Pumpkin Pie Gingersnap Ice Cream

Oh yes, I had plans for those gingersnap cookies I baked last week. And no it was not just to share with you in my last post, but to enrich your lives even further with what I now call my most favorite ice cream on the planet. It's a bold claim, but the truth. If you do not like pumpkin, pumpkin pie, or gingersnaps - do not make this ice cream. But if all of those flavors I just listed made you jump in your car to drive to Starbucks to get a holiday cup filled with a pumpkin spice late topped with whipped cream and a gingerbread cookie so you could cry your heart out due to the uncontrollable happiness that overcomes you (man was that a run-on sentence if there ever was one), then you should seriously go make this ice cream before you explode from excitement by the mere fact that something like this could exist. 

Note 1: Chilling (for 4 hours or overnight) the coconut milk cans and pumpkin puree before making the batter allows you to place the batter straight into your ice cream maker because it is already chilled. If you did not chill them first you can still make the batter and place it in a bowl, covered, in your refrigerator for a few hours to chill before processing. 

Note 2: I have used all full fat coconut milk cans, one full fat can + one light can, and now both light cans in my homemade ice cream recipes. Verdict? Two light coconut milk cans has made this batch of ice cream the best and closest consistency-wise to the traditional dairy ice cream. And NO, the watered down coconut milk cartons for drinking SHOULD NOT be used. Those are not the same and will yield flavorless, icy ice cream. 

Ingredients

2 cans light coconut milk chilled

1 cup pumpkin puree chilled

1/3 cup agave nectar

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon xantham gum

Pinch of salt

2 cups of gingersnap cookie pieces

Blend all of the above ingredients (minus the cookie pieces) together and transfer to your ice cream maker. Process according to the manufacturers instructions. Break up your gingersnap cookies into one-inch pieces, and either add them to your ice cream half way through processing in your maker (if it is large enough to hold all the batter and the mix-ins), or fold in the cookie pieces after the ice cream is finished processing. 

It is ready to eat straight from the maker if you like your ice cream of soft serve consistency. Otherwise, transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer until ready to serve. If eating within the same day as making the ice cream, it will be soft enough to serve straight from the freezer. But after another day of freezing it will become very hard and need to sit on the counter to thaw for about 1/2 hour before serving (or if you have one of those fancy microwaves you could use that to soften it instead).