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This salted tahini chocolate ice cream is possibly the BEST homemade ice cream I’ve made yet. It’s rich, ultra-creamy, and everything you could want in a custard-style ice cream and more!
Plus, it’s dairy-free and refined sugar-free, but you can easily swap in regular dairy ingredients or cane sugar depending on preference. It’s such a flexible base!
The base is a double vanilla bean chocolate custard ice cream w/ tahini rippled through for both flavor and richness, plus sticky medjool date pieces and dark chocolate chunks! There’s a myriad of flavors in this, but they marry together so well! Plus, when the date pieces freeze into the ice cream, they have a chewy, caramel-like texture that pairs so well with the creamy ice cream.
Ingredients for the BEST Chocolate Ice Cream (with tahini, dark chocolate, and dates)
- Egg yolks: The egg yolks in this recipe not only stabilize the ice cream but give it a rich and creamy mouthfeel that you can’t replicate with anything else.
- Homemade nut milk: A high-fat, creamy homemade nut milk is the key to getting this dairy-free cherry vanilla ice cream to taste like it was made with dairy. To replicate the combo of milk and cream that’s used in traditional ice cream, I used a combo of cashews and almonds in my nut milk. The creaminess of the cashews perfectly replicates the richness of heavy cream, and the almonds add protein and structure that you would normally get from 2% milk.
- Honey: Feel free to swap the honey for regular cane sugar.
- Unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder: Unlike regular cocoa, dutch process cocoa is alkalized to give it a smooth, less acidic flavor, and a deeper, richer, chocolate color.
- Tahini: Use any smooth and drippy tahini.
- Espresso powder: Love this one from King Arthur.
- Vanilla extract AND ground vanilla: Love the ground vanilla from Beyond Good – it’s so good, haha). Vanilla bean or vanilla bean paste both work as well.
- Dark chocolate: Any unsweetened, 70% cocoa dark chocolate works.
- Medjool dates
- Kosher salt: Specifically, Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If you’re using Morton kosher salt, reduce the salt by half. Morton is much saltier and denser than Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
Kitchen Tools You Need
- Loaf pan or a container to store the ice cream
- A sharp knife
- A digital scale because it’s the most accurate.
- An ice cream maker (linking the one we’ve had for the past 15 years here that’s phenomenal) or the KitchenAid ice cream attachment which I finally bought (it’s worth it)!
- Large pot
- Medium glass bowl
- Whisk
- Flexible rubber spatula
How to Make This Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream
The full recipe (in all its glorious detail) is in the recipe card below – leaving this here purely as a visual guide!
Prep the Homemade Cream
Blend the nuts and water together on high until creamy (about 2 minutes) and strain through a nut milk bag. If you’re using regular dairy ingredients, no need to do this.
Make the Custard Base
Separate the egg yolks into a medium bowl and whisk to break them up. Add 1/4 cup of the homemade nut milk, along with the honey, sifted cocoa powder, espresso powder, vanilla bean, and salt to a large pot. Whisk together until the cocoa powder is fully incorporated into the milk, then add the remaining milk. I like adding the milk gradually to avoid the cocoa powder clumping.
Heat the milk mixture on medium heat until it begins to steam, then reduce the heat to low, temper the eggs, and pour them into the custard mixture, whisking constantly. Swap the whisk for a spatula and stir the custard mixture constantly as it cooks (still on medium-low) until it thickens and coats the back of the spatula or wooden spoon. It’s easier to see if the custard is at the right stage with a wooden spoon. Whisk in the tahini, strain the custard, and place it in an ice bath and stir until room temp. Then cover the base, and refrigerate overnight to chill.
Churn & Freeze
The following day, stir in the vanilla extract and churn until fluffy and the consistency of soft serve. Fold in the chopped chocolate and dates by hand, and freeze the ice cream overnight before serving.
Copious Notes & Tips
- If you’re not dairy-free, use the cream and milk measurements included in the recipe. While I prefer using honey in this recipe for multiple reasons, feel free to swap it out for regular granulated cane sugar (brown sugar would also pair well with this).
- Heat tends to kill the flavor of vanilla extract, which is why I like adding it to the ice cream base after it’s chilled overnight.
- Freeze your ice cream bowl at least 16 hours (preferably 24 hours) in advance. Otherwise, it won’t be cold enough to properly churn the ice cream.
- Freeze the ice cream after churning for 4-6 hours, ideally overnight. This is the last stage in the ice cream process – yes, you can eat it right after churning, but it won’t be the right texture. Freezing helps the ice cream firm up and develop even more flavor.
