Vegan Oat Milk Ice Cream (No Coconut)

hand holding a waffle cone filled with 3 scoops of vegan ice cream.

Vegan Oat Milk Ice Cream (No Coconut)

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Freeze time 4

Total Time 4 30

Servings:7 servings

Author: Lori Rasmussen, My Quiet Kitchen

A reader favorite, this oat milk ice cream is next-level creamy thanks to not just oat milk, but naturally starchy oats. Made with 5 wholesome ingredients, it's lower in fat than most vegan ice creams yet melts beautifully and tastes decadent! No coconut, egg, or oil.

Inspired by and adapted from Miyoko Schinner's recipe for Low-Fat Vanilla Oat Gelato in The Homemade Vegan Pantry.

Yield: makes about 3.5 cups

Ingredients
US Customary | Metric

3 cups unsweetened oat milk - or soy, cashew, or almond milk
¼ cup rolled oats
1 cup raw cashews - can sub ½ cup cashew butter; see Notes for options
⅔ cup pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons alcohol such as vodka, gin, or bourbon, optional - See Notes

Instructions

If you don't have an ice cream maker, find detailed no-churn instructions above. If your ice cream maker has a removable canister, be sure to place in the freezer at least 24 hours in advance.
In a small sauce pan, combine the oats and 1 cup of the milk. Bring to a simmer and cook until soft, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool.
In a blender combine the remaining 2 cups of milk and 1 cup cashews. Blend on high until completely smooth. Stop to scrape down the sides if needed, so there aren't any unblended bits. Next, add the cooked oats, maple syrup, vanilla, salt, and alcohol, if using. Blend again until smooth. Refrigerate until cold.
Churn the mixture according the instructions for your ice cream maker. At this point the ice cream will be similar to soft serve consistency. For a firmer, scoop-able texture, transfer to a freezer-safe container, cover, and freeze for 3–4 hours.
Around the 4 hour mark, and definitely once the ice cream has been in the freezer overnight, it will be too hard to scoop right away. It's important to let the oat ice cream soften at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.

Video

Notes

Cashews Sub – For the fat in this recipe, you can sub ½ cup almond butter or sunbutter (this does alter the flavor and color). I also have several nut-free vegan ice cream recipes on the blog. You can find each one linked in the post above.

Alcohol – Upon a reader's tip (thanks, Tonks!) and after including an ounce of gin in this Lemon Oat Ice Cream, I decided to add the option to this recipe, as well. Since these oat milk ice creams are lower in fat, a small amount of alcohol helps maintain a creamy consistency and prevents the ice cream from freezing so solidly.

The alcohol is not as crucial to this recipe as it is with the lemon version, so feel free to skip it. The ice cream you see in these photos did NOT include alcohol.

Storage and Serving – Store ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer. Remember to allow a few minutes for the ice cream to soften before serving.

Nutrition