Paleo dairy-free Dulce de Leche Ice Cream made with coconut milk and sweetened with pure maple syrup. This rich, caramel dessert recipe is loaded with flavor!
Dulce de leche ice cream and I have a sultry history.
Back when I had an obsession with Häagen-Dazs Dulce de Leche ice cream.
It was my every-Friday-night affair.
I didn’t even know what dulce de leche was (just that it tasted like buttery bliss on my tongue buds) until I became best friends with a girl from Bolivia, and she explained the whole thing to me.
To summarize: dulce de leche (or manjar, doce de leite, cajeta, courtada, confiture de lait, HaPå, or варёная сгущёнка) is a big.deal.
So lettuce discuss.
What is Dulce de Leche?
It may as well be a universal language, as many countries around the world have their own take on it. Made by slow cooking milk and sugar (or sweetened condensed milk or coconut milk depending on the country), our equivalent of dulce de leche is homemade caramel.
In case you’re unfamiliar, the phrase dulce de leche means “candy (sweet) of the (made from) milk.”
Many Central and South American countries have their own take on dulce de leche, as does Portugal and Spain…and – well – the rest of the world.
For instance, in Chile and Mexico, this caramel substance is referred to as “manjar,” and it has a bit of a vanilla flavor to it.
Cubans tend to make it using curdled milk and call it courtada.
In the Dominican Republic, this treat is more of a fudge than a sauce, and has cinnamon added to it.
Puerto Ricans sometimes make dulce de leche with coconut milk, just like we’ve done here today.
A very similar rendition of dulce de leche is popular in France, Norway, Russia, and many other countries worldwide.
Perhaps my favorite part about all this, other than the fact that each nation has its own caramel dialect, is the fact that it is customary in many countries to spread this delight on toast and eat it for breakfast.
I went to South America twice a number of years ago, spending a total of three months in Chile and Peru. Each morning, I ate fresh fruit with yogurt and toast with butter and dulce de leche (or manjar as Chileans call it).
I even brought back bags of the stuff, which lasted be approximately 8.7 seconds when I got home. A full-tilt caramel addiction is a tough one to kick!
So this dairy-free dulce de leche ice cream.
You basically make a batch of vanilla bean coconut milk ice cream (sweetened with pure maple syrup or dates) and then pour in nearly an entire batch of homemade sugar-free Paleo Salted Caramel.
While the end result does not taste exactly like the store-bought version, you are left with a sweet, creamy, buttery dessert that makes your face hole go “ah yeah!”
Just be sure to save a smidge of the caramel sauce for serving the ice cream, because: wow!
And that is all, folks.
All it takes is some whisking and churning to make this copy cat dulce de leche coconut milk ice cream that happens to be refined sugar-free.
You can easily make it vegan by leaving the butter out of the caramel.
And now I’m curious to know: when was the last time you dulce de leche-ed??
If you love ice cream recipes made with coconut milk, be sure to check out my Paleo Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, Paleo Coffee Ice Cream, and my Strawberry Coconut Milk Popsicles.
Let the caramel addiction reign!
Dulce de Leche Ice Cream (Paleo)
Ingredients
- 1 batch Paleo Salted Caramel divided
- 1 14- ounce full-fat canned coconut milk*
- 2/3 cup coconut cream
- 2/3 cup pure maple syrup to taste*
- 2 vanilla beans scraped**
- 1 tablespoon tapioca flour* optional
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Place your ice cream maker's bowl in the freezer overnight.
- Prepare a batch of paleo salted caramel according to recipe instructions. Allow the caramel to chill in the refrigerator until completely cold.
- Add all of the ingredients (except for the caramel!) to a blender and blend until completely smooth.
- Set up your ice cream maker, then turn it on. Pour the ice cream base into the ice cream maker while it is slowly churning. Allow ice cream to churn until very thick, then add half of the caramel. Note: you may need to help stir the caramel into the ice cream using a spoon. Keep churning the ice cream until it thickens back up and the ice cream maker begins to bog down.
- Transfer ice cream to a freezer-safe container. Drizzle half of the remaining caramel (dulce de leche) over the ice cream (reserving the remaining caramel for serving). Use a spoon to swirl caramel into the ice cream.
- Either serve ice cream immediately for a soft serve-like consistency or cover and place in the refrigerator until frozen, about 2 hours.
- When ready to serve, allow ice cream to thaw 10 to 15 minutes before scooping and serving with remaining caramel sauce.
Stephie’s description of dulce de leche to me when asked: Momma, it’s condensed milk on crack. Yep, that pretty well sums it up. Excuse me while I go make some of this for dessert. I don’t think I can share.
These photos are making my mouth to water, nom nom. And ICE CREAM!! I need to step up my game in the ice cream making department :D.
The caramel addiction is going to be reigning ALL over the place with this glorious, frosty treat! I seriously can’t believe that this is paleo and so creamy, dreamy and GAH, I just want to shovel it into my face hole already! Pinned!
Oh my. This looks absolutely sinful, but I love that it really isn’t! So delicious.
This looks absolutely AH-MAZING!! You should really come to Colorado and make some for me. 🙂
That looks awesome! Love that it’s dairy free too, even better. I agree, dulce de leche is just amazing–goes well on pretty much any dessert! 😀
Reciepe impresionante . I remember the Dulce de Leche era. Sweet memories. I am looking forward to making your version, without the sugars and heavy cream!
This post was so educational! I had no idea there were so many different versions of dulce de leche! And how cool that you were in Chile and Peru for 3 months! Sounds like an incredible experience. I would totally be up for eating some of that toast too. YUM.
This ice cream looks way better than any sugary version you can get at the store. Definitely worth a little whisking and churning!!
Oh wow! This is a favorite of my mother’s and the photos are stunning. Pinning 🙂
Who doesn’t love Ice cream? I will admit I try to avoid it but this recipe just made my little heart jump for joy. Love it:)
I once had a love affair with that Haagen Dazs flavor also!!! It’s dangerous stuff. Love that this is made from so many quality ingredients…so I don’t need to feel bad about having quadruple scoops, right?!
Oh creamy paleo dulce de leche ice cream, you’ve turned my hectic, out of control work day into a glorious evening!
Hi! I loved this post … I’m chilean and I’m always aware with eating healthy … but when it comes to manjar I can’t resist haha Very good variation
OMG. Please introduce me to the ice cream’s brother so I too can be in on this sultry relationship. What a dream boat!!!
Paleo salted caramel?? Not sure how I missed that. Dulce de leche is my jam (in both senses of the word!) and this looks like perfection.
OMG OMG OMG I am overwhelmed by the depth of deliciousness in this ice cream-that dulce de leche looks irresistible and that ice cream is just perfection!
This is was the first time I’ve ever made homemade ice cream. I’m allergic to dairy and sunflower and haven’t found any at a store that I can have. This was an amazing treat for this pregnant Momma!!! Thanks 🙂
You got it! I’m so happy you enjoy the ice cream, Jackie! And huge congratulations on the addition to your family! 😀