I did it… I started making fall recipes. Once I start, it’s so hard to stop thinking about all the delicious fall flavors! In my opinion, pumpkin is the most popular fall ingredient – even more so than apples (pumpkin spice latte anyone?). I chose to use it in one of my favorite desserts: ICE CREAM! This ice cream has a nice subtle pumpkin flavor, lots of cinnamon, and leaves you with a warm spiced flavor.
And it’s vegan! But, once again, I’m not making it a highlight of the recipe, just a pleasant surprise. Enjoy sharing this frozen treat with your ice cream loving friends – vegan or not.
This is different than most vegan ice cream recipes. The base isn’t made from coconut milk! Instead it’s made from cashews. I’ll admit, I thought it sounded weird at first, but it’s no different than having almond or cashew milk. We’re just using it to make a delicious frozen dessert! Having made both vegan and dairy ice cream, this was the easiest ice cream I’ve made. EVER. You dump everything in a blender and puree until smooth, then churn in your ice cream maker. So easy! It’s the perfect soft-serve consistency right out of the ice cream maker. The ice cream cone photo was taken right after churning the ice cream. Turns out, it’s quite difficult to hold an ice cream cone steady while snapping an artsy photo.
As I mentioned before, I made this ice cream for my dad’s (belated) birthday. He always requests either a coconut or pumpkin cake. So why did I make him ice cream? Well, Thursday, I’ll be using this ice cream to make an ice cream cake! I didn’t want to overwhelm everyone with an insanely long recipe, so I’m splitting it up into two days.
I usually like a crunch in my ice cream, but since I knew I was making it into a cake I didn’t use any mix-ins. But, I’d highly recommend adding pecans, marshmallow, or graham cracker crumbs.
If you have strong self-discipline, save some for Thursday’s ice cream cake recipe!
Pumpkin Cinnamon Ice Cream

Yield: makes about 1 quart of ice cream |
Fall spiced (vegan) ice cream with cinnamon and just the right amount of pumpkin flavor.
You'll Need...
- 1 1/2 cup cashews, soaked in water for 6 HOURS
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
- Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender until pureed.
- Place in your ice cream maker and churn until frozen and just starting to pull away from the sides (see photo number 3), about 20 - 25 minutes.
- Serve as soft-serve, or freeze in freezer 4 hours until hard.
Additional Notes
images and text © North Coast Eats
adapted from Minimalist Baker
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