Maple-Bourbon Ice Cream

Here is a quick way to make gourmet vegan ice cream at home, without pulling out the ice cream machine.  Start with your favorite non-dairy vanilla ice cream, and simply stir in the remaining ingredients before refreezing.  It's a perfect summer afternoon project.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups low-fat vanilla non-dairy ice cream
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Place a large bowl in the freezer to chill.  While the bowl chills, let the ice cream soften to room temperature.

Note: I used the vanilla from Soy Delicious, which only needs about 20 minutes to soften.  If you are using a rice-, coconut-, or almond-milk based ice cream, they may soften faster or slower than the soy. 

2. Place the softened ice cream in the chilled bowl.  Use a rubber spatula to stir in the maple syrup, bourbon, and cinnamon, until combined - don't worry if the mixture seems watery at this point.  In fact, because you are adding liquid to the softened ice cream, you're going to lose about a cup in volume, and wind up with 3 cups of final product instead of 4.

3. Spoon the mixture into a freezer-safe container; cover, and re-freeze to desired consistency.  Be aware that the mixture will probably need at least 4 hours to firm up again, due to the addition of alcohol, but if you'd like to eat it sooner, it will have a consistency closer to soft serve:

Nutrition Info:
6 servings (1/2 cup), Calories 193

Tasting Notes:
Who knew - vanilla, bourbon, and maple syrup combine to taste like eggnog ice cream!  My only complaint is that the texture stayed soft even after 8 hours back in the freezer, but it firmed up overnight.  Still, delicious.

Update: sprinkle the ice cream with a little grated lemon rind, for a "Cold Toddy" sundae that tastes like a chilled version of the hot beverage.

Rating:
4