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| Coconut and strawberries, the perfect combination. |
I love ice cream and I have made it every way known to man. Well, at least know to me! Hand churned is way too much work. It’s a pain in the you know what to get the big ice cream maker out and have to deal with rock salt and ice. The makers that you have to freeze over night before you can use them, I want ice-cream and I don’t want to wait that long.
I have been making my 30 Second Weight Loss Shake for a while now with lots of variations like cocoa powder, blueberries and strawberries. I was wondering what would happen if I froze coconut milk and used that in place of almond milk. I also wanted something different from a shake, something thicker. Strawberry season is here and I have been getting 1/2 flat of strawberries every 2 weeks from the farmer’s market and I am trying to think of different ways to use them.
Lets keep this simple: 5 ingredients: Canned coconut milk, strawberries, milk (coconut milk, cow’s milk or almond milk), stevia (or other sweetener) and a splash of vanilla. That’s it and if you add more strawberries, it is possible you could skip out on the sweetener all together.
If you haven’t made my previous shake using frozen almond milk, all you do is pour your milk into ice cube trays and freeze. Done!
You will need a powerful blender that can crush ice well. I have a Ninja and it worked pretty good. You will have to scrape down the sides a few times to make sure it all blends.
***VERY IMPORTANT: If you let the strawberries and almond milk cubes freeze overnight, they will be VERY hard. Let them sit out at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before blending or you will keep having to add more liquid and it will take a bit longer. I figured this out on my second batch. It still turned out great, just took a little longer. Different blenders will also cause different blending times so have patience and keep blending and scraping down until smooth.
Note: You can use all coconut milk if you would like for an even stronger coconut flavor and if you have a nut allergy. I used unsweetened almond milk to help thin it out just a bit.
Makes about 5, 1/2 cup servings
- 6 cubes of frozen coconut milk (from can- shake well before pouring into trays)*
- 1 pint strawberries: washed, stems removed and frozen (cut in half if very large)
- 1/2 cup canned coconut milkor heavy cream
- 1 cup (or more) milk of choice
- 1/8 tsp. Organic Trader Joe's Stevia or sweetener of choice, to taste (amount will depend on sweetness of strawberries)
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
*You can omit the frozen coconut milk and add 6 more frozen strawberries.
Add frozen coconut milk cubes (or frozen strawberries) to blender. Then add 1 pint frozen strawberries, coconut milk or heavy cream, and 1/2 cup of the milk and sweetener. Use ice crush button and run blender for 30 seconds (Or use Magic Bullet type devise.) Stop and scrape sides and then add 1/4 cup milk.Blend for another 15 seconds and then scrape sides and note texture. Add 1/4 milk if needed. Blend for 15 more seconds (or longer) until the consistency of soft serve ice-cream. Taste for sweetness and adjust if needed.
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