Cold creamy and…cozy? Yes it’s possible and it’s called Roasted Butternut Squash Ice Cream. Cinnamon-spiced, maple-sweetened, vegan, and no-churn!
Is it weird that I sorta feel like I am cheating on pumpkin right now?
I love pumpkin ice cream. Deeply. But I am crushing prettyyyyyy hard on this alternative orange squash stuff. Pumpkin doesn’t need to know.
To be fair, this butternut recipe comes to the game with a few unfair advantages…
Novelty. We’re more than halfway to Halloween, so pumpkin {insert any dish here} has already happened on the internet. Twelve times with subtle variations. Butternut is a welcomed breath of fresh crisp fall air. Fall air is fresh and crisp, right? Cooler climate friends, fill me in.
Ease. So you probably missed it, but there is a silent and invisible “N” in front of the ice cream part. This recipe is made like nice cream only with butternut instead of banana. After the butternut is frozen you are only approximately 5 minutes and some cinnamon away from butternut squash ice cream at any given moment. Probably less – how savvy are you with a blender?
30 minutes at 400F. That’s right, it’s roasted. No matter how lazy I am, not even I can honestly say that canned puree is as good as roasted. At home. With love. Although I did buy it pre-cut…let’s not get carried away now.
All those reasons combined with the fact that this butternut ice cream was more recently on my mind/spoon are why I am sorta kinda MEGA obsessed. But I’m playing it cool. And not to worry, butternut can’t compete in the jack-o-lantern arena. Being scooped out, poked with sharp objects, and internally lit on fire – that’s all you, pumpkin.
I see you watermelon carvers. I see you and I say save your antics for the appropriate season.
Obviously there is more than just squash in that blender. You will also need:
- Coconut milk. Nothing too crazy, just the light kind is perfect. You could use almond/any other milk but it won’t be as ice CREAMy.
- Cinnamon + vanilla + salt because it’s fall so those are a given.
- Maple syrup if you want your ice cream sweeter than squash is naturally. I used about two tablespoons for the whole batch, it doesn’t take much.
- Frozen butternut squash in large quantities. Because the holidays are all about sharing, so it would be rude to not make extra…for your tomorrow self.
Yes I know “the holidays” usually refers to November/December affairs, but I’m just getting in the zone, okay? And how do we know we won’t still be butternut ice cream blending by then. Odds are you and your fuzzy-socked, blanket-burritoed self probably will.
In the name of roasting once and ice creaming all week, I roasted 2 pans worth of cubed or crinkle cut squash. That may seem like a lot, but it will seem like a lot less after roasting. (Also frozen squash makes for very yum smoothies, so there’s never too much!) The shape doesn’t matter, although it seems there is a consensus: crinkle cut = better. If you are a lucky enough ducky to live near a Trader Joe’s you can find it there already cut or cubed for pretty cheap. If you are a brave enough ducky to cut your own, please lookout for those precious little fingertips of yours.
After roasting, cooling, transferring to a bag, and freezing overnight (more work to say than to actually do, promise!) now comes the blending part. Which is my favorite part because it effortlessly flows right on into the eating out of the blender part.
If you blend all the frozen squash at once, you will end up with about four servings. Unless you are throwing your annual Butternut Squash Ice Cream Party, I recommend blending just half at a time because it really doesn’t re-freeze very well after blending. Any less than half will be difficult to blend. You will need a high-speed blender with a tamper for this, or a food processor. Either way you will probably have to stop and scrape down the sides a few times as you go.
The end result is orange and autumnal beyond your wildest wishes. If you’ve ever wondered why it’s called BUTTERnut squash before, you won’t again after you experience this texture.
Turns out cold AND cozy is possible after all.
Roasted Butternut Squash Ice Cream
- Yield: 4 people 1x
Description
Cold creamy and…cozy? Yes it’s possible and it’s called Roasted Butternut Squash Ice Cream. Cinnamon-spiced, maple-sweetened, vegan, and no-churn!
Ingredients
- Approximately 8 cups (1kg) cubed butternut squash
- 1/2–1 cup light coconut milk
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp maple syrup ((optional))
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Spread the butternut squash between 2 baking pans lined with parchment paper.
- Roast for 25-30 minutes at 400F or until fork tender, flipping halfway through to avoid burning.
- Allow to cool. Transfer to a plastic bag and freeze overnight.
- The following day, break apart the squash chunks and add them to a high speed blender or food processor along with 1/2 cup coconut milk, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, and maple syrup (if using).
