A vegan ice cream recipe that delivers! This dairy-free carrot cake ice cream tastes like a slice of carrot cake and is luxuriously creamy thanks to cashew nuts in the ice cream base. Way healthier and lower in calories than cake, too!
Lovers of carrots cake will be obsessed with this vegan ice cream recipe!
Vegan Food Month continues with this ridiculously awesome vegan ice cream recipe! The easiest way to make Vegan Carrot Cake Ice cream recipe would be to add some crumbled up carrot cake, spices, and vegan cashew sour cream into coconut milk or nondairy milk and freeze.
But where’s fun in that? So instead, I decided to skip the pre-made carrot cake part and make the whole vegan ice cream recipe from scratch. It is much more satisfying to be able to create something on your own, right? And this way we also know all the ingredients that went in! So here it is.
The best thing? No ice cream maker needed for this easy vegan no-churn ice cream recipe.
Ingredients for this Vegan Carrot Cake Ice Cream recipe:
- roasted carrots: for this vegan ice cream recipe, we roast the carrots in the oven and puree them with coconut milk. Yes! No need to stand and grate the carrots.
- carrot cake spices – aka. cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and ground cloves.
- homemade vegan cashew sour cream: thanks to the soaked and blended cashews, this dairy-free Cashew Ice Cream base is luxuriously creamy and super-delicious.
- candied walnuts: roast some walnuts with spices and sugar to get fragrant candied walnuts. They add such a pleasant crunch to this carrot cake ice cream.
- non-dairy milk: a mix of coconut milk and almond milk works best for this carrot cake ice cream.
Tips and Substitutions for this Vegan Carrot Ice Cream recipe:
- I did not use an Ice cream maker and did not add any starch to the ice cream base. Without the starch and no churning, there is a teeny bit crystallization, but there is so much going on in the Ice cream, that it doesn’t bother me. You can add a tablespoon of cornstarch or arrowroot starch. Mix it into a 1/4 cup non-dairy milk. Mix, Bring to a boil and add to the ice cream mixture for a more custardy, less crystallized version.
- Alternatively, churn your vegan ice cream base in an ice cream maker.
- Add more carrot or spices to taste. You could also use pumpkin spice in this recipe without a huge difference.
- Feeling extra decadent? Scoop some of this delicious vegan ice cream between two homemade cookies (scroll down for recipes) for a vegan ice cream sandwich. Press and freeze individual sammies in plastic wrap.
How to make this Vegan Carrot Cake Ice Cream Recipe:
1. Roast and candy the walnuts. Add oil to a pan on medium heat. Add your chopped walnuts and roast them for 1-2 minutes. Stir frequently. Add the sugar, salt, and spices and mix well. Continue to cook till the sugar caramelizes and sticks to the walnuts.
2. Toss the carrots in some oil and roast them in the oven until fork-tender, for about 20 minutes.
3. Make the vegan cashew sour cream by mixing all ingredients in a blender or magic bullet. Yes, my magic bullet still works fine for small quantities of creamy cashew cream. Add very little water until the cashews are all well blended. A bit more water and it will always leave some cashew pieces. This is of course not a problem with a good blender.
4. Blend roasted carrots and coconut milk and spices. Add candied walnuts.
5. Add the vegan cashew sour cream to the dairy-free ice cream base. Sprinkle some cinnamon on top of your carrot cake ice cream base. Swirl it in, but do not mix completely.
6. Freeze the vegan cream base until almost frozen, a few hours. Scoop and serve.
How to make Vegan Carrot Cake Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches:
Soften your vegan ice cream and add between 2 of your favorite cookies to make a vegan ice cream sandwich!
My favorite vegan cookie recipes for making ice cream sandwiches:
- Ginger Molasses Cookies or TRIPLE Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Tahini Oatmeal Cookies
- Soft Pumpkin Gingersnaps
This carrot cake ice cream recipe was inspired by David Lebovitz’s Carrot Cake ice cream and Savory Notes’s Carrot ginger Ice cream
This ice cream is being shared at Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays. Allergy Free Wednesdays, Ricki’s wellness weekend
More vegan ice cream recipes on the blog:
- Vegan Mango Ice Cream
- Vegan Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Popsicles
- Kulfi – Indian Ice Cream recipe
Vegan Carrot Cake Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
For the Candied Walnuts:
- 3/4 cups (3.1 oz) broken walnuts or pecans or other nuts
- 1 Tablespoon ground raw sugar or other fine vegan sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch cinnamon cloves, nutmeg, ginger
For the vegan sour cream:
- 1/2 cup (2.28 oz) cashews soaked
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon raw sugar
For the ice cream:
- 1 cup (1 ) chopped carrots 1-2 inch pieces
- 1 can coconut milk 13.5 oz, a little less than 2 cups
- 1/2 cup (4.41 oz) almond milk
- 1/3 cup (2.35 oz) ground raw sugar 1/2 cup for sweeter
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
- 1/4 tsp cloves powder
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Make the Candied walnuts:
- Add oil to pan on medium heat. Add chopped walnuts and roast for 1-2 minutes. Stir frequently. Add the sugar, salt and spices and mix well. Continue to cook till the sugar caramelizes and sticks to the walnuts.
