Danielle Walker is quickly becoming one of my favorite people: transforming her life and saving it through food. A true testament to the power of food as medicine. Read her story about her own health transformation here. The author of the popular blog, Against All Grain, Danielle has now come out with a 150+ recipe book of the same name – and at first glance all I can say is: WOW.
Every page looks like a painting – a perfect picture capturing a homey sense of comfort and delicious-looking foods. If I could, I’d jump into the photos and eat my way out of each and every page :) She’s got a recipe for just about anything you’d want from your pre-paleo plate. Waffles? Got it. Sandwich bread? Yep, it’s in there. Pies? Ohhhhh yes. You know how big of a dessert fan I am and her dessert section is phenomenal.
But treats and cheats aren’t the only thing valuable in the book. Danielle’s got all the bases covered here – from the basics like sauces & almond milk, to main courses and sides that bring the meat to the table. I personally love the “For the Kid in All of Us” section including such faves as fruit roll-ups and crispy chicken tenders. We should never lose the kid in us.
What’s great about Against All Grain is how accessible this book is to people outside the Paleo community. Gluten-free folks will love it, and I guarantee if you cook something out of this book for a grain-eater, they’ll love you and never know it was Paleo. I cannot tell you enough how beautiful this book is – I might just leave it on my coffee table it’s that good-lookin.
Against All Grain is available now, and Danielle was kind enough to share her recipe for – wait for it – MINT CHIP ICE CREAM. Yes, you heard me right!
Against All Grain - Mint Chip Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 can full fat coconut milk
- 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 2 cups cold almond milk
- 3/4 tsp peppermint extract
- 1/3 cup diced avocado
- 1 tbs coconut oil melted
- 10 drops liquid chlorophyll for coloring optional
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chopped
Instructions
- Place the coconut milk and mint leaves in a saucepan over medium-high heat for 10 minutes
- Place the warm coconut milk, mint, and honey in a bowl and mix until the honey has dissolved. Stir in the almond milk and peppermint extract. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
- Pour the mixture into a blender and add the avocado, coconut oil, and coloring if desired. Blend until smooth.
- Place mixture in an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions until the mixture has reached a soft serve consistency.
- Stir the chocolate in by hand.
- Spoon the ice cream into an airtight container on top and freeze until firm, about 2 hours.
- Serve immediately, or slightly defrost the ice cream in the refrigerator for 1 hour for later serving.
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Making this for the first time. Can I use peppermint oil instead of extract?
Alright, just bought an ice cream maker via Amazon, should be here on Friday, can’t wait to try it out on the weekend!
Let me know how you like the ice cream!
Can you make this recipe if you do not have an ice cream maker? After blending it, just put in the freezer?
You sure can
Hi George,
I have made this twice before…
the first time i did not have an ice cream maker so i froze it and even though it came out slushy like, it still tasted delicious. i omitted avocado and also substituted coconut milk for almond milk because that was all i had.
the second time i made it, i used the same ingredients as above EXCEPT…i bought an ice cream maker. I read some of the posts and realized “okay maybe the almond milk as a substitute isn’t a good idea for fat so i’ll add some heavy cream”. It tasted like Sh!t. I am not sure what happened.
Today, i am making it the same way i made it the first time including not using coconut milk and using almond milk instead and this time i will use the ice cream maker. I hope it comes out delicious.
Any advice??
-mina
There’s too much water in almond milk to give it the same mouthfeel as “real” ice cream, so it makes sense that it came out slushy but still tasting good. The avocado and coconut milkfat combine as an emulsifier (much like the gums commercial brands use). Heavy cream recipes use eggs to act as a similar binding ingredient, so it also makes sense that since this is an eggless recipe that that sub didn’t work for you either.
I love creative substitutions, but why not give the recipe a shot as written now that you have an ice cream maker? :)
LOVE your response, but i didnt try the recipe exatly becasue it is very hard to find the ingredients above…you would think trader joes has them and everything but they dont :(
Are you sure this only makes 4 servings? I did a rough analysis and it’s a whopping 751 calories for a quarter of the recipe. If you divide it into 8 to get a 150g+ serving (more like a typical 1/2 cup serving) it’s still super heavy compared to normal full-fat ice cream. Does that seem right?
Still dying to try it, though..
http://caloriecount.about.com/mint-chip-ice-cream-paleo-recipe-r1444254
Yes it is because of the coconut and I also do not count calories. Those cals are mainly from amazing fat for you
You’re right – I’d just have to watch my serving size so I don’t end up shaped like a coconut.
