Prep: 10 min | Freeze: 1–2 hours | Servings: About 4–6 | No bake | No ice cream maker
This dairy-free mint chocolate ice cream is everything summer should taste like cool, creamy, and a little indulgent. Made with full-fat coconut milk, raw cashews, and fresh organic mint, it comes together in a blender in under 10 minutes. No ice cream maker, no refined sugar, and no ingredients you can't pronounce. The finishing touch? A melted Mint Chocolate Chip bar poured on top, which sets into a thin chocolate shell that cracks when you dig in.
WATCH THE FULL INSTAGRAM VIDEO HERE
Ingredients
Ice Cream Base
- 1 can (13.5 oz) full-fat coconut milk
- 1 cup raw cashews (or ½ cup cashew butter if you don't have a high-speed blender)
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup or raw honey (up to ½ cup if you prefer sweeter)
- ⅓ heaping cup fresh organic mint leaves (or about 1 tsp pure mint extract. Fresh mint is better)
- ¼ tsp pink Himalayan salt (use ⅛ tsp if using salted cashews or cashew butter)
- Small handful fresh organic spinach leaves (optional: adds a deeper green color, but the mint leaves color it naturally)
Topping
- 1 dark chocolate bar, melted 70%+ cacao (We used our Mint Chocolate Chip bar)
How to Make It
For Regular Ice Cream
- Add all ingredients except the chocolate to a high-speed blender. Blend until completely smooth and creamy, about 60 seconds.
- Pour the mixture into a standard loaf pan.
- Place in the freezer for about 1–2 hours, or until fully hardened.
- Once frozen, melt your Mint Chocolate Chip bar (or dark chocolate) and pour over the top of the ice cream. Let it set for a few minutes until the shell hardens.
- Scoop and serve.
What's Inside
Every ingredient in this recipe pulls its weight. Here's what each one brings.
Full-Fat Coconut Milk |
The fat content in full-fat coconut milk is what makes this ice cream creamy without dairy. It's a source of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), a type of fat that the body processes differently from long-chain fats — absorbed more quickly and used more readily for energy. It also contains lauric acid, which some research suggests may support immune health. |
Raw Cashews |
Cashews are one of the creamiest nuts, which is why they work so well as a dairy substitute when blended. They're a good source of copper, magnesium, and zinc, and provide both healthy fats and plant-based protein. The fat content helps create a rich, smooth texture in the ice cream base. |
Fresh Organic Mint |
Mint contains menthol, a naturally occurring compound responsible for its cooling sensation and bold flavor. It's also a source of antioxidants and has traditionally been used to support digestion. Fresh mint provides significantly more flavor depth than extract and colors the ice cream naturally without any artificial dyes. |
Maple Syrup / Raw Honey |
Both are whole-food sweeteners that retain trace minerals and natural compounds absent in refined sugar. Neither is a low-sugar ingredient but both provide sweetness from a less processed source than cane sugar. |
Pink Himalayan Salt |
A small amount of salt in sweet recipes does something counterintuitive: it enhances sweetness and rounds out the overall flavor. Himalayan salt contains trace minerals including calcium, potassium, and magnesium alongside sodium. |
Mint Chocolate Chip Bar (or Dark Chocolate 70%+) |
Cacao is one of the most antioxidant-rich foods available a natural source of flavonoids, magnesium, and iron. The higher the cacao percentage, the more of these compounds remain. |
Why This Recipe Works
Most dairy-free ice cream relies on gums, stabilizers, or a long list of additives to get close to the texture of the real thing. This one skips all of that. The combination of full-fat coconut milk and raw cashews creates a base that's genuinely creamy, no compromise, no aftertaste.
The Mint Chocolate Chip bar on top isn't just decoration. When melted and poured over frozen ice cream, it sets into a thin shell that cracks on contact, the same way a Magnum does, just without the refined sugar or additives.
SHOP MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP — LIMITED EDITION
Sources
Coconut milk and medium-chain triglycerides — National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements
Lauric acid and immune function — Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry
Cashews: nutrient profile — USDA FoodData Central
Mint and menthol — University of Maryland Medical Center
Antioxidants in raw honey — Journal of ApiProduct and ApiMedical Science
Maple syrup mineral content — University of Rhode Island
Flavonoids in cacao — Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
