Caramel Coconut Ice Cream - Vegan

I saw some huge caramel apples at the produce market the other day.  I can't eat a whole one of those, but this was tasty! 

Caramel Coconut Ice Cream

This easy recipe is from VegNews, November-December 2010. The only change I made was to increase the non dairy creamer by adding about 1/2 cup creamer in the ice cream instead of two tablespoons. We did as instructed in the recipe and "Enjoyed immediately."

Soft-Set Caramel

1 cup non dairy milk
1 1/3 cup turbinado sugar
1 cup brown rice syrup
4 TB non-hydrogenated margarine, room temperature
1 vanilla bean, split in half, seeds scraped

Grease a 9x9 baking dish and set aside.  In a medium saucepan, bring non dairy milk to a boil.  Add sugar and brown rice syrup and, mixing often, boil until mixture reaches 240° or until the caramel becomes a deep golden color and has boiled for about 12 minutes.

Remove from heat and add margarine and vanilla seeds.  Mix and immediately pour into the prepared baking dish.

Caramel Coconut Ice Cream

1 13.5 oz. can coconut milk
1/2 pint coconut milk creamer or soy creamer
1/3 cup turbinado sugar
1 vanilla bean, split in half or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 recipe Soft-Set Caramel, room temperature

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine coconut milk, soy creamer, sugar, and vanilla bean and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour.  Pour into the ice cream maker and begin to churn.

While the ice cream mixture is churning, heat the caramel until slightly warm to loosen.  After the ice cream mixture begins to thicken, slowly add in the caramel, continuing to churn.  Once ice cream thickens, enjoy immediately as soft serve, or transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for 1 hour before serving.