When Dairy is Not Your Friend is a great blog written by Sara who describes herself as “Slightly obsessive about many things.” I, for one, am glad she’s obsessive about soy ice creams. She has a great post reviewing many flavors of soy ice creams found in various stores. Definitely check it out if you’re lactose intolerant and still want ice cream, or if you just need to read a review before forking over the cash for a pint of soy ice cream.

Sara even shares with you coupons (although this post is a bit dated) she finds for foods, which is wonderfully nice of her! We could all use a little help saving money at the grocery store these days.

If you’re interested in making your own soy ice cream, definitely give Agnes’ recipes on A Vegan Ice Cream Paradise a whirl. Many of the recipes use soy milk or other non-dairy milk products instead of heavy creams and whole milk.

Chocolate & mint go well together. So do chocolate and raspberries or cherries. The possibilities are endless!

Just remember to add your stuff in during the last 5 mins or so of the freezing process. If you add it in earlier the ice cream might not freeze well or your mix ins will lose their consistency (i.e. soften too much, get soggy, etc).

Here’s a great chocolate & mint recipe from A Vegan Ice Cream Paradise:

Chocolate Candy Cane Ice Cream

Chocolate and mint go so well together, and now that candy canes are everywhere, I just had to mix the two. If you want to skip the chocolate for pure candy cane bliss, just follow the recipe variation listed below.

2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
1 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
¾ c. sugar
1½ c. chocolate chips
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla extract
2 t. peppermint extract
1 c. chopped candy canes

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, sugar, and chocolate chips together in a saucepan. Heat gently until the chocolate melts, then bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla and peppermint extracts.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add the chopped candy canes in the last 5 minutes of freezing.

Variation:

Candy Cane: Omit the chocolate chips. Add an additional cup soy milk.

2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
2 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
1 vanilla bean
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer and soy milk together in a saucepan. Slit the vanilla bean lengthwise, and scrape the seeds into the milk. Drop the bean shell into the milk too. Bring to a slight boil, then lower the temperature and simmer very gently for about 30 minutes.

Remove the vanilla bean shell. Stir in the sugar, and bring to a boil again. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Lazy Vanilla

2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
2 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
¾ c. sugar
2 T. arrowroot
2 t. vanilla extract (choose a high-quality brand; none of that imitation stuff either!)

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, and sugar together in a saucepan. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Stir in vanilla extract.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

These recipes are courtesy of a great ice cream blogger: A Vegan Ice Cream Paradise