As promised, I'm back with a recipe for vegan mars ice cream bars. I uploaded a recipe for veganized mars bars to the blog a few weeks ago, and it was such a hit. Seems mars bars were a firm favorite with many of you before going vegan, even more so than snickers dare I say?
Ok, maybe not more than vegan snickers ice cream, but they're definitely "up there" with them.
As promised when I uploaded the original recipe, I would be back with an ice-cream version. I literally can't stop making ice cream recipes these days, they are all I want to make (and possibly eat) and it's not even that hot here. I just LOVE making them, who's with me?
These veganized mars ice cream bars are real close to the originals. The ice cream is made with an almond and coconut base (a refreshing change from cashew-based ice cream!). Using almonds in place of cashews make the ice cream a little lighter and less thick, but it works perfectly for these bars as the ice cream gets lovely and melty if you leave them out of the freezer for a bit, leaving a yummy soft ice cream inside when you crack into that thick chocolate shell.
WHAT'S IN THESE MARS ICE CREAM BARS?
ALMOND & COCONUT ICE CREAM
I opted for almonds for the base of this ice cream instead of my usual go-to cashews. And, let's be honest, it was a little bit risky seeing as I've never attempted to use them in ice cream before (I'm talking almonds, not almond milk). The results were surprisingly good! I wanted to recreate that almond nougaty flavor that's found in the regular mars bars, so I got my hands on some blanched almonds and soaked them to make them a little more digestible for my blender.
SWEET DATE CARAMEL
As the ice cream layer is not overly sweet, this sweet caramel works really well in contrast to it. Made with Medjool dates and maple syrup as the base, this caramel has a little bit of almond butter inside to help recreate that mars bar flavor.
THICK CHOCOLATE SHELL
No ice cream bar would be complete without a thick layer of vegan-friendly chocolate, am I right? I like to use vegan milk chocolate with a little bit of coconut oil to help it become more viscous.
HOW TO MAKE MARS ICE CREAM BARS
ICE CREAM BASE
Your almonds will need to be blanched for this recipe, meaning the skins are removed. Blanched almonds are readily available in most supermarkets, but you can also blanch them at home by placing your almonds in boiling water for 60 seconds, and then transferring them to ice-cold water. Once cooled, the skins will come off easily by rubbing them through your fingers.
Now your almonds are blanched you'll need to prepare them by soaking them in water for 4 hours. This will make them easier for your blender to process. Alternatively, you can soak them in boiled water for one hour. Then rinse them and drain them to remove any excess moisture.
Add all of the ice-cream ingredients to a high-speed blender and blitz until completely smooth and creamy, without any lumps. If your blender isn't on the strong side, just give it time to do the work. That may mean blending for a few minutes and then allowing it to take a rest in between blends!
Line an 11'x7" baking pan with parchment paper, making sure all sides are covered so that the liquid can't run underneath the paper. You can also use an 8"x8" dish.
Pour the ice-cream mixture into the baking pan and freeze for 2 hours. The ice cream will need to be firm enough to keep its shape before the next layer so that it doesn't collapse underneath the caramel.
CARAMEL
To make the caramel add the dates, maple syrup, coconut oil, almond butter, coconut milk, and salt to your high-speed blender. Blitz until the mixture forms a smooth sticky caramel.
Take the baking pan out of the freezer and spoon the caramel on top. Use a spatula to spread the caramel out in an even layer. Place back in the freezer until completely set (6 hours or overnight if possible).
Remove the ice cream slab from the baking pan and cut it into 12 bars. Set the bars on a tray or board lined with parchment paper and place them back in the freezer to prevent them from melting while you prepare the coating.
CHOCOLATE COATING
Melt the chocolate and coconut oil over a double boiler. Make sure the water underneath your bowl isn't boiling, you just want it to simmer and let the steam gently melt the chocolate. If the chocolate is too hot, it will melt the ice creams and the next step could get very messy!
TIP: For the best results, leave the ice cream bars in the freezer until the very last second and take each bar out individually to coat/dip them in chocolate. The more frozen the bars are - the easier this step will be.
Method 1:
Carefully coat the bars with chocolate by holding one bar at a time with a fork underneath it and spooning the chocolate on top and over all of the sides. Repeat this for all the bars and place them back in the freezer for another 15 minutes to set the chocolate.
Method 2:
Transfer the melted chocolate into a tall slim glass. Insert 2 cocktail sticks into each ice cream bar and get a sheet of parchment paper ready to sit them on. Dip the ice cream bars in the chocolate and set them on the parchment paper to set. You'll need to use a spoon to help coat the last few bars as the chocolate will not be deep enough to cover the entire bar.
These ice creams will store in the freezer in an airtight container for several months.
WHY MAKE THIS RECIPE?
