By Candice Walker on January 19, 2019 (Last updated June 26, 2023) This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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Indulge in the delightful simplicity of homemade vanilla date ice cream! This easy-to-make treat combines heavenly vanilla with the natural sweetness of dates. With just a few ingredients, you can have a velvety-smooth ice cream that will satisfy your cravings. Even better, there are no added sugars
🌟Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Naturally sweet (No added sugar) – The Medjool dates in this recipe are the hero. Medjool dates are deliciously sweet and chewy fruits with a caramel-like flavor and give plenty of sweet goodness to the ice cream. And you can easily turn it into this date milkshake.
Successfully make ice cream at home – This thorough step-by-step guide will help you produce the best ice cream right at home. Some of my other favorite flavors are matcha ice cream and my number one favorite, hojicha gelato.
Perfect, creamy texture – This ice cream has a perfect creamy texture, and the amount of dates in this recipe helps achieve that texture. You can change the ratio of cream to milk to get more of a thick gelato consistency if you like!
🧾Ingredients in This Recipe
Egg yolks – These need to be separated from the egg whites.
Medjool dates – These fruits act as the natural sweetener in the ice cream.
Vanilla – You can use vanilla bean or vanilla extract.
Heavy cream – This helps the ice cream achieve that thick creaminess.
Optional pistachios – For topping and giving your ice cream some crunch on top.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
👩🍳How to Make This Recipe
Before starting your ice cream, put the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer. It is best if you leave it in the freezer overnight.
🤩 Pro Tip for Ice Cream
Although you can make ice cream without an ice cream maker, most methods yield a less smooth texture. You can try freezing the ice cream base into an ice cube tray and blending them together, but the end result isn’t perfect. However, if you don’t have an ice cream maker, I recommend making semifreddo, instead. You can use this semifreddo guide for any flavor, or make this Strawberry Matcha Semifreddo.
Whisk the egg yolks together until combined and set this bowl aside.
Roughly chop the dates. Set half aside.
Add the other half of the dates to a food processor with the milk. Run the processor until both are well combined, which takes about 3-4 minutes.
If using a vanilla bean, slice lengthwise, scrape out the specks of vanilla, and add the bean and specks to the milk mixture. For vanilla extract, just add it in. Warm the milk & date mixture with the vanilla and roughly chopped dates until it lightly simmers. Use a whisk to break up the chunks of dates.
🤩 Pro Tip
Make your ice cream more of a gelato consistency by using 2 cups of milk and 1 cupAdd the other half of the dates to a food processor with the milk. Run the processor until both are well combined, which takes about 3-4 minutes. of cream. The texture will be less like ice cream, and more like gelato. Also delicious, and a choice I make every once in a while to reduce the fat in the recipe!
Temper the whisked egg mixture with the milk/date/vanilla mixture. Once mixed, return the mix to the saucepan and cook until thickened, stirring slowly and constantly. The temperature should get to 170F.
Next, remove the ice cream liquid from the heat. Add in the cream. Leave to chill in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day, add your chilled ice cream to your ice cream maker. Churn it (stir setting) until it is the thickness of soft serve ice cream, which takes 20-25 minutes.
Transfer the vanilla date ice cream to a container you can freeze, cover it with parchment paper or a cover, and freeze overnight.
After freezing overnight, you are ready to scoop and serve. This ice cream doesn’t freeze as hard as other homemade ice creams because of all the dates, so be sure to give it that full freeze or enjoy it like a soft serve!
Top the scooped ice cream with roughly chopped pistachios before serving for extra tasty flavor and texture.
🍨 Related Recipes
Summertime is cold dessert time! Tantalize your tastebuds with these frozen sweet recipes.
Put the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer.
Whisk the yolks together and set aside.
Add half of the dates to a food processor with the milk. Run until well combined, 3-4 minutes.
Warm the milk & date mixture with the vanilla and rough chopped dates until it just lightly simmers. Use a whisk to break up the chunks of dates. (If using a vanilla bean, slice lengthwise, scrape out the specks of vanilla, and add the bean and specks to the milk mixture.)
Temper the egg mixture with the milk/date/vanilla mixture.
Return to the sauce pan and cook until thickened, stirring slowly and constantly. It should get to 170F.
Remove from heat. Add the cream. Chill in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day, add your chilled ice cream to your ice cream maker. Churn (stir setting) until it is the thickness of soft serve ice cream, 20-25 minutes.
Transfer to a container you can freeze, cover with parchment paper, and freeze at least 4 hours.
