Chocolate-Hazelnut Ice Cream Sundaes

This recipe is inspired by my hairdresser, who said her favourite ice cream is chocolate ice cream with chopped hazelnuts!  I thought that would make a wonderful sundae with bananas and caramel sauce.  A sundae takes a bit more time to make, as some of the toppings need to be prepared in advance.

You could buy gluten-free chocolate ice cream (or dairy-free chocolate coconut milk ice cream) or make your own.  I have an ice cream maker that I got from Costco a few years ago.  With the ice cream maker,  I can make dairy-free and sugar-free ice cream in minutes!

The two websites that have the best dairy-free ice cream recipes are Spunky Coconut and Elana's Pantry.  I have been making this recipe for awhile, and it is a combination of a few recipes.  Sometimes, I take out the cocoa and the coffee, and add a couple of cups of strawberries to make strawberry ice cream.  In the summer, I would like to try Cherry and Amaretto.  Experiment and see what flavours you can create!

Chocolate Ice Cream

In a high power blender (Vitamix), add:

2 cups canned coconut milk (full fat)

10 pitted dates (soak them in water if they are dry)

1 cup almond milk or other milk substitute
2 tablespoons of cold coffee (optional)

Puree until smooth.

Add:
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup honey
5 drops of vanilla liquid stevia

Puree until creamy and smooth.

Freeze this mixture in a container for an hour until chilled.  Add to the ice cream maker and turn on for about 25 minutes.  Eat as soft serve, or freeze until hard.  

If you freeze it, you will need to defrost it for an hour or so before you serve the ice cream.  

*I served this ice cream with about 1/2 of a banana in each bowl topped with homemade caramel sauce and whipped coconut cream.  You could buy caramel sauce or make this recipe for a dairy-free caramel sauce.  See my fruit pizza post for the recipe for whipped coconut cream, or use regular whipped cream.  I toasted hazelnuts ahead of time in a 350 degree oven for 7-9 minutes.  I rubbed the skins off in a clean kitchen towel and chopped them roughly.  I sprinkled a few on top of each sundae.  Enjoy!