- Plant-based and vegan-friendly
- Healthy dessert option
- Perfect for summer
- A nostalgic remake of a classic candy bar
- Easy to make
- Minimal ingredients
- No-bake
- Egg-free
- Dairy-free
- Cashew-free
- Free from any animal-derived products
More CopyCat candy bars
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Description
Ingredients
ICE CREAM
- ¾ cup (100 g) blanched almonds, soaked *see notes
- 2 cups (480 g) chilled canned coconut milk, *see notes
- 2 medjool dates
- ⅔ cup (106.67 g) coconut sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) coconut oil, solid
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) cacao powder
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla bean paste
CARAMEL
- 10 medjool dates
- ½ cup (118 ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) coconut oil, solid
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) almond butter
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 g) sea salt
- 4 tablespoons (59.1472 g) chilled canned coconut milk or evaporated coconut milk, *see notes
- 12 oz (340 g) vegan chocolate, for coating
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) coconut oil, solid, for coating
Instructions
- First, prepare the blanched almonds by soaking them in water for 4 hours. Alternatively, you can soak them in boiled water for one hour. Rinse and drain.
- Add all of the ice-cream ingredients to a high-speed blender and blitz until completely smooth and creamy, without any lumps.
- Line an 11'x7" baking pan with parchment paper, making sure all sides are covered so that the liquid can't run underneath the paper.
- Pour the ice cream mixture into the baking pan and freeze for 2 hours.
- To make the caramel add the dates, maple syrup, coconut oil, almond butter, coconut milk, and salt to your high-speed blender. Blitz until the mixture forms a smooth sticky caramel.
- Take the baking pan out of the freezer and spoon the caramel on top. Use a spatula to spread the caramel out in an even layer. Place back in the freezer until completely set (6 hours or overnight if possible).
- Remove the ice cream slab from the baking pan and cut it into 12-14 bars. Set the bars on a tray or board lined with parchment paper and place them back in the freezer to prevent them from melting while you prepare the coating.
- Melt the chocolate and coconut oil over a double boiler.
- Carefully coat the bars with chocolate by holding one bar at a time with a fork underneath it and spooning the chocolate on top and over all of the sides. Repeat this for all the bars and place them back in the freezer for another 15 minutes to set the chocolate.
- Alternatively, transfer the melted chocolate to a tall slim glass and place 2 wooden cocktail sticks into each bar and dip them in the chocolate.
Video
Notes
- Soaked blanched almonds: Soak the blanched almonds in water for 4 hours, rinse and drain.
- Chilled canned coconut milk: Place the canned coconut milk in the fridge overnight. The cream will separate to the top of the cans once chilled. Use the thick cream from the top of the can for this recipe. This recipe will use approximately 2x 400ml cans, depending on which brand you use (I find Biona has the best yield of cream)
Nutrition
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It tastes great but I really struggled with the chocolate part. I used the glass method. The cocktail sticks did not work for me and as time went on I really struggled to coat the bars because there is less and less chocolate in the glass. I did not have a spoon fitting next to the bar into the small glass so I had to turn the bars and at some point even that did not coat the middle part of the bars.
Some questions about the chilled coconut milk: Are you chilling two cups of the milk and then using the cream that separates from those two cups? If so, what is the actual volume of the cream used? Or are you using two total cups of coconut cream? Can I just use boxed coconut cream? Excited to try this recipe! Thank you!
Hello,
Sorry for the confusion, you will need 2 cups of the thick cream altogether, without the watery part. I've clarified the recipe note, I hope this helps!
Thank you! Making this today!
These look amazing. Where did you get those food skewers/ picks?
Thanks so much, Aissa. You can usually find those bamboo skewers in supermarkets in the ambient section.
What about substitutes for nuts?
Hi Heather,
Not for this particular one, but you could try one of my other chocolate ice cream recipes that are nut-free as the base and swap the almond butter in the caramel for tahini of sunflower seed butter.
I swear these are more addictive than Icecream! The caramel was amazing, I was eating that by itself! Definitely a go to for me! It's great to have a healthy sweet treat to curb my pregnancy cravings!thank you
Hi Holly,
I'm so happy you love the recipe! And ditto about the caramel, it's hard to resist eating it from the spoon 🙂
I just made these and they are fantastic !! They weren’t too hard to make either which is a plus for me. Def making again, I think I might double the Carmel next time mine came out a little bit thin and it tasted so good so I want more !!
Hello,
That's so great to hear, thank you so much for the amazing feedback. Hope you're enjoying the holidays 🙂
Hi Christina. I have a doubt, in the part of the caramel you said that we can use coconut cream or vaporated coconut milk? I just have to replace one for the other? And the evaporated coconut milk I have to put in the fridge overnight too?
THANKS!!!
Hi Josefa 🙂
That's right, you just need one or the other. And there's no need to refrigerate the evaporated coconut milk, that's just to separate the water from the coconut cream if using canned coconut milk.
Thanks Christina!!!