Optional: Top with roughly chopped pistachios before serving!
Video
Notes
This ice cream doesn’t freeze as hard as other homemade ice creams because of all the dates, so be sure to give it that full freeze or enjoy it like a soft serve!Although you can make ice cream without an ice cream maker, most methods yield a less smooth texture. You can try freezing the ice cream base into an ice cube tray and blending them together, but the end result isn’t perfect.If you don’t have an ice cream maker, I recommend making semifreddo, instead. You can use this semifreddo guide for any flavor, or make this Strawberry Matcha Semifreddo.
Did you try this recipe?I’d love to hear what you think! Leave a Review to let us know how it came out, if you have a successful substitution or variation, or anything else.
I haven’t made your recipe yet, but want to. it’s an unusual method with the egg yolks and cooking. I was wondering if your nuturitional values are for a serving or the entire recipe?
Hi Barry, which kind of dried dates are you using? If you’re talking about Jujube dates, it would be a different amount and I haven’t tested the recipe with them. This recipe uses dried Medjool dates.
Hi! Is it necessary to chill the mixture overnight before putting it in the ice cream maker? I’m short on time and was wondering if I could chill it for a few hours in the fridge or pop it in the freezer for a bit?
Hi again 🙂 The best way to speed this up is to use an ice bath. Place your bowl of ice cream base in a larger bowl filled with ice and water and stir it constantly until it cools to 43°F (6°C) or lower. Make sure not to get any of the water into the ice cream base.
Hi Linsey, it is not necessary to chill it overnight, but do not put it in the freezer. It needs to be refrigerated until the temperature of the mixture is 43°F (6°C) or lower, which can take 2-6 hours, depending on your refrigerator. You can also speed up this process using an ice bath.
Hi Jenny… I wish I could help, but I haven’t tested this recipe using date syrup. I’ve been told that you can substitute 1 tablespoon of date syrup per date, but haven’t tried it in this recipe. If you give it a try, please let us all know how it comes out!
It works best in an ice cream maker, but you can use a different method. Freeze it flat in a zipper bag, then break it up into small chunks and blend it in a high-speed blender. I have tried it this way before (using a different flavor ice cream) and it was OK. The texture wasn’t as smooth, but it did work.
I haven’t tried this yet but planning to very soon. What if I only have dried figs? Can I just rehydrate in water? Or should I rehydrate in the milk to not lose sweetness?
I’ve never made this recipe with dried figs, so I can’t say for sure… especially because there are different kinds of dried figs. That being said, I think rehydrating them in warm milk and using that milk in the recipe would be my best guess. I’d love to hear how it goes if you give it a try!
I made this recipe for my baby while looking for no added sugar recipes which is hard to find!
I think I’ve done it 10 times now and seriously, best ice cream ever!! I’m even making it again tonight. Its perfect for snack after playing in the park
Its our family favorite ice cream, we don’t buy ice cream for us, parents anymore!
Hi Heather. Great question! Once you run it through the ice cream maker, you should be OK to leave it in the freezer for weeks. It does progressively get harder, but you shouldn’t notice a difference for the first week. Hope this helps!
The best way to know it is ready to churn is if you can check the temperature. It should get down to 39 degrees Fahrenheit (about refrigerator temperature). Once you put the base in the fridge, you can stir it every 30 minutes to help speed up the cooling. You can also cool it over an ice bath. I hope this helps!
This is a lovely recipe and I enjoyed it a lot- I had a safety question (since it contains eggs) how long do you typically cook the egg/date/milk mixture on the stovetop until it thickens? I used a thermometer and saw that it reached well over 170F but wasn’t sure if it thickened a ton.
Thanks again for the delicious “sugar free” recipe! I’m definitely going to be making this many times in the future.
I’m so glad to hear it, Michelle!
Here is a bit about the science from eggsafety.org… “While light cooking will begin to destroy any bacteria that might be present only proper cooking brings eggs to a high enough temperature to destroy them all. For eggs, the whites will coagulate (set) between 144 and 149° F, the yolk between 149 and 158° F, and the whole egg between 144 and 158° F.”
In short, the temperature is all that is important when killing the bacteria, not as much the thickening. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions 🙂
Very good. In summer I always make it
I haven’t made your recipe yet, but want to. it’s an unusual method with the egg yolks and cooking. I was wondering if your nuturitional values are for a serving or the entire recipe?
Hi Maria, the nutritional values are per serving.
If you use dried dates does the amount of dates to use change?