Do it
So I have to say the flavor is absolutely amazing, though mine came out more like a shaved ice than ice cream. I left it in the ice cream maker for three hours and it’s been in the freezer for 3 and it’s still not even all the way frozen. Still amazing, though I was wondering if you knew how many calories a cup is of it is. I know it might differ depending on which products you use, but a ball park figure would be nice.
Carolyn I don’t calculate any nutrition information, you can at myfitnesspal.com or fitday.com
I just tried to make this is and it so far is a fail..sort of. The flavor is awesome, but the consistency is watery. It was in the ice cream maker for 35 minutes and the freezer for two hours…. I used Goya coconut milk which has 9 g fat/serving…. not enough fat? I also made my own almond milk using 1C almonds to 3C water. Too much water? Any suggestions? I need to have this perfect for dessert tomorrow night!
It sounds like too much water, maybe only use the fat from the can of coconut milk and not the water
Hi – OK that worked better. I happened to have almost a full can in the fridge that was easy to separate most of the fat out. It wasn’t a lot but I heated it with the mint anyway over a lower heat for probably less than 10 minutes. This came out much better. I was going to try and get more coconut fat in there later after it cooled (and another can spent some time in the fridge) but this version came out just fine without having to worry about that. I wonder if the coconut milk is even necessary? This recipe is very different from the one she posted on her site in 2011 that doesn’t include coconut milk at all. Either way, it was really yummy. I used Enjoy Life mini chips for the chocolate :)
I really love ice cream…even in winter :) so this one is a real treat coz I can make as much as I want, when I want. Thanks!
I love ice cream, even in winter so this is a treat; a recipe I actually can make easily myself. Thanks!
Your welcome
i can’t just follow a recipe- so added some spearmint and left out avocado (forgot it), replaced almond milk, and skipped mint leaves (i didn’t have time to walk to the farm to pick some) and it was AWESOME.
so making this again! i ate real ice cream over the weekend, and my poor nursing baby doesn’t like dairy. so this is definitely a new base for me. light, fluffy, creamy, and another excuse to eat more coconut oil!
Mint chip is my favorite kind of ice cream! I wish I had an ice cream maker. For now, I’ll have to stick with Edy’s Slow Churned for a somewhat healthy alternative.
Just made the Mint Chip Ice cream! Omitted the Avo because we couldn’t find one that wasn’t hard as a rock. Set up nice in the ice cream maker. Grated Trader Joes 70% Cacao and let me tell you, this is the best paleo ice cream I have made yet! Double yum! Mint from the garden too! Loved it!
That sounds amazing, want to share?
I like this ice cream and my son LOVED this ice cream. We both reported a tiny bit of aftertaste from the avocados – didn’t bother my son though as he loves avocados. IN fact I”m going to use this same ice cream base to make chocolate chocolate mint ice cream today! :-)
I needed a treat – thanks, George and Danielle!
I needed a treat – thanks, George and Danielle!
Love mint chip ice cream. Top of my todo list as soon as my Whole30 is done in 7 days… But I’m not counting or anything ;)
Looks amazing! Thank you both for sharing. I’ve seen other bloggers adding grass-fed gelatin to ice cream with no eggs, to improve texture. I wonder if that would work here. Either way, Mint Chip ice cream is a convincing reason to buy the book!
oh and George BEAUTIFUL photo!
I’m intrigued by the idea of gelatin to replace eggs, since I Have to be egg free. I”ll have to search for some of these bloggers you mentioned!
If only I weren’t Whole-30ing right now.. this is my all-time favorite ice cream flavor!
If you don’t have an ice cream maker the trick is to pull it out of the freezer every 15-30 minutes and re-stir it, otherwise it will freeze to hard to spoon out and eat! Stirring adds air into the mix which softens it up some. Just keep doing that until it’s all the way frozen and if it freezes too hard you can always thaw it out some, remix and throw it back in the freezer to do over.
Holy crap, my absolute favorite ice cream ever! I CANNOT wait to make this!!!!
I hope you love it
Any substitutions for almond milk? My son has nut allergy.
Probably coconut milk
This recipe has got me quiet excited!
Any suggestions for those who don’t have an ice cream maker?
I am pretty sure you can make it and then just freeze it in a container
Is there a way to do this without an ice cream maker? I don’t have one but this looks delish!
I am pretty sure you can just freeze it after mixing