Make the Sour cream:
- Blend the drained soaked cashews and all the ingredients with a few Tablespoons of water to make a thick cream. Taste and adjust salt and tang if needed.
Roast the carrots:
- Toss the carrots in a teaspoon of oil and bake at 380 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Bake longer for larger quantity. Roast the carrots till golden on the outside.
Make the ice cream:
- Puree the roasted carrots with one cup of coconut milk until well blended.
- Add the sugar, spices, salt and the rest of the coconut milk and almond milk and blend. Taste and adjust sweet and spice. Pour into ice cream container.
- Add the candied walnuts and fold in. Add in the sour cream, lightly sprinkle some more cinnamon on top and fold in. Do not mix too much.
- If using an ice cream maker, let the spiced carrot puree ice cream churn, then fold in the walnuts and sour cream just before placing in freezer.
- Freeze for a few hours then scoop and serve.
Notes
- I did not use an Ice cream maker and did not add any starch to the ice cream base. Without the starch and no churning, there is a teeny bit crystallization, but there is so much going on in the Ice cream, that it doesn't bother me. You can add a tablespoon of cornstarch or arrowroot starch. Mix it into a 1/4 cup non-dairy milk. Mix, Bring to a boil and add to the ice cream mixture for a more custardy, less crystallized version.
- Alternatively, churn your vegan ice cream base in an ice cream maker.
- Add more carrot or spices to taste. You could also use pumpkin spice in this recipe without a huge difference.
- Feeling extra decadent? Scoop some of this delicious vegan ice cream between two homemade cookies (scroll down for recipes) for a vegan ice cream sandwich. Press and freeze individual sammies in plastic wrap.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2013 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness in October 2019.
Glue and Glitter says
September 16, 2013 at 8:10 pmAah these look fantastic! We don’t have an ice cream maker either, so no-churn ice cream is always exciting to find.
GiGi says
September 16, 2013 at 8:22 pmI mosied on over to your site to eye some delicious carrot cake ice creme. My fave. I think I used to get one by “Good Karma” but then it had too much sugar. I came over for a looksee even before I knew that you didn’t use an ice creme maker. I had a Kitchen Aid ice cream maker but it busted 🙁
Richa says
September 18, 2013 at 1:56 amhmm i havent tried the good karma one. yeah this is just about right. i decided against candy-ing the carrots to keep it low sugar
GiGi says
September 16, 2013 at 8:23 pmPS this looks like a fantastic replacement. Looks like I might not need to replace my stupid busted ice creme maker any time soon.
Sharanya says
September 16, 2013 at 8:47 pmomg..omg..that looks insanely delicious.Wow..awesome pics.I want to eat that now!!
Caitlin says
September 16, 2013 at 9:03 pmThis is to DIE for! WOW!!!
Sarah says
September 16, 2013 at 9:36 pmI have a little Cuisinart ice cream maker. It’s not very expensive and does the trick. Apparently it’s also on super sale at Williams Sonoma right now too! http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/2397255/?catalogId=47&bnrid=3120901&cm_ven=Google_PLA&cm_cat=Electrics&cm_pla=Specialty_Electrics&cm_ite=Cuisinart_Ice_Cream_Maker_with_Extra_Freezer_Bowl%2C_White_%7C_Williams-Sonoma&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=35-63911826-2
Richa says
September 18, 2013 at 1:56 amThank you Sarah. I will check that one out
Jennifer Hunter says
September 16, 2013 at 11:09 pmOMG this looks absolutely unbelievable!!! I can’t wait to make this!!!
Annie says
September 16, 2013 at 11:13 pmThis might be my favorite of all of your recipes…and it’s going onto the Make As Soon As Possible list.
jodye @ whole pure recipes says
September 17, 2013 at 12:44 amThis looks simply divine, Richa! I haven’t actually had the urge to make any ice cream this year until now. Probably because it’s fall, and this just screams the season with all those lovely warming spices. I’m going to have to try this for sure!
erinwyso says
September 17, 2013 at 2:01 amI agree that making things from scratch is so much better and rewarding at the end. And I never thought of translating carrot cake into an ice cream — brilliant idea Richa!
Nithiya says
September 17, 2013 at 2:25 amCarrot Cake Ice cream looks yum!! Who would have thought of carrot cake ice cream? Definitely gonna try it out. I recently got a Cuisinart ICE-21 series ice cream maker, it has pretty good reviews and not very expensive either. You can also look into Cuisinart Pure Indulgence series, they have a good rating too!!