- Freeze the dates. Medjool dates are super sticky and almost impossible to slice into tiny pieces at room temp, so I like to freeze the dates before chopping them up. Alternatively, you could tear the dates with your hands if they’re still too sticky to chop.
- Freeze everything! A hot tip from me to you is to freeze everything the ice cream will touch (ok not everything). I like to freeze the container I’ll be storing the ice cream in overnight so the churned ice cream doesn’t melt when it’s transferred out of the ice cream maker/bowl. The moment ice cream melts and becomes soupy, it’ll re-freeze icy, instead of creamy.
So excited for you to make this ice cream – it’s a family favorite! Don’t forget to leave a starred rating and review, love hearing from you!
Print
Salted Tahini Chocolate Ice Cream
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 1 quart 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
This salted tahini chocolate ice cream is possibly the BEST homemade ice cream I’ve made yet. It’s rich, ultra-creamy, and it’s dairy-free and refined sugar-free!
Ingredients
- 5 egg yolks
- 3 1/4 cups (758 g) homemade nut milk (if not dairy-free, use 2 cups heavy cream and 1 1/4 cup milk)
- 1/2 cup (155 g) honey (sub with cane sugar or brown sugar)
- 1/4 cup (22 g) unsweetened dutch process cocoa powder, siftedÂ
- 1/2 tsp espresso powder
- 1/2 tsp ground vanilla or vanilla bean pasteÂ
- 1/2 tsp kosher saltÂ
- 1/4 cup (60 g) tahini (use a creamy smooth tahini)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (60 g) dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 4 medjool dates (90g with pit in), chopped into small pieces*
Instructions
- Read through the instructions fully before starting – highly recommend using metric measurements for best results!
Make the homemade nut milk
- Make the homemade nut milk by blending together 4 cups (910 g) of water with 1 1/2  cups (215 g) of raw cashews and 1 cup (140 g) of raw almonds on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds or until super creamy and smooth. Strain through a nut milk bag and store in a glass jar. It’ll keep well for 5-6 days, so feel free to make this ahead of time.
Make the base
- Separate the egg yolks into a medium bowl and whisk to break them up. Set aside.
- Infuse the milk. Add 1/4 of the homemade nut milk, along with the honey, sifted cocoa powder, espresso powder, vanilla bean, and salt to a large pot. Whisk together until the cocoa powder is fully incorporated, then add the remaining milk. I like adding the milk gradually to avoid the cocoa powder clumping. Heat the milk mixture on medium heat until it begins to steam, then reduce the heat to low. The milk should be hot, but not boiling.
- Temper the eggs. Scoop out about 1/2 cup of the cream mixture and while whisking the eggs constantly, pour the cream into the bowl with the egg yolks. Repeat, adding another 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture to the bowl of yolks. Then, whisking constantly, carefully pour the egg yolk mixture into the pot of cream. NOTE: This process (aka tempering) brings the egg yolks gently up to the temperature of the milk mixture without scrambling the yolks.
- Cook the custard. Swap the whisk for a spatula and stir the custard mixture constantly as it cooks (still on medium-low) until it thickens and coats the back of the spatula or wooden spoon. It’s easier to see if the custard is at the right stage with a wooden spoon. NOTE: The cocoa powder makes this a thicker consistency than a typical ice cream base. Additionally, now that the egg yolks are in the pot, keep the heat gentle and low; otherwise, you run the risk of the custard breaking (aka the eggs will scramble).
- Whisk in the tahini. Once the base has thickened and reached the custard stage, immediately remove from the heat, and whisk in the tahini.
- Strain, ice bath, and chill. Strain the base through a fine mesh strainer into a clean container. Place in an ice bath and stir until room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge overnight to chill.
Churn & Freeze
- Churn the ice cream and fold in the chocolate and dates. Stir the vanilla extract into the base, then pour the chilled base into your ice cream bowl and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Mine takes about 20-25 minutes to churn up – it should be the consistency of soft serve. While the ice cream churns, I prep the chocolate and dates. Once the ice cream is done churning, add the chopped chocolate and Medjool dates, and fold them into the ice cream using a spatula.
- Freeze, and enjoy. Scoop the ice cream into your prepared container and chill for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. Scoop and serve whenever you’re ready. For perfectly scooped ice cream, let it sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes.
Notes
*Medjool dates are super sticky and almost impossible to slice into tiny pieces at room temp, so I like to freeze the dates before chopping them up. Alternatively, you could tear the dates with your hands if they’re still too sticky to chop.
My typical plan for this ice cream is to make the custard base on day one. Then on day two, I’ll churn the chilled base in the morning, and freeze the ice cream so it’s ready just in time for post-dinner dessert! This gives the ice cream about 10 hours to freeze.