Vegan Gluten Free Ice Cream (Chunky Monkey)

Chunky Monkey, Vegan Gluten Free Ice Cream

Today we are making a Vegan Gluten Free Ice Cream recipe – Chunky Monkey flavor! I’ve seen chunky monkey oatmeal, chunky monkey cookies, milkshakes, ice cream, and many other desserts with this flavor combination. When I first heard it, the idea of “chunky monkey” seemed like an American dessert to me – bananas, chocolate, walnuts and occasionally peanut butter, all flavors we find in desserts here. And all great flavors at that, wrapped into one!

As it turned out, it did originate from America. Ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s created this iconic ice cream flavor as one of their many creative ideas. Since then, you may have noticed it being used as a flavor combo in many desserts (cue a chunky monkey chia pudding).

So why did I lead with that bit about the classic B&J flavor? Well, I’m remaking it into an oh-so-healthy version for this recipe. It works perfectly too, because they use a banana ice cream base, and I use real frozen bananas (aka, called “nice cream”) which are a game changer!

Some people can really taste the strong banana undertone with frozen banana ice cream, but that’s actually sort of the point here. Hint: if you hate bananas, you might want to try this, then re-evaluate your decision for hating on bananas?! Or, if you’re like me, bananas for days actually gets you leaping with excitement! *Insert picture of my freezer here. There are about 50 frozen bananas in there. Not once have I ever thrown away a browning banana!

My grandma even brought over a few more bags of spotty bananas (cue about 50 more) so I could toss them into my freezer. Much to the dismay of my parents for taking up the freezer space with all these bananas that didn’t look like they were going to be used … until now!

Chunky Monkey, Vegan Gluten Free Ice Cream

Doesn’t ice cream not even have gluten to begin with? That’s what I thought too. But actually, ice cream can be made with sweeteners, thickeners and colorings that are gluten-derived. For example, barley malt syrup is an ingredient that sweetens ice cream, but it is derived from a gluten source. This is why companies may have certified gluten-free flavors versus the general consumer possibly thinking ice cream is normally all gluten-free to begin with.

For those with a slight gluten sensitivity or full Celiac disease, even cross-contamination with other products that a company makes in the same factory that do contain gluten, even if the ice cream doesn’t have gluten-containing ingredients, can trigger a reaction. On top of that, store-bought regular or gluten-free ice cream does have other ingredients such as guar gum, cane sugar, locust bean gum, natural flavors and other ingredients that aren’t necessarily contributing to anything healthy other than adding sugar and keeping it shelf stable.

This recipe is the best ice cream because it trumps all of these store-bought options and makes it the best budget-friendly, customizable, based on healthy ingredients ice cream at home!

Why You’ll Love This Vegan Gluten Free Ice Cream

One Ingredient Ice Cream Base: This recipe uses some of the best flavors: banana, chocolate, nutty walnuts and peanut butter! It’s also free of many top allergens, including dairy, soy and refined sugar. The ice cream base is all raw, has no added sugar, has no ice cream maker required and uses just one item on the ingredient list – frozen bananas!

Frozen bananas really do make for such a versatile ice cream base. I’ve tried so many delicious flavors with this one ingredient, from mint chocolate chip (fresh mint for a mint flavor), matcha, cherry garcia, fudgy chocolate (raw cocoa powder for that dark chocolate flavor!), basic vanilla ice cream, chocolate chip cookie dough (crumble homemade chocolate chip cookies into your ice cream) and so many more!

Substitutions

There aren’t many substitutions I’d make here, because the flavor of chunky monkey should come from a base of banana ice cream. The walnuts and chocolate are also there as part of the flavor, so it wouldn’t be the same to replace them! HOWEVER! Allergies do exist, and I know not everyone looooves walnuts or peanut butter.

Milk: Use dairy-free milk such as oat milk, soy milk, almond milk or even water. You just need a bit to help it blend. Don’t add more than a tablespoon in the beginning, because you don’t want it to turn into a smoothie.

Unless you have a super high speed blender, you’ll want to let the bananas thaw for 10-15 minutes out of the freezer (and then you can omit the milk). Otherwise, use the bananas straight out of the freezer and add that splash of milk.

Sweetener: Feel free to add any type of sweetener into this, if you find that you need more sugar in it. I would blend in some super soft dates, or 100% pure maple syrup. I didn’t need any more sugar in mine though, because the bananas and chocolate chips were sweet enough.

Vanilla: For flavor, but it can be omitted if desired.

Substitutions: Add-Ins

Walnuts: Sub in a different nut, although *sigh* real chunky monkey cannot exist without our beloved walnut.

Peanut Butter: MONKEYS NEED PEANUT BUTTER! Alas, if you hate PB or have a nut allergy, use any other nut or seed butter. But be warned – flavors will change completely depending on the type used. You can try almond butter, cashew butter, pecan butter, walnut butter, hazelnut butter, tahini … the list goes on. You also don’t have to drizzle more PB on top, but it adds that delicious ~ice cream topping~ touch.

When choosing peanut butter, the best type to use is the one that only contains one ingredient – peanuts! Check the ingredient label before buying.

Chocolate: Choose a chocolate brand that uses natural sugars to avoid refined sugar in this recipe. There are different brands of chocolates in the natural aisle of the grocery store or in a health food store. You can also use cacao nibs, which is like a raw chocolate chip.

Vegan Gluten Free Ice Cream Notes

• If you’re a fan of caramel sauce, use coconut milk with coconut sugar to make homemade caramel, such as the one used in this Caramel Macchiato recipe. Then drizzle it all over the bowl before eating!
• The perfect time to freeze your bananas for ice cream is when they are getting brown and spotty, but not too brown.

More Plant-Based Ice Cream Recipes You’ll Love

Acai Bowl

Mocha Nutella Ice Cream

Strawberry Kiwi Sorbet

Pink Pitaya Ice Cream

Chocolate Sorbet

Banana Mango Ice Cream

If you make this Chunky Monkey Vegan Gluten Free Ice Cream, then leave a comment and star rating! Don’t forget to tag your photos @peanut_palate on Instagram. Enjoy!