Vegan Maple Pecan Ice Cream

Vegan maple pecan ice cream - this easy vegan ice cream is rich, smooth and creamy with a delicate maple flavour and lots of buttery candied pecans.

It is sweetened purely with maple syrup with no added sugar, and unlike many vegan ice creams it contains NO coconut.

Who says ice cream is just for summer? To me, maple syrup is very much a warm, caramel-like autumn/winter flavour and this creamy vegan maple pecan ice cream is one of my favourite ice cream flavours. Plus it makes an amazing replacement for vanilla ice cream with hot desserts such as apple pie or crumble, and is also perfect with pancakes or waffles for breakfast.

It is based on my delicious vegan vanilla ice cream recipe, which uses a base of cooked oats and cashews rather than coconut. It is a great base recipe which can easily be adapted to create all sorts of different flavours.

This maple pecan version swaps the usual sugar for maple syrup, giving it a lovely, delicate maple flavour which pairs beautifully with the maple sweetened candied pecans.

Ingredient Details:

Maple syrup: Make sure that you use real, pure maple syrup, NOT maple flavoured syrup.

Cashews: Unroasted cashews provide creaminess to this vegan strawberry ice cream. They need to be soaked so they are soft enough to blend up to a smooth cream. You can either soak them in boiling water for about an hour, or in cold water overnight.

Porridge oats: regular rolled porridge oats or quick cooking ones are fine. You are going to simmer them with some plant milk until they are soft before blending them.

Plant milk: unsweetened soy milk is the best option here as it has a neutral flavour and creamy texture. (I like Alpro Unsweetened Soya milk the best).

You can use any kind of plant milk you like but bear in mind that the flavour of the milk will affect the flavour of the ice cream.

Vegan butter/spread: I add a little melted vegan butter to the ice cream base for richness and flavour, and also some to the candied pecans. Either a block or tub variety is fine here.

Pecans: The candied pecans mix-in is optional but works so well with the maple ice cream. You could also use walnuts instead of pecans.

How To Make Vegan Maple Pecan Ice Cream:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

Step 1: Soak the cashews in boiling water to soften.

Step 2: Place the oats in a saucepan with half of the milk and bring to a gentle simmer, cook for about 5 minutes until the oats are soft.

Step 3: Place the oat mixture and the drained cashews in a blender along with the rest of the milk, maple syrup, vanilla, melted butter and salt and blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl and chill.

Step 4: Mix the chopped pecans with the maple syrup, melted butter, cinnamon and salt. Roast for 20-25 minutes.

Step 5: Churn the ice cream until it reaches soft-serve consistency then add the candied pecans.

What If I Don’t Own An Ice Cream Maker?:

If you don’t have an ice cream maker you can still make this ice cream, it just takes a bit more work and the texture may be a bit more icy.

Once the base is chilled, pour it into a large freezerproof container and pop it in the freezer. Every 30 minutes or so, remove it from the freezer and give it a quick whisk with an electric mixer to break up any ice crystals then return it to the freezer.

Repeat this until it reaches soft-serve consistency then allow to freeze for a couple of hours before serving.

Top Tips:

As with all of my recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!

This ice cream is quite solid straight out of the freezer so make sure that you take it out at least 15 minutes before serving to allow it to soften up a little.

Ideally you need a power blender (such as Froothie/Vitamix) for the smoothest ice cream. You can still make it with a regular blender, but it might not be quite as smooth and creamy.

I recommend making the ice cream base the day before you churn it so that it has time to properly chill first. It needs to be cold when it goes into the ice cream maker.

I have a 2 litre ice cream maker (this one by Cuisinart).

I recommend placing the container that you are going to put the ice cream in in the freezer to chill while the ice cream is churning. This will help stop the ice cream from getting too melty while you transfer it to the container.

Don't skimp on the sugar! Sugar is important in ice cream not only for the flavour but also for the creamy texture. Things also taste less sweet when they are cold, so bear in mind that you want the unfrozen base to taste a bit sweeter than you want the finished ice cream to taste.

If you like you can add 1-2 Tablespoons of bourbon (or another alcohol of choice) to the ice cream base.

If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess

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