- Blend using a tamper or stopping to scrape down the sides frequently. Add more coconut milk slowly as need be to get a creamy thick soft serve consistency.
- Scoop into bowls. Top with nuts and extra cinnamon. Enjoy!
Notes
I recommend blending right before serving, so if you just want one or two servings halve the amounts and save the rest of the frozen squash in the freezer for later. It will last quite a while frozen, and tastes great in smoothies too!
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This looks so beautiful, I love that you’ve made a cosy ice cream! The recipe sounds amazing and I love the tip to add leftovers to smoothies, I can almost taste it now, really stunning. Love your blog too, beautiful! Bo xoxoxo
You are so sweet Bo, I really appreciate you taking the time to come over here and read <33
If this is as good as your pumpkin ice cream, I’ll have to make it. 😍
I think it’s better because it’s easier, but you’ll have to tell me if you agree 🙂
Oh, I am totally loving this banana-less nice cream Natalie! Butternut kind of reminds me of sweet potatoes for their color and natural sweetness and I’m obviously a huge fan of sweet potatoes so this looks just delightful! I love that you topped with nuts and cinnamon, I’m literally salivating about that right now. My stomach is growling right now so reading this post is a bit torture for me, lol. I love the gorgeous and perfect Fall-inspired color as well of this ice cream and the fact that it totally tricks you into thinking it’s pumpkin too. Yet, it’s more vibrant and orange than pumpkin, I totally love it! I can imagine this right alongside some warm apple pie or apple crisp, oh my gosh, it sounds heavenly!!
I was thinking pumpkin-esque when I made/ate it, but is kind of reminiscent of sweet potato ice cream too. All those orange starchy things just blur together 😀 I ate it on top of a couple of my gooey pumpkin bars, but apple pie/crisp sounds even better! Mmmm…why did you plant this image in my head now? Haha! Hope book stuff is going well and have a great weekend Brandi!
Cheating on pumpkin 😂 Love it! But you’re right. I have seen SO many pumpkin recipes and while I do love pumpkin, the best part about fall is the wide variety of squashes! Butternut has always been a favorite of mine, but I never even thought to use it to make ice cream – my first thought is always soup! But maybe that’s because it’s chilly here 😉 Crisp air and we’ve even already had some snow! Ok, but back to this ice cream…I can definitely see the coziness factor with all the cinnamon (YUM)! I have two butternut squash sitting in my pantry now and we have some warmer days in the forecast for next week – I think I need to make this happen! Looks amazing, Natalie! ❤️❤️
Mmmm but soup sounds so good! I think the super warm fall weather here still has me in ice cream brain, but I love squash of all kinds all ways too. Snow??? Whoa that’s crazy! That’s not typical there is it? Sounds fun and much more in the spirit of fall. Plus you guys get really yummy local apples too, yes? Okay I’m getting distracted (and jealous lol) Anyways, ice cream or soup I am sure those two squashes will be used up in some delicious form very soon 🙂 Happy sunday Mandy!
Natalie!! I made this earlier today and it was soooooooooo good!!! I had a giant butternut squash that we roasted up for soup the other night and I purposely froze some to make this ice cream. It was incredibly creamy and just like with soup, the roasted butternut brings such a rich, sweet flavor! We topped ours with lots of extra cinnamon and some pecans. Can’t wait to make it again ❤️
★★★★★
Woohooooo!!! I am so so happy you liked it too! Haha it totally is like the frozen sweeter butternut cousin to soup. Now I am craving a big bowl of soup followed by a scoop of this for the full nothing-but-butternut meal experience 😀 Never ever too much cinnamon and crunchy contrast😋 Thanks Mandy and happy new week to you!
Haha!! Love that you inserted butternut squash already. I think it’s already season, and You’re so right pumpkin everything has hit the internet (although if you’re a procrastinator like me, I still have 2 pumpkin recipes coming to the blog buaha!)! I love roasted butternut squash…gives it that extra sweetness so i can just imagine how awesome this is! It’s the perfect fall nice-cream without involving pumpkin! Love it!
★★★★★
Oh I am nowhere near done with the pumpkin treats either, I am working on one right now actually! But I am an equal opportunity squash dessert experimenter 😀 I just had kabocha for the first time this year last night and love that stuff too. Oh fall, you are so starchy and delicious!
Can you roast the butternut squash whole (how i always do it) or will that not give the squash the right flavors?
Sure that will work too!