Happys Cook says
September 17, 2013 at 3:40 amlooks awesome… looks like great effort…
Moturam's Ahalya says
September 17, 2013 at 6:45 amI love you. I could eat this for the next five years.
Joey says
September 17, 2013 at 9:51 amThe comment above actually sums up what I was thinking to a T! Just to check – I don’t have to put this through an ice cream maker – I can just freeze? If so, making a bath tub batch tonight!
Veganosaurus says
September 17, 2013 at 10:32 amOMG OMG OMG duuuude! That is an amazing amazing ice cream. And those ‘messy’ sammiches look extra drool worthy!!!
Rithika says
September 17, 2013 at 11:17 amWoah! That looks awesome and super easy to make. Going on the long list of to do recipes from your collection!
Caitlin says
September 17, 2013 at 1:42 pmyou are a genius, woman! these pictures look beautiful, too! i’ll be dreaming about this uncle i make it.
Sal says
September 17, 2013 at 2:27 pmI have a clonky old ice cream maker somewhere but it would take me longer to find it than it would to make these I reckon. And they look amazing.
The Peace Patch says
September 17, 2013 at 3:40 pmSuperdeliciousness!
I bet this ice cream would be perfect with your Date Fig Burfi or on top of your Ginger Pancakes…yumza! 🙂
coconutandberries says
September 17, 2013 at 4:33 pmI saw this on instagram and had to come and see the recipe! Sounds ridiculously good! Carrot cake is my favourite cake 🙂 Even the candied walnuts alone sound delicious.
Maria Tadic says
September 17, 2013 at 5:11 pmI think this recipe looks awesome! And it’s all melty and yummy! Carrot cake is awesome and this sounds soooo good! I like the idea of roasting the carrots first. Great way to get more flavor from them!
acookinthemaking says
September 17, 2013 at 7:24 pmI love the idea of carrot cake ice cream, and LOVE the idea of putting it between ginger molasses cookies! I don’t think I could possibly come up with a better or more perfect fall dessert recipe. I can’t stop staring at the pictures…
Bobbie {the vegan crew} says
September 18, 2013 at 3:20 pmOh my goodness, this sounds like a dream!
Tabatha Alward says
September 18, 2013 at 3:28 pmI Love it!! Never made them yet, but would love to someday! Thanks for a great recipe! xxoo
[email protected] says
September 19, 2013 at 4:42 pmI love the sound of this. Especially the combination of Carrot Cake Ice Cream with Molasses Cookies – a little bit of fall heaven.
veganmiam.com says
September 19, 2013 at 8:28 pmThese desserts are gorgeous! I’m craving for ice cream sandwiches now. Stop it, Richa, you’re making me hungry in Buenos Aires!
Carol Weaver says
September 20, 2013 at 3:42 pmI made this last night and it was amazing delicious. I used pecans instead of walnuts and instead of making a sour cream, I just used Tofutti Cream Cheese. To combat any crystallization, I stirred the ice cream every hour or so until it was to the eatable stage ~3 hours. I should have let it freeze longer, but it was absolutely delicious and completely eaten up in about 10 minutes.
Richa says
September 20, 2013 at 7:12 pmthank you Carol! I am so glad you made it and loved it! 10 minutes is a record :)) awesome!!
Joe Zach says
September 21, 2013 at 12:19 pmLike the step by step instructions. Roasting the carrot is a good idea.
bittersweetblog.com says
September 26, 2013 at 1:23 amI haven’t had time to comment, but I’ve been saving this post in my feed reader ever since you shared it. It combines everything wonderful about fall flavors, and sounds like the perfect way for me to embrace the season. Of course I would love most any ice cream treats, but this sounds beyond amazing!
Ellen Lederman says
November 9, 2014 at 12:16 pmAmazing! What a way to get some beta-carotene! Loved the depth of the flavors. Couldn’t tell if the sour cream added to it (the walnuts sure did!), but the taste of the whole thing was incredible. Made it in an ice cream maker. Didn’t make the cookies—it was great just in a bowl.
Why can’t ice cream shops/restaurants offer something like this on their menu?????
Colorful Canary says
April 1, 2015 at 4:03 pmThat ice cream looks amazing! I just featured it on my blog 🙂 http://www.colorfulcanary.com/2015/04/colorful-raw-easter-recipes-no-bake.html
Jukki says
March 13, 2017 at 5:19 amThis ice cream looks inspiring. IfI use a ready-made vegan sour cream or cream cheese, how many grams should I use?
Richa says
March 13, 2017 at 11:14 amuse a 1/4 to a 1/3 cup cup. you just want some swirls in the ice cream without overpowering it. you can thin out the readymade sourcream/cream cheese with a bit of non dairy milk so that it is easier to swirl in.
vaedit says
November 27, 2019 at 12:52 pmThis ice cream sounds so delish! What’s not to love about having all the flavor of our fave cake in one refreshing (and healthy) scoop!