Surprisingly healthy, low-fat vegan ice cream made with cashews, blended oatmeal, non-dairy milk, and an easy homemade cranberry sauce. Tart and refreshing and reminiscent of frozen yogurt! No coconut, soy, gluten, or refined sugar.Inspired by and adapted from Miyoko Schinner's recipe for Low-Fat Vanilla Oat Gelato in The Homemade Vegan Pantry.Yield: about 4 cups
1batchEasy Vegan Cranberry Sauce, chilled - You'll need about 1 to ¼ cups cranberry sauce for the gelato. Reserve leftover sauce for garnish or other use.
3cupsunsweetened non-dairy milk, such as almond or oat, divided
¼cuprolled oats - Ensure certified gluten-free, if needed.
¾cupraw cashews - If not using a high speed blender, sub ⅓ to ½ cup raw cashew butter.
½cupmaple syrup
1tspvanilla extract
⅛tspfine sea salt
zest from half an orange
Instructions
Prep/Planning Notes:
Be sure to put the canister of your ice cream maker in the freezer at least 1 day before you plan to churn the ice cream. NOTE: I haven't tested this with the standard no-churn method, so I'm not sure what kind of results you would get.The cranberry sauce needs time to completely chill before blending it into the ice cream base. The easiest way to go about this is to make it the day before. (You can also jump ahead to the next steps and make the ice cream base the night before so that it also has plenty of time to chill.)
Make the ice cream:
In a small sauce pan, simmer the oats in 1 cup of the milk until the oats are soft, about 10 minutes. Immediately transfer oatmeal to a bowl to cool.
In a blender combine the remaining 2 cups of milk and the cashews. Blend on high until smooth. Add the cooled oatmeal, maple syrup, vanilla, salt, and orange zest, and blend again. Next, add about 1 cup of the cranberry sauce and blend until as smooth as you like. Taste and add more cranberry sauce if desired. Refrigerate mixture until cold (about 2 hours).
Churn the mixture according to the instructions for your ice cream maker. The ice cream will be a bit softer than soft serve at this point. Transfer it to a freezer-safe container, cover with parchment or plastic wrap, and freeze for 3 to 4 hours.
Around the 4 hour mark, and definitely if it's been in the freezer longer, the ice cream will be too hard to scoop. It's important to let the ice cream soften at room temperature for about 15 minutes before scooping and serving.
Notes
Store ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer.Always allow about 15 minutes for the ice cream to soften before serving.Nutrition facts calculated using unsweetened almond milk.