Everyone's favorite ice cream turned vegan! This vegan Chunky Monkey Ice Cream is made from a banana base and filled with raw chocolate pieces and walnuts for a delicious and wholesome plant-based dessert.
It's been an ice cream kinda summer!
First, I shared my recipe for my Oregon Strawberry Ice Cream, then I had a Butter Pecan Ice Cream and now I am sharing with you my wholesome take on Chunky Monkey Ice Cream. And I think you're going to love it!
Not only is this vegan Chunky Monkey Ice Cream DELICIOUS, but it is also made with whole, natural ingredients. In fact, this recipe can be made 100% raw, meaning it's vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free and made with ingredients that are completely unprocessed. And best of all, they were delivered right to my door!
Recommended Ingredients & Equipment
I got almost all my ingredients for this vegan ice cream online at iHerb. For those of you who aren’t familiar, iHerb is an online store filled with over 30,000 natural and organic products. Read all about iHerb below.
Here is everything you will need.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Bananas - When making vegan banana ice cream it's important to remember to buy the ripest bananas you can find. The riper the banana, the sweeter it will be. Ripe bananas also have a preferred creamy texture.
- walnuts
- maple syrup
- vanilla extract
- cacao powder
- raw agave nectar
- coconut oil
Recommended Equipment
Most importantly, you will need an ice cream maker. I love my ice cream maker. It is compact and makes the perfect creamy ice cream every time! You should also have a 9×5 loaf pan, ice cream scoop, and a set of reusable pint-sized ice cream freezer containers.
Check out the full list of my recommended kitchen tools and gadgets.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.
What is iHerb?
I first learned of iHerb about 6 years ago. When I found them, they were my go-to one-stop-shop for all of my health foods. iHerb carries top-quality brands – ones that you probably recognize – and ships from climate-controlled distribution centers to ensure quality products to over 150 countries around the world!
Not only do they have everything I want, but also their shipping is fast and their prices are also great.
Picking out my items at iHerb was super easy. Because they only carry the best brands, you don’t have to look through a lot of products to find the best one. Simply type in what you’re looking for in the search bar and review your selections.
Once you fill up your cart, review it, select shipping and payment methods, and you’re good to go. iHerb offers customer service 24 hours a day/7 days a week in 10 different languages, making it an easy and convenient online shopping experience.
Wanna try iHerb for yourself? New customers can get 10% off their first iHerb order with no minimum purchase by clicking here.(<<affiliate link)
How to Make Chunky Monkey Ice Cream
Making homemade vegan ice cream with an ice cream maker is a super simple process but it takes some planning ahead. Before you can begin, you must place the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer overnight. This ensures that the ice cream bowl is chilled enough to churn your custard into ice cream.
Step One – Make the Ice Cream Base
In a blender or food processor, combine your bananas, almond milk, agave nectar, and vanilla extract. If you want to keep this recipe completely raw, follow these instructions to make your own almond milk. Otherwise, you can also use store-bought almond milk or non-dairy milk of choice.
Blend the banana-based custard until it is completely smooth then transfer it into a shallow dish, cover it in plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.
Step Two - Make the Raw Chocolate
While the ice cream base chills, you can make the raw chocolate.
To make raw chocolate, combine all the ingredients together until you have smooth, shiny chocolate. It should look like melted chocolate. Pour the melted chocolate onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for 1 hour. Once the chocolate is frozen, cut it into ¼" pieces. Return to the freezer until ready to use.
Pro Tip: it is important that these ingredients are measured out exactly to get the right consistency.
Step Four – Churn and Chill
Add the chilled ice cream base to the frozen ice cream bowl and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Church until it becomes thick and resembles soft serve. Add the chocolate chips and churn for 30 more seconds until they are well combined.
You can serve now or transfer it to loaf pan and store in the freezer until ready to serve. Allow 5-10 minutes to thaw when removing from the freezer.
Serving and Storing
Store the ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month. I store my ice cream in these pint-sized ice cream tubs (<<affiliate link) to keep them fresh and avoid freezer burn.
Serve your ice cream slightly thawed. Allow the ice cream to thaw 10-15 minutes before serving. Serve it in a bowl, in cones, or as part of an ice cream sundae.
Frequently Asked Questions
While I totally recommend getting an ice cream maker ASAP, you can make a creamy custard without the machine.
To do this, make your ice cream base as outlined above. Once it’s ready, transfer it to a baking sheet and place in the freezer. When the ice cream is frozen, break it into chunks and blend it in a food processor until it becomes smooth and creamy. This may take up to 10 minutes. Transfer to a loaf pan refreeze.
You won’t get quite the same creaminess, but it works in a pinch!
More Vegan Ice Cream Recipes
- Cookie Dough Ice Cream
- Vegan Snickerdoodle Ice Cream
- Turkish Coffee Ice Cream
- Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Raw Chunky Monkey Ice Cream
Ingredients
Ice Cream Base
- 6 very ripe bananas
- 1 cup almond milk*
- 1 tablespoon raw agave (optional)**
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Raw Chocolate
- 3 tablespoon coconut oil melted
- ¼ cup raw cacao powder
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix-ins
- ⅓ cup walnuts
Instructions
- In a blender combine bananas, almond milk, vanilla extract, and sweetener of choice mixing until very smooth. Transfer into a shallow dish, cover it in plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours. Alternatively, you can place in in the freezer for 30 minutes, until chilled all the way through.
- Meanwhile, make the chocolate by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl. Transfer to a shallow container and freeze. Once frozen remove chocolate and cut into small chunks.
- Add the chilled ice cream base into your ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions. Once done place ice cream in a bowl and stir in walnuts and chocolate chunks by hand. Transfer to an airtight container and return to freezer. Allow ice cream 4-5 hours to harden completely.
- Remove from the freezer and let thaw ten minutes before serving.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
Brittany says
When reading the post it says to put the custard mix in the freezer covered for two hours. But in the recipe it says uncovered for 20 - 30 minutes. I followed the latter and now I'm not sure it will turn out and I just wasted so many ingredients.
Sarah McMinn says
You can put the custard in the refrigerator for 2 hours or the freezer for 20-30 minutes. 🙂 Just ensure that it's chilled all the way through.
Nina Simon says
The title doesn't say much. But the beautiful photos got me excited. And those ingredients, I'm totally floored!