As I mentioned in my original Ninja Creami vanilla ice cream recipe, I am a vanilla girl through and through. I love the neutral creamy sweetness of vanilla and I would choose it over almost every other cream based ice cream. This is why developing a vegan vanilla ice cream that tastes like the original is so important to me. No coconut, no unique flavours, just creamy vanilla. Friends, I think I have nailed it with this Ninja Creami vegan vanilla ice cream.
Ninja Creami vegan vanilla ice cream
This vegan vanilla ice cream uses a simple list of ingredients. I’m sure you’re wondering, how can you make a creamy vegan vanilla ice cream without any coconut? The answer is Flora plant cream.
I randomly bought a pack of Flora plant cream just out of interest. I had been working on my lactose free whipping cream recipe and I wanted to see how they’d compare, taste wise. To my surprise, the plant cream tasted neutral, creamy and almost bang on. As such, I knew I needed to make some ice cream with it.
So, the recipe uses Flora plant cream, caster sugar, water and vanilla bean paste or extract. That’s it! Bar a pinch of salt for flavour complexity, these are the only ingredients you need for a delicious and creamy vegan Ninja Creami that tastes just like regular vanilla ice cream.
This recipe is dairy free, vegan and gluten free. Always read the label to be sure, but Flora plant cream in Australia doesn’t use any nuts, either.
The vegan cream
As I have mentioned, I used Flora plant cream in this recipe. This isn’t sponsored, just genuine appreciation for a great product. The plant cream here in Australia contains 30g fat per 100ml. This is roughly on par with regular thickened cream, which is generally around 35g fat per 100ml.
The Australian version uses the following ingredients: ‘Lentil milk (water, lentil Protein (1%)), vegetable oils (coconut, canola),sugar, modified corn starch, emulsifiers (sunflower lecithin, sugar esters of fatty acids, mono and diglycerides of fatty acids), stabilisers (guar gum, locust bean gum), natural flavourings, salt, colour (beta-carotene).’
If you’re based overseas, use a vegan with similar ingredients and proportions to the above for best results. Although I haven’t tested the versions overseas, they do seem to be very similar to the variety sold here in Australia.
International readers
In the UK, there are two varieties of Flora plant cream – regular and double. You want to stay as close to 30g per 100ml fat as possible, so choose the double cream variety.
In researching, I came across Elmlea brand plant cream which also has a very similar ingredients list to Flora Plant cream. Make sure you choose the 100% plant cream version, though, as there seems to be a buttermilk version with a confusing name – ‘alternative to double cream.’
In America, it seems as though there is some Flora plant cream available in a limited capacity. However, it also appears that there is a variety from Country Crock that has similar ingredients to the Flora plant cream I used. It contains 30g fat per 100ml. I couldn’t tell if Canada has Country Crock or Flora plant cream available because their supermarkets have blocked international users from browsing lol.
I couldn’t find much information on the availability of vegan cream in Europe. Flora plant cream is made in Germany but I actually couldn’t determine whether it is available for sale there. I suspect that is to do with the fact that I live in Australia and I end up getting more local search results.
Either way, make sure your cream is at least 30% fat and has a similar ingredients list to the cream I have used. I can’t guarantee results that use something different.
Tips for your Ninja Creami vegan vanilla ice cream
- This recipe uses 300g cream and 100g water. This is to ensure the balance of fat is right while achieving a neutral and creamy flavour.
- One gripe with the vegan cream is that it doesn’t suspend the vanilla in the mixture like regular cream does. I found that the vanilla bean paste sank to the bottom of the Ninja Creami tub. This can easily be rectified by using extract (which is thinner). You can also spin the mixture twice (although this does tend to soften it) or experiment with adding it just prior to processing (ie atop the frozen mixture).
- Another thing to be aware of is that the vegan cream, courtesy of the ingredients and way it is made, will start to coat your mouth with a fatty film if you eat a lot of ice cream (as I do). Nothing to be done about it, just something to be aware of. If that puts you off, make my strawberry ice cream with the vegan option instead. You can eat a whole tub in one go 🙂
- As always, I recommend freezing your mixture with the lid off. This helps prevent a hump in the middle of your frozen tub which can damage the blades of your machine.
- Too much sugar results in an ice cream that won’t solidify. I recommend keeping the sugar level as is – it’s already very sweet.
- I don’t know whether other plant creams internationally are sweet or not. Be sure to read the label of your product and potentially add a little less sugar accordingly.
- I like to use caster sugar here as the grains are finer and dissolve quickly. You can use regular white sugar but it might take longer to dissolve.
Ninja Creami vegan cookies and cream
If you want to make cookies and cream, you absolutely can. Oreos are accidentally dairy free and vegan, which means that you can simply add 2-3 crumbled Oreos after the first spin of your ice cream.
It is worth mentioning that there is chatter that American Oreos might contain bone char. This is because some American sugar manufacturers can use bone char to process sugar and make it white. If you are strictly vegan and based in America, this is something to look into further. I couldn’t find any concrete information either way.
By all accounts, Oreos sold elsewhere do not have this quandary attached as they are not made with bone char. Again, something to confirm if you are strictly vegan.
Gluten free Oreos don’t contain any animal products on the label either, so you can make gluten free vegan cookies and cream ice cream if you like.
Gluten free Oreos aren’t readily available here in Australia, but there are alternatives. The free from aisle generally has a few chocolate sandwich biscuits in most Australian supermarkets.
More Ninja Creami recipes
- High protein Ninja Creami (53g protein)
- Ninja Creami strawberry ice cream (vegan option)
- Ninja Creami chocolate ice cream
- Ninja Creami vanilla ice cream
- Ninja Creami mango kombucha ice cream
- High protein Ninja Creami recipe e-book
Ninja Creami vegan vanilla ice cream
Ingredients
- 100 g caster sugar superfine or regular white sugar
- 100 g water
- 300 g Flora plant cream (see notes)
- 1-2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract (see notes)
- Tiny pinch of salt
Instructions
- Combine the sugar and water in a medium mixing bowl. Once most of the sugar has dissolved (this should happen quickly, particularly if you use caster sugar) add the remaining ingredients and whisk to combine.
- Decant the mixture into your 470ml Ninja Creami tub. Place it in the freezer with the lid off for 24 hours.
- When you are ready to make the ice cream, place it in the machine and process on the ice cream setting. It should come out perfectly the first go, but respin if you have a chalky texture.
- Return leftovers to the freezer with the lid on.
Notes
- Flora plant cream in Australia contains the following ingredients: The Australian version uses the following ingredients: ‘Lentil milk (water, lentil Protein (1%)), vegetable oils (coconut, canola),sugar, modified corn starch, emulsifiers (sunflower lecithin, sugar esters of fatty acids, mono and diglycerides of fatty acids), stabilisers (guar gum, locust bean gum), natural flavourings, salt, colour (beta-carotene).
- It contains 31g fat per 100ml. This is the fat ratio and rough ingredients list you are looking for in other vegan plant creams. See the body of the post for alternatives I have found in other places – namely the USA and the UK.
- I have found that vanilla bean paste seems to sink to the bottom of the mixture when using vegan cream. You can experiment with using vanilla extract (which should weigh the same as the cream and hopefully suspend in the mixture. Alternatively, you could try adding the vanilla bean paste to the top of the frozen ice cream just prior to processing it.
- I have noticed (from extensive testing) that eating a large amount of this ice cream in one go will leave a bit of a coating on the roof of your mouth. This is just the nature of vegan plant cream. I’d say the solution is to eat less, but I think the solution is really just to accept it 🙂
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