You love eating ice cream, but could do without the preservatives and the artificial fillers found in the commercial versions. If you want to make your homemade ice cream a healthy treat, try these simple tips for enhancing the taste, texture and nutritional value:
- Use coconut milk instead of dairy, which will give your ice cream a texture similar to regular dairy ice cream. Add a little starch (either cornstarch or arrowroot) and some sweetener before you cook the mixture on the stovetop, until it becomes thick and pudding-like in consistency.
- For a single-ingredient version, use frozen bananas, which when churned in a food processor or blender, give you a smooth, sweet, ice cream-like result.
- For a final product that is airy and smooth like a soft serve, use silken tofu without draining. Simply add fruit of your choice, and blend both, before and after freezing. Tofu provides soy protein, which is good for lowering total cholesterol.
- Instead of artificial sweeteners, choose agave, especially since its syrupy nature helps prevent ice crystals from forming, keeping the final product very smooth.
- You can also use honey, maple syrup, or a granulated sugar like organic cane sugar or turbinado, which is a pure cane sugar extract that tastes a bit like molasses. Other options are stevia and coconut palm sugar. Agave nectar, honey and maple syrup are sweeter than regular sugar, so you will most likely need to use less in your recipe.
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