Hi Barry, which kind of dried dates are you using? If you’re talking about Jujube dates, it would be a different amount and I haven’t tested the recipe with them. This recipe uses dried Medjool dates.
Hi! Is it necessary to chill the mixture overnight before putting it in the ice cream maker? I’m short on time and was wondering if I could chill it for a few hours in the fridge or pop it in the freezer for a bit?
Hi again 🙂 The best way to speed this up is to use an ice bath. Place your bowl of ice cream base in a larger bowl filled with ice and water and stir it constantly until it cools to 43°F (6°C) or lower. Make sure not to get any of the water into the ice cream base.
Is it necessary to chill the mixture overnight? Could I put in the freezer for 30 minutes instead? Or fridge for a few hours?
Hi Linsey, it is not necessary to chill it overnight, but do not put it in the freezer. It needs to be refrigerated until the temperature of the mixture is 43°F (6°C) or lower, which can take 2-6 hours, depending on your refrigerator. You can also speed up this process using an ice bath.
Any suggestions on quantity of date syrup if using that in place of fresh dates?
Hi Jenny… I wish I could help, but I haven’t tested this recipe using date syrup. I’ve been told that you can substitute 1 tablespoon of date syrup per date, but haven’t tried it in this recipe. If you give it a try, please let us all know how it comes out!
I tried this recipe it was so good, and I didnt have pistachios so I put almonds in it instead but it still tasted good.
Yum… Thank you for taking the time to share, Jasmine!
What if I don’t have an ice cream machine, will I still be able to make the ice cream?
It works best in an ice cream maker, but you can use a different method. Freeze it flat in a zipper bag, then break it up into small chunks and blend it in a high-speed blender. I have tried it this way before (using a different flavor ice cream) and it was OK. The texture wasn’t as smooth, but it did work.
Thanks for this recipe. I made it today and it was fantastic! I did reduce the dates to 200g and it was just right for us. Definitely a keeper recipe.
So glad you enjoyed it, Therese… thank you for taking the time to share!
I haven’t tried this yet but planning to very soon. What if I only have dried figs? Can I just rehydrate in water? Or should I rehydrate in the milk to not lose sweetness?
I’ve never made this recipe with dried figs, so I can’t say for sure… especially because there are different kinds of dried figs. That being said, I think rehydrating them in warm milk and using that milk in the recipe would be my best guess. I’d love to hear how it goes if you give it a try!
I made this recipe for my baby while looking for no added sugar recipes which is hard to find!
I think I’ve done it 10 times now and seriously, best ice cream ever!! I’m even making it again tonight. Its perfect for snack after playing in the park
Its our family favorite ice cream, we don’t buy ice cream for us, parents anymore!
Thank you for sharing
Thank you so much for sharing, Ana! You just made my day with this comment. I’m so glad you and your baby love the recipe… enjoy!
I haven’t tried the recipe yet but am looking forward to it. Do you run the risk of leaving the mix in the freezer too long and freezing it solid?
Hi Heather. Great question! Once you run it through the ice cream maker, you should be OK to leave it in the freezer for weeks. It does progressively get harder, but you shouldn’t notice a difference for the first week. Hope this helps!
I do not have the time to refrigerate the cream mixture overnight. Id there a minimum Time it must be chilled before churning?
The best way to know it is ready to churn is if you can check the temperature. It should get down to 39 degrees Fahrenheit (about refrigerator temperature). Once you put the base in the fridge, you can stir it every 30 minutes to help speed up the cooling. You can also cool it over an ice bath. I hope this helps!
This is a lovely recipe and I enjoyed it a lot- I had a safety question (since it contains eggs) how long do you typically cook the egg/date/milk mixture on the stovetop until it thickens? I used a thermometer and saw that it reached well over 170F but wasn’t sure if it thickened a ton.
Thanks again for the delicious “sugar free” recipe! I’m definitely going to be making this many times in the future.
I’m so glad to hear it, Michelle!
Here is a bit about the science from eggsafety.org… “While light cooking will begin to destroy any bacteria that might be present only proper cooking brings eggs to a high enough temperature to destroy them all. For eggs, the whites will coagulate (set) between 144 and 149° F, the yolk between 149 and 158° F, and the whole egg between 144 and 158° F.”
In short, the temperature is all that is important when killing the bacteria, not as much the thickening. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions 🙂
Thanks for sharing! It was so good! I did a double batch but didn’t end using all of the dates. We hardly ever eat sugar so it was plenty sweet!
That is awesome! Glad to hear you made a double batch and didn’t need all the dates… thanks for sharing, Brianna!