Homemade Coconut Milk Ice Cream

One of the best small appliance purchases I ever made was that of my ice cream maker. It was not expensive and is not fancy, but it sure does the trick. The experimenting to be done with vegan ice cream is endless. From the ice cream base: soy milk, hemp milk, coconut milk, rice milk, almond milk, etc... to the add ins: chocolate, (duh), peanut butter, cookies, cookie dough, fruit, spices, etc... First, however it is of utmost importance to nail a good vanilla ice cream to build from. And this is mine. I use a combination of 1 can of light coconut milk, and one can of regular coconut milk. With that, I use my vitamix blender to combine the milks with agave nectar, soy lecithin (a soy product that you can get in vitamin stores that is good for brain function, and also works to help bind non-dairy ice cream without eggs) and I use some vanilla extract, along with the seeds of one fresh vanilla bean.
From there, I refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes, then transfer to my ice cream maker. 30 minutes or so later, you have the most delicious homemade ice cream that does not compare to anything you buy in the store.