all throughout, again, not leaving any icy spots in your cotton candy ice cream
Variations for Dietary Preferences
- Coconut cream is a main component of this base, however if not dairy free you can use a mixture of cottage cheese & cashew butter to achieve that creaminess
- Use 16oz cottage cheese + 1/2 cashew butter, leaving the other ingredients the same
- Can use sunbutter or even frozen banana in place of the cashew butter
Notes
Coconut cream is just the thick part- do not use the watery coconut milk
You can probably half the coconut cream with full fat cottage cheese for a higher protein ice cream. I recently tried that on a vegan ice cream recipe of mine and it worked great!
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups Coconut Cream *
- 1/4 cup Cashew Butter *
- 1/2 cup Pure Maple Syrup
- 1 tsp Almond Extract
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 tsp Spirulina Powder Blue
- 2 tsp Dragonfruit ***
- 1 tsp Raspberry Extract
Instructions
- Process your ingredients, minus colorants & raspberry extract, together until smooth
- Divide in half
- Stir in blue spirunila powder into one half
- Stir in 2 tsp dragonfruit juice and raspberry extract to the other half (I had frozen dragonfruit that I muddled to get juices out). You can also use 1-2 tsp of dragonfruit powder OR freeze dried raspberry powder
- Pour into ice cube tray or silicone mini muffin liner and freeze for 3hours or until firm to touch
- Blend each color into thick and creamy
- Alternately dolllop blue and pink dollops of ice cream into a 9×5 loaf tin, give a gentle swirl (not too much or you’ll blend into purple), and place in the freezer another 3+ hours
- Scoop and enjoy!
- Keep stored, covered in the freezer
- If thawed for 10min it’s more soft serve consistency, or more ice cream like if eaten right out of the freezer
Video
Notes
Coconut cream is just the thick part-do not use the watery coconut milk. You can probably half the coconut cream with full fat cottage cheese for a higher protein ice cream. I recently tried that on a vegan ice cream recipe of mine and it worked great! You can use sunbutter or even frozen banana in place of the cashew butter.