Ninja Creami Cherry Ice Cream Recipe (Dairy-free & Vegan)

Today I have whole food plant-based cherry ice cream with ripe, sweet fresh cherries for you, but you can use frozen cherries instead. Even Cheryl, who normally won’t eat cherries, loves cherry ice cream.

As my ice cream base, I used some homemade milk that I made with almonds and cashew. You can use oat cream or any store-bought non-dairy milk. Plus, you can use a liquid sweetener of your choice to taste.

If your cherries are at the peak of ripeness, you might not need any sweetener. The trick to the perfect healthy Ninja Creami ice cream is to taste as you go to adjust sweetness and flavors.

Why Use Liquid Sweetener in Creami Creations?

The quick and easy answer is that it incorporates better. That’s why I use them in my Ninja Creami Ebook and have recipes for date paste, date syrup, and even simple syrup.

Remember that dry date sugar doesn’t really dissolve, and date paste is easy to make just soak date and water overnight and blend in a high-speed blender.

I Haven’t Used My Ninja Creami Ice Cream Maker Yet…

Are you a new Creami user? Make the recipe along with me in the video. I promise it’s so easy to make homemade ice cream and better yet a healthy and inexpensive version.

Spoiler: You just mash the fruit with non-dairy milk in the pint container, freeze, then spin.

Can I Make this with Other Fruit?

You can use this recipe as a base for most summer berries and fruit. I recommend blending if you use hard or frozen fruit to make life easier for your Ninja Creami.

I encourage you to put up as much fresh fruit as you can in your freezer when it’s cheap and in season. That makes your plant-based ice cream even less expensive, and there’s nothing as good as homemade cherry ice cream all year!

• Get my first Whole Food Plant-Based Ninja Creami e-Cookbook
• Order my newest WFPB Ninja Creami ebook2 here
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• Plant-based London Fog Ice Cream: A Healthy Ninja Creami Recipe
• Ninja Creami Creamiccino Recipe with Options for Other Models
• Ninja Creami: Review & Step-by-Step Instructions

Do I Need to Change the Recipes If I Own the Deluxe Model?

If you have a Ninja Creami Deluxe, multiply the recipe by 1.5 to fill its 3-cup pint. But if it’s not a math kinda day, you can freeze 2 cups and spin safely in the deluxe model.

I know it seems weird since Ninja calls both containers Ninja Creami pints, but in reality, they are not! The original and Breeze models have 2 cup pints like nature intended – lol!

What Ingredients Will I Need?

For this recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• 1 cup homemade almond and cashew milk (or your preferred dairy-free milk like oat cream or soy milk)
• 1 cup cherries, fresh or frozen
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or sweetener of choice, you may also use date paste)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Sweetener of choice, to taste
• Optional: Vegan chocolate chips or additional cherries to mix in

You’re free to use your favorite dairy-free milk; the key here is to use something rich and thick, as this will be the base of our ice cream. A thicker milk means the ice cream won’t freeze as hard, keeping it creamy.

How Do I Prepare The Ingredients?

We’ll start with about a cup of the dairy-free milk in our Creami pint. This gives us room to add more cherries later if we’d like.

Add a cup of cherries and about a tablespoon of maple syrup, and mash the cherries to release some of their flavor and juices. If you use frozen fruit, I recommend blending.

You can also add a teaspoon of vanilla here and if you’d like, a couple more cherries to fill to the max fill line.

The goal is to create a cherry vanilla ice cream, but this is where you can really get creative. Use a different extract like almond to make your own creation.

Once your mixture is prepared, pop the lid on, label it so you know what’s inside, and place it in a flat spot in your freezer for 24 hours.

What Do I Do Once The Mixture Is Frozen?

Once your mixture is frozen, it’s time for the fun part – spinning the ice cream! Start by placing your frozen pint in the Ninja Creami machine. If you have the original or deluxe model you will put the pint into the outer bowl, put the blade in the outer lid and close it.

If your pint isn’t perfectly flat, gently scrape the surface until it is with a spoon. Don’t worry – this is a perfect opportunity for a little taste test too.

Next, we’re going to choose our setting. For this recipe, I recommend using the light ice cream setting. After you’ve selected your setting, it’s time to start the spinning process.

My Ice Cream Looks A Little Powdery. What Should I Do?

If your ice cream looks powdery in the middle after the first spin, don’t worry! Sometimes, it might just need a little extra love.

In this case, you can add a small amount (a teaspoon or two) of non-dairy milk and choose the respin option on the button panel of your Ninja Creami.

This will help make your ice cream even creamier. However, be sure to taste test first – if your ice cream needs more sweetness, add a liquid sweetener like maple syrup or date syrup instead of more milk.

Can I Add Mix-ins After The Ice Cream Is Spun?

Absolutely! If you want to mix in some vegan chocolate chips or extra cherry pieces, simply use the Mix-in button on the Ninja Creami.

Just make a tunnel in the middle, add chopped chocolate bar or mini chocolate chips, then use the mix-in button.

Please note that syrups, and soft fruit will just be incorporated into the ice cream, so add frozen fruit if you want to have pieces in your ice cream.

What If I Don’t Finish All The Ice Cream At Once?

No problem at all! If you have leftovers, level off the top of the ice cream, put the lid back on, and return it to the freezer.

The next time you’re ready to enjoy, use the light ice cream function again. Remember, you can only use the respin button AFTER you have used one of the main spinning cycles.

Enjoy!

More Ninja Creami Recipes & How Tos

• Get my first Whole Food Plant-Based Ninja Creami e-Cookbook
• Order my newest WFPB Ninja Creami ebook2 here
• Ninja Creami Vegan Banana Split Ice Cream
• Ninja Creami Watermelon Sorbet
• Creamsicle Vegan Ninja Creami Protein Ice Cream
• Ninja Creami Smoothie Bowl
• Ninja Creami Vegan Blackberry Lemon Ice Cream
• Ninja Creami Cherry Ice Cream
• Plant-Based Cantaloupe Ice Cream Recipe
• Ninja Creami Strawberry Sorbet
• Lemon Ninja Creami Frozen Yogurt Recipe
• Blueberry Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream: Vegan Ninja Creami Recipe
• Healthy Ninja Creami Dole Whip Recipe
• Plant-based London Fog Ice Cream: A Healthy Ninja Creami Recipe
• Ninja Creami Creamiccino Recipe with Options for Other Models
• Ninja Creami: Review & Step-by-Step Instructions