This chocolate ice cream has a secret ingredient…
Kefir!
Its tart flavor isn’t even noticeable in this ice cream — and yet it has many benefits for those who gobble it up. And don’t worry, they will gobble it up. 😉 I promise.
I try to get kefir into as many dishes as possible, such as my Probiotic Potato Salad. Check out 8 Yummy Ways To Eat Kefir, too.
Probiotic Chocolate Ice Cream
Although the recipe calls for both cream and milk, depending on your preference, feel free to substitute cream for all or part of the milk.
Ingredients
- 2 cups full fat coconut milk OR raw grass-fed cream
- 1 1/2 cups plain kefir
- 2 cups raw whole milk
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 to 1 avocado ripe
- 3 organic or pastured egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup sucanat powdered* OR 3/4 cup date pieces
Instructions
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Combine all ingredients in high-powered blender.
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Blend until smooth.
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Chill thoroughly.
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Finally, freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.
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Serve immediately or put in the freezer to harden for 1 hour.
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If frozen much longer, it gets hard. But, on the plus side, hard ice cream = milkshakes!
Recipe Notes
*For powdered Sucanat, grind until fine in a food processor or Vitamix.
Do Probiotics Survive Freezing?
Good question!
Over time when frozen, some of the probiotics will be lost. However, when someone wants to take a break from culturing, they freeze their kefir grains to preserve them. So, at least some bacteria and yeast survive the freezing. Even if some of them die, some or most of them do not.
Specifically in the case of making ice cream, the probiotics are not frozen long-term — especially if serving the ice cream right out of the ice cream maker.
As a result, freezing is still a good way to preserve probiotic foods. 🙂
Looking for more probiotic rich treats?
- Healthy Probiotic Pomegranate Mousse
- Probiotic Mint Chocolate Chip Popsicles (dairy-free option!)
- Roasted Cinnamon Peach Probiotic Gelato (Honey-Sweetened)
- 3-Ingredient Mixed Berry Kefir Popsicles (probiotic & kid-friendly!)
- Off-Grid Lime Kefir Ice Cream With Fermented Blueberry Syrup
- Probiotic Watermelon Strawberry Fruit Sorbet
Do you make your own homemade ice cream? Have you ever thought to make probiotic chocolate ice cream?
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That looks great! I’m going to give it a try.
.-= Tara´s last blog post… Pumpkin kefir smoothie =-.
Do you think if you used duck eggs, you could go with 2 whole eggs since they are higher in fat and protein than chicken eggs? Just curious what you think. Sounds yummy! 🙂
Kimbrah – Definitely! The amount of egg yolks is loose – I think I’ve added 4 or 6 chicken egg yolks before. So you could do more duck eggs. If you want. 🙂
Just wanted to mention that we culture our own Kefir at home, and live kefir grains are available, either free of charge or for a minimal fee at this kefir grains sharing website: http://www.torontoadvisors.com/Kefir/kefir-list.php
D 🙂
That sounds amazing! I love the variety of ingredients, and I bet they all work well together. I need to start making kefir.
.-= Cara @ Health Home and Happiness´s last blog post… Ginger tea for GAPS and sore throats =-.
This is such a creative recipe! I never would have thought to use kefir for ice cream, much less throw in an avocado. Thanks, Wardee.
.-= cellulite analyst´s last blog post… Dr. Oz’s Toxic Water Alert: Why You Need to Win This FREE Shower Filter Giveaway for Your Home =-.
The avocado sounds very odd, but I bet the ice cream is fantastic tasting!
I love kefir.
Andrew – I got the idea for avocado from an internet friend – she added it to coconut milk ice cream to make it creamier. It works! But imparts no discernible flavor. Well, perhaps a tiny, tiny bit. But it is pleasant and works very well – so that no one would know. (IMO)
Is there a substitute for the avocado?
Hi Janet,
You might try bananas.
~ Vicki, TCS Customer Success Team
I use a tablespoon of gelatin.
Wardee, this looks great! Stumbling now… 🙂
.-= Kelly the Kitchen Kop´s last blog post… Real Food Wednesday Blog Carnival for 10/28/09 =-.
Thank you, Kelly. 🙂
We made this tonight and it was so good! With a few changes, of course. We used all cream in place of the milk. I added cinnamon and cardamom, which I almost always do to dairy or sweet items (a little Ayurvedic trick). I added some extra carob on top of the cocoa/raw cacao mix, to make it chocolate-y-er and sweeter. I added a banana, just because we have a whole bunch to use up. Actually 4 whole bunches, over 100lbs (we live in Hawaii and get bananas for free…). And I was out of sucanat, so I used a mix of raw honey, stevia, and my kombucha-feeding organic cane sugar. But the combo was still less than amount called for; we haven’t had fruit or sugar for a few weeks and need far less to satisfy now. The kids were so thrilled, we haven’t had ice cream for about 6 months! Thanks so much for the recipe, there are only so many kefir smoothies you can make!
I read a comment on an article (I don’t remember what or where), by someone who said they had experience as a research scientist. The comment said that they stored yeasts used for experiments at -176 F to put them completely to sleep, but that above that temperature, yeasts were still active. I thought that might help you…I hope!
Hello there, I have a question! Can I use my left over whey instead of using raw milk. How will it change the consistency and taste of the ice cream? Is it better to not try? Why does lite coconut milk not work?
Julien — I wouldn’t do that — at least not for ice cream. You could try it but you’d end up with a frozen whey concoction, maybe like an icy juice, more so than ice cream.
Lite coconut milk works, but it is a waste of money. All they do to get light is water down regular coconut milk yet charge the same amount of money. Plus, regular coconut milk is more creamy — thus making a creamier ice cream.
What about switching the raw milk for full coconut milk OR hemp milk? Will the consistency suffer?
Julien — That would be fine! The coconut milk would be better I think because of the cream. With the hemp milk, you might want to up the egg yolks and/or avocado for creaminess.
Wardee- this looks really yummy:-) Would it be possible to make without an ice cream-maker?
Guro — Yes! Check out this post for an idea:
http://www.foodrenegade.com/no-churn-ice-cream-honey-cinnamon/
Hey hey I tried this and it was super good! I subbed in 3 bananas for the avacado, and added the cinamon and the cardamon. Oh so good! The kids ate it up too!
Thank you Wareh. I appreciate it and will for sure try it:-)
-Guro
I see someone used bananas instead of avocado. Is there a different substitution that I could make instead? I get migraines from avocados and my hubby dislikes bananas.