Magic Shell Vanilla Ice Cream- Vegan and Easy to Make at Home

INGREDIENTS:

I love this ice cream recipe because you just need simple ingredients for both the vegan vanilla ice cream and the vegan magic shell.

FOR THE VEGAN VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM:

• SPiN Vanilla Almond Milk Concentrate - These nut milk concentrates have quickly become one of my favorite products. They're extremely easy to use and very versatile. Since you can adjust the amount you're using, you can use it to make thick creams like in this ice cream recipe, or light nut milks for everyday use. I love the vanilla flavor, because it's naturally sweetened, and full of vanilla flavor.
• Vanilla Bean Powder - The best way to instantly enhance the flavor of any vanilla ice cream recipe is to add vanilla beans. I love Wilderness Poets Tahitian vanilla bean powder because the vanilla flavor is so pure. Vanilla bean powder is an investment, but totally worth it in my opinion!
• Full-Fat Coconut Milk - I always recommend using full-fat coconut milk in homemade vegan ice cream recipes. I wouldn't recommend using coconut cream, because it is too fatty, but full-fat is just the right amount.
• Medjool Dates - Although the SPiN vanilla almond milk concentrate is sweetened, I like to add dates to achieve the perfect amount of sweetness for this vegan vanilla ice cream. Dates are full of vitamins and minerals and are high in fiber.
• Water - You will need water to soak the dates and activate the SPiN. I use the same water for both to avoid wasting any of the sweetness from the dates.
• Tapioca Syrup (optional) - I always recommend using tapioca syrup when making homemade ice cream recipes. It helps to prevent the ice cream from freezing completely, and it makes it smoother.

FOR THE VEGAN MAGIC SHELL:

• Cacao Paste - Cacao paste is a very pure form of chocolate. It is simply just the ground cacao beans. This is different than cacao powder, or cocoa powder (the more refined version you find at the grocery store) because it contains the natural fat and fiber found in cacao beans. In my opinion, it makes the best hard chocolate shell.  I get mine from Wilderness Poets because the quality is superior.
• Maple Crystals - I love sweetening my chocolate magic shell with maple crystals because they are an unrefined sweeteners, and they work just like cane sugar. This will result in a slightly gritty texture that I absolutely love. If you want to avoid the texture, you will need to melt the maple crystals and oil together before adding the cacao paste. 
• Coconut Oil - You can either use refined coconut oil, or unrefined coconut oil (refined has less of a coconut taste). When you melt coconut oil with cacao paste it creates the perfect liquid chocolate mixture that turns into a hard chocolate shell as soon as it hits the cold ice cream.

ICE CREAM TOPPINGS:

• Raw Almonds - I love adding Wilderness Poets raw almonds for added crunch and flavor. 
• Cacao Nibs - I like using both their unsweetened and sweetened cacao nibs for delicious ice cream toppings.