Rhubarb Graham Cracker Ice Cream

How on earth is it already September, you guys? It seems like the summer just flew by and soon enough I’ll be scraping ice off my car every morning through the Minnesota winter. Not. Fun.

We’ve been enjoying the last taste of summer with roasted veggies from the CSA, bike rides, and of course – ice cream. There are a couple places in the Twin Cities that you can get dairy free ice cream so we have been stopping there quite a bit. For those of you who are newer to the blog, I am lactose intolerant so dairy is a no go.

Anyways, our favorite place to go is Milkjam in Uptown, Minneapolis. The only flavor I ever get anymore is Black – the BEST chocolate ice cream I have ever had. I didn’t even like chocolate ice cream before trying it, so that’s saying something. If you haven’t been there yet then you are seriously missing out.

We also go to Izzy’s sometimes, but typically it’s just me when I’m on an ice cream ride. Ice cream is always a fabulous distraction when your legs hurt. Izzy’s in Minneapolis is pretty close to where I hop on the trail for most of my rides so it is also quite conveniently “on the way” home. They’ve got some dairy free options on the menu that rotate pretty regularly and a couple locations in the Twin Cities.

Last night we celebrated Dan’s birthday with paella and pie. Dan got a new bike rack for his car and also some obedience classes for Neko. Score. I’m not sure who was more exciting, we or Dan. Okay, definitely me. I made a blueberry slab pie with fancy crust that took for-ev-er. Maybe it will make it’s way to the blog if I can ever make my crust look as beautiful as Sally’s Baking Addition. Speaking of blogger envy, I have been totally dazzled recently over all the videos on iambaker’s Facebook page. She is a cake decorating queen! I very rarely decorate cakes but I definitely need to step up my game.

Okay so now about this ice cream. Dan and I got some rhubarb in our CSA during one of the very early weeks this summer. We were both out of town or traveling for work etc etc and I had no idea what I was going to do with it. So I chopped it up into little pieces and froze it. I even MOVED it from my last apartment to our current one, that’s how committed I was to making something with rhubarb. There were absolutely zero events in which we needed a whole pie around the house, which is usually my go to for rhubarb so I decided to do something a little different. So I present to you, rhubarb graham cracker ice cream. It’s vegan and dairy free and all you need to enjoy some of these last summer nights on the patio. Enjoy!

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Rhubarb Graham Cracker Ice Cream

Servings: 8-10 1/2 cup servings

Time: 12 hrs

Ingredients: 

• 2 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb, fresh or frozen
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 cups coconut cream
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup agave
• 1 cup crushed vegan graham cracker pieces, about 1 package

Directions: 

1. Prepare your ice cream maker as indicated by the manufacturer. I have a Cuisinart which requires freezing for 6-8 hours. I typically pop it in the freezer overnight to ensure it’s as cold as possible. Make sure you place it on a flat surface so it freezes evenly.
2. Once you’re ready to make ice cream, place rhubarb and 1/4 cup sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently until the sugar has dissolved and the rhubarb chunks start to break down. Cook for about 20-30 minutes and set aside to cool.
3. Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, coconut cream, coconut oil, and agave in a medium sized sauce pan. If you cannot find coconut cream, simply freeze a couple cans of full fat coconut milk overnight and scoop out the cream that has solidified at the top. You will need either 2 cans coconut cream or 3 cans coconut milk for this recipe. Stir ingredients on low heat until sugar has dissolved. Try to keep the heat as low as possible and stir continuously to help dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat immediately and let sit for about five minutes before pouring in your ice cream maker.
4. After you’ve gotten your ice cream maker all set up, you can add the coconut cream mixer to the ice cream maker. Allow the ice cream to churn for about 30-40 minutes unless otherwise indicated by your manufacturer instructions. The mixture should be setting nicely by now and definitely resemble ice cream. At this point you can do one of two things: 1) add rhubarb and crushed graham crackers to mixer OR 1) add rhubarb and crushed graham crackers manually by folding into the ice cream. Depending on how large your ice cream maker is, option 2 might be your only option. If you are adding directly to the ice cream maker, slowly add both the rhubarb and cracker crumbs so that the ice cream maker has some time to churn it and make sure it’s evenly distributed. If you are adding manually, pour the ice cream into a large bowl and fold in the rhubarb and cracker crumbs with a spatula.
5. Immediately transfer ice cream to a parchment paper lined baking tin. I use a bread loaf pan but really anything will work. Avoid something as large as a 9″x13″ to give the cream some depth. Cover tightly and freeze for an additional 1-2 hours until the ice cream is set completely.
6. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks, if you can make it last that long. I typically transfer mine to a tall tupperware for space saving in the freezer but you can leave it in the original freezing dish so long as it is covered tightly.