paleo chunky-monkey ice cream

I'm not sure if I even remember what ice cream tastes like! So while people are posting their Facebook photos of their first tub of Blue Bell in almost a year, I am sitting here wondering what all the fuss is about? So as my husband informs me of the listeria contamination that apparently the rest of the world knows about, he is probably wondering what rock I was living under and I am wondering why I never noticed it wasn't in grocery stores...oh yeah...because I never buy ice cream! 

Ice cream is one of those things I stopped buying many years ago for several reasons. One of them being if it's in the house I will eat it. The second one being if I don't eat it first, my husband will eat the entire half gallon before I even get a taste! I'm not a big sweets fan to begin with but every now and then I like a little dessert. I just don't like what it does to my body afterwards, you know...cellulite, saddlebags, bra bulge...all that fun stuff you get to deal with when you get older and your metabolism just isn't what it used to be. I used to try to stick with "less guilty" options such as dark chocolate, granola, or a frozen fruit bar, but since switching to Paleo the options got even more scarce.

Sure, there are loads of recipes for Paleo brownies, cakes and cookies...but they all still have a good amount of carbs and usually require dates or figs as a natural sweetener, both of which my husband is allergic to! I've tried some delicious almond butter bars and pumpkin options, but none of them really resembled the real thing. I've also seen some store-bought alternatives in so-called "health food stores" but most of them still contain loads of sugar and sometimes unwanted added ingredients. So when I stumbled upon a recipe for Coconut Milk Ice Cream it peaked my interest. I was elated when I read the ingredients, so I decided to give it a whirl, dusted off my ice cream maker and it turned out absolutely delicious! This is my version:

Chunky-Monkey Coconut Milk Ice Cream

4 egg yolks
1 can full fat organic coconut milk
2 Tbsp vanilla extract (not imitation)
2 medium ripe bananas
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (at least 60% cocoa), optional
1-2 tsp Stevia or other natural sweetener of your choice

Bring water in a pot to a simmer and cover with a heat proof glass bowl to create a double boiler. Do not allow water to touch bottom of bowl. Heat coconut milk until hot but do NOT allow to boil. In a separate bowl whisk egg yolks. Temper egg by adding a ladle of hot coconut milk at a time while whisking the eggs. Do not allow the eggs to cook. After the eggs are brought up to temperature add the mixture to the double broiler. Whisk continuously until the mixture forms a thick custard. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely in the refrigerator before freezing.

Pour cooled mixture into frozen bowl of ice cream maker and turn machine on. Mash bananas and add to ice cream maker. Allow to run for about 15-20 minutes. Add Stevia or other sweetener, walnuts and chocolate and continue freezing process for 5-10 additional minutes or until thick and almost completely frozen. Pour into freezer safe container and place in freezer until completely frozen.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, you can place it in the freezer and stir vigorously every 20-30 minutes for about 2 hours until set.

And most importantly...
ENJOY!