Roasted Cashew Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Roasted Cashew Salted Caramel Ice Cream

This roasted cashew and salted caramel ice cream is the perfect complement to warm summer nights and great for serving with company. The base of roasted cashews blended with bananas gives the ice cream a luxuriously creamy texture and toasted caramel flavor. Plenty of thick, salted caramel globs are swirled throughout for a bit of caramel with every bite!

Flavor Notes

banana | candied nuts | salted caramel

Pairing Suggestions

summer nights | good company | waffle cones

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Why I Love This Recipe

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it doesn’t require an ice cream maker. All you’ll need is a high speed blender and FIVE ingredients! Yep, that’s including the salt.

Another great thing about this roasted cashew salted caramel ice cream is that it’s incredibly healthy – seriously! There’s no added sugars, it’s 100% vegan, plus you’re getting plenty of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and healthy fats with every scoop. 

How I Developed This Recipe

I set out to make this recipe because I wanted to find a way to make a creamy vegan ice cream without all the coconut milk. Coconut is loaded with saturated fats whereas cashews have a better ratio of unsaturated fats (the “good” ones).

Bananas are a great way to bring volume to the ice cream base without adding too many extra calories. The other benefit of bananas in the base is that they’re naturally sweet, allowing this recipe to be refined-sugar-free! Make sure to use brown bananas – the riper, the better. As if that wasn’t enough, they’re also bringing plenty of fiber and a healthy dose of potassium, too.

The caramel swirls are almost more important to me than the base. I wanted to be sure to get these right, and I learned that simplicity is often best. All you need for the salted caramel swirls are soaked dates, some soaking water, and sea salt. Let those ingredients shine!

Ingredients For Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Roasted Cashews: roasting the cashews brings out their deep, rich caramel undertones and I truly believe it’s what makes this ice cream so addictive. 

Bananas: these are bringing volume, texture, and natural sweetness to the ice cream base. 

Medjool Dates: softened blended dates are unbelievably delicious, thick, and sweet. Exactly the combination we need for our caramel swirls! Grab a box here.

Sea Salt: Maldon flaked sea salt works best in this recipe, I would avoid the super big crystals.

Vanilla: optional but a great addition to bring out the sweetness of the bananas in the ice cream base.

Making the Salted Caramel

I find it’s easier to make this recipe by starting with the caramel. You’ll need a blender for this step and to make the base, but the base is time and temperature sensitive, so you’re better off blending the caramel first. 

If your dates are dry and hard, definitely soak them in a warm water bath first. Give them about 10 to 15 minutes to moisten up. Even if your dates are relatively squishy, you’ll probably be better off soaking them just in case. This step helps speed up the blending process, too. 

Blend the soaked dates in a food processor along with a couple tablespoons of the soaking water. Once they’ve formed a smooth paste, toss in the sea salt and pulse a couple more times.  

Making the Roasted Cashew Ice Cream Base

Even for recipes like this one that don’t use an ice cream maker, there’s a fair bit of waiting involved. We need to freeze the bananas before blending, which obviously takes time and planning. That’s why I find this is a great recipe for when you know you’re having guests over – you can make it well in advance, it’s easy to store, and who doesn’t love ice cream?

Roasting your cashews is optional but HIGHLY recommended. It’ll only take about 10 minutes for them to get toasty and aromatic in the oven, and they’re actually easier to blend up when they’re still warm. 

To make the base, add the frozen bananas to the blender right on top of the roasted cashew butter. Toss in the vanilla and a pinch of salt, then blend until nice and creamy. 

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Roasted Cashew Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Oven roasted cashews give this ice cream a creamy and flavorful base. It's filled with plenty of salted caramel swirls and packed with fiber, potassium and

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Chill Time8 hours hrs

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: dairy-free, desserts, gluten free, no coconut, vegan, vegetarian

Servings: 8

Calories: 306.8kcal

Equipment

• 1 9" loaf pan
• 1 Food processor or high speed blender

Ingredients

Ice Cream Base

• 1 ¼ cup whole cashews * see recipe notes for substitutions
• 7 bananas ~120g each
• 1 tsp vanilla
• pinch of salt

Salted Caramel Swirls

• 16 pitted medjool dates ~300g total
• 1 tsp flaked sea salt
• 1-3 tbsp water

Instructions

Roast the cashews

• Preheat the oven to 350℉
• Add the cashews to a baking sheet
• Roast for 10 – 12 minutes until fragrant and darkened. Rotate the baking sheet halfway through

Salted Caramel

• Add the pitted dates to a bowl and cover with hot water. Let soak for 10-15 minutes until soft.
• Add the soaked dates to a high speed blender or food processor along with 1 tablespoon of their soaking water and blend until a smooth paste forms. Add an extra tablespoon or two if the mixture looks too thick.
• Add the flaked sea salt and pulse a couple more times to incorporate
• Remove the caramel from the blender and set aside

Roasted Cashew Ice Cream Base

• Add the roasted cashews to the high speed blender or food processor (clean out the caramel first).
• Blend the cashews until they resembe a smooth butter. This will take 5+ minutes.
• Add the frozen bananas and blend to incorporate.
• Once smooth, add in a pinch of sea salt and vanilla.

Assembly

• Using a 9x5x3 loaf pan, pour ⅓ of the ice cream base into the bottom⅓
• With two spoons, drop dollops of the date caramel on top of the base, using about ⅓ of the caramel. Pull apart some of the globs and stretch them into ribbons.
• Repeat two more times, finishing with a layer of the caramel on top
• Cover the pan tightly and freeze until set, about 6-8 hours

Serving

• Let the ice cream thaw for 5 – 10 minutes at room temperature before scooping
• Serve in bowls or with waffle cones. An extra pinch of salt to top is optional but highly recommended!

Notes

* if using another nut, measure 1 1/4 cups and roast before blending into a nut butter. If using cashew butter or another nut butter, you only need 3/4 cup of the butter (the nuts loose volume when blended). Same goes for substituting with fat from a can of coconut milk – measure out 3/4 cups. 

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Serving size = 1/8 batch

Did you try this recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments!