I am having a lot of fun this summer with the ice cream maker. I normally make ice cream at least twice a week and the chef is always excited to find out what flavor it is because I don't think I've made the same flavor twice yet. 

Unfortunately, I haven't made any ice cream that is dairy free yet but I need to try. We decided in January to keep Cole on a dairy free diet because keeping him off of dairy has helped him to stay well. The poor thing has had horrible luck with ear infections and after the second set of tubes and his adenoids were removed, he was still getting infections. While not everyone may agree with our decision, it has worked for our child and we were tired of seeing him suffer.

This ice cream was a light, refreshing treat. It came together really easily and used one of my favorite ingredients, cream of coconut. I think I will probably reduce the amount of coconut flakes in the ice cream or replace them with toasted coconut. We didn't like the texture at first but after freezing over night did help the texture of the ice cream.

Coconut Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 cup milk (I used whole milk because I had some on hand but I think skim would work too!)
1 14oz can cream of coconut (Coco Lopez Brand, this can be found in the drink mixes section of the grocery store)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut (optional)

Directions:

1.Combine the milk and cream of coconut in the container of a food processor or blender, and mix until well blended.
2.Stir in cream and flaked coconut (optional)
3. Refrigerate mixture for approximately one hour. (I have found that my ice cream maker works better when the mixture is cold. Sometimes I have even let the mixtures sit overnight.)
4.Pour into the container of an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.