Dairy-free Pumpkin Ice Cream!

I'm a loyal Trader Joe's customer but I was disappointed that with all the pumpkin hype (and many products of which are my favorites!), that there was no dairy free pumpkin ice cream. As an ice cream lover, but partially on my vegan kick of attempting to give up tortured dairy (any dairy that comes from factory farming) I needed to make my own cruelty-free alternative for my seasonal favorite ice cream.

Here's how I did it.

This soy-creamy is my absolute fav. Trader Joe's Soy Creamy in vanilla. It's richer and even better than vanilla ice cream. It's addicting and better for you (in small quantities because of the soy) and has less fat. There are many dairy free ice creams out there, but this one is hard to beat. It's a great creamy base for our dairy-free homemade pumpkin "ice cream". You can use whatever dairy-free ice cream alternative that you would like in vanilla flavor for this recipe.

You of course need the pumpkin flavor, and there is no better way to get it than with pure pumpkin. Blend up some soy-creamy in a bowl in the portion you desire by hand with a spoon (so it's at a soft-serve consistency) and put a spoonful of pumpkin at an eyeballed 1/4 portion to the amount of soy-creamy you've got already. Your end result should be a mixture of about 20% pumpkin, and 80% soy-creamy. Mix well!

And finally, a dash of this Trader Joe's special pumpkin pie seasoning has the perfect combo of autumn-ness to knock your socks off. The nutmeg, cinnamon, and whatever else they put in here makes all the difference to your pumpkin dessert. Once you've put a generous shake of this on there, continue to mix well and then you're ready to eat!

Easy enough??? It's a great way to whip up some pumpkin flavored dairy free ice cream for all the vegans out there (and vegan wannabees like me). It's easy, quick, and delish! Add a little dollop of vegan whipped cream (from your local health food store) for the perfect finish. Impress your friends and convince them to give up the cruel dairy ice creams out there. Cows may not die right away as they produce the milk for these pumpkin milk based ice creams out there (and every other dairy product).... however, they do have to get pregnant to produce milk.. and once their calf is born you don't even want to know what they do to them (and the mothers) in a factory farm. Ditch the dairy and go vegan instead :)