4 Ingredient Ice Cream Bites (No Flour, Eggs, Refined Sugar, Dairy, Butter or Oil)
These ice cream bites are rich and creamy, but they are made with healthier ingredients and don’t require any special tools. They only need 4 ingredients and don’t require any flour, eggs, dairy, refined sugar, butter or oil.
These creamy ice cream bites are naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free. Even though they are made with healthier ingredients, they still taste like rich, creamy frozen treats.
Ingredients
- Cashews
- Maple syrup
- Coconut cream
- Dark chocolate
Cashews: Raw cashews are blended to help create a very creamy base for these ice cream bars. Cashews are the best nut for blending completely smooth due to their high fat content. This recipe does not work as well with other type of nuts like almonds. If you do need a substitute for cashews, I have also made this with macadamia nuts.
Maple syrup: The ice cream is sweetened with maple syrup. You can also use honey instead of maple syrup.
Coconut cream: Coconut cream keeps the ice cream creamy and rich. Make sure you used canned coconut cream and not canned coconut milk.
Dark chocolate: This recipe uses dark chocolate chips, sometimes referred to as bittersweet chocolate chips. You can also use semisweet or milk chocolate if you prefer. The ice cream bites are sandwiched between two thin layers of melted chocolate. If you need this dessert to be dairy-free, make sure to use dairy-free chocolate. If you need the dessert to be refined sugar-free, make sure to use a refined sugar-free chocolate such as chocolate chips sweetened with coconut sugar or date sugar.
How to Make Healthier Ice Cream Bites
The cashews are soaked in boiling water for one hour.
Melt half of the chocolate chips until smooth. Pour it into your prepared loaf pan. Spread it out so that it evenly covers the bottom. Refrigerate it for about 10 minutes or until firm.
Add cashews, coconut cream, and maple syrup to a blender and blend until fully smooth. Pour the mixture over the chocolate layer. Freeze until set (about 4-6 hours).
Melt the remaining chocolate and spread it over the ice cream layer. Return the ice cream to the freezer until the top chocolate layer is set. You can also garnish the top with coarse salt if desired. Once set, cut the ice cream bites with a large sharp knife.
Expert Tips
- You can also use a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan but the ice cream filling will not be as thick.
- These ice cream bites are very rich, so I recommend cutting them into small bites, but you can cut them into larger squares to make them more like classic ice cream bars or ice cream sandwiches.
- Soaking the cashews helps to soften them and makes it easier for them to blend fully smooth.
More Ice Cream Recipes
- 4 Ingredient Healthier Chocolate Ice Cream
- 2 Ingredient Watermelon Ice Cream
- 2 Ingredient No Churn Ice Cream
- 2 Ingredient Mochi Ice Cream
4 Ingredient Ice Cream Bites
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125g) raw cashews
- 3/4 cup (117g) dark chocolate chips, divided, see note before starting
- 1/2 cup (4 fl oz/118ml) maple syrup
- 1 cup (246g) coconut cream, see note
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Let soak for 1 hour. Then drain the water off the cashews.
- Lightly grease and line an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides for easy removal later.
- Add half of the chocolate chips to a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between with a spatula, until the chocolate is completely smooth and melted.
- Spread the melted chocolate thinly across the bottom of the prepared loaf pan. You do not need to use all of the chocolate. You just want a thin layer evenly across. I had a little leftover. Place the pan into the fridge for about 10 minutes or until the chocolate layer is just set.
- Meanwhile, add the drained cashews, syrup and coconut cream to a high powered blender and blend until completely smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender as needed.
- Pour the mixture over the chilled chocolate layer. Place the loaf pan into the freezer until the ice cream layer is set, about 4-6 hours. When the ice cream is set, it should be firm but it still has a little bit of give.
- Once the ice cream is set, melt the remaining chocolate using the same method as step 3. Spread the chocolate thinly and evenly across the ice cream layer. You do not need to use all of the chocolate-- you just want to make sure the ice cream is covered in an even layer of chocolate. You can also garnish with coarse salt if desired. Return the loaf pan back into the freezer until the chocolate is set.
- Once the bars are set, remove them from the loaf pan and cut them with a large sharp knife. You can cut them into larger squares like traditional ice cream bars (about 8 bars) or cut them into small bites (about 16-20 bites). Serve immediately or store in an airtight freezer-safe container in the freezer.
Notes
- Coconut cream note: 1 (13.5fl oz) can of coconut cream is enough for 1 cup of coconut cream (with some leftover). When measuring the coconut cream, make sure to only scoop out the solid white part. I used Whole Foods coconut cream.*Â
- Chocolate chips note: You can use any type of chocolate chips. I like using dark bittersweet chocolate chips with around 60-65% cocoa. If you need the cookies to be dairy-free, make sure to choose dairy-free chocolate chips. If you need these to be refined sugar-free, make sure to use chocolate sweetened with unrefined sugar such as coconut sugar, maple sugar, date sugar, or a sugar substitute. I like using Hu dark chocolate chips.*
- *These product links are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
- The ice cream bites are very rich so I do recommend cutting them into small, bite-sized pieces, about 16-20 pieces. You can also cut them into 8 squares for larger ice cream sandwiches.
No sugar? Maple Syrup is sugar.
We don’t say these are no sugar. We state that these are made without refined sugar. Maple syrup is classified as an unrefined sugar.
Can I use walnuts.instead of cashews?
Walnuts may work but you would need to use blanched walnuts (no skin). We didn’t test with walnuts because of this. The skin on the walnuts would prevent a very smooth puree and would also add a little bit of bitterness. Cashews work really well because they are high in fat, don’t have that skin, and also are a more starchy nut. Walnuts also have a lot of fat but are less starchy so the texture may not be as creamy.