Ok Summer, You Can Stick Around a Little Longer

As we were driving home from my doctor's appointment yesterday I was reminiscing about my days of summer camp and my great love for the Cherry Garcia Peace Pop.

My mind automatically wonders to sweet concoctions after I've had to weigh in and hear about how big I am, or the size of my feet, or that I'm not my doctor's biggest patient.  And that there's actually a woman bigger than me, AND she's Filipino.  Seriously, it's worse than a weight watchers meeting!  I just laugh it off most days.
So when I got home the only thing I could think about was busting out the ice-cream maker!  Luckily it takes time to make, and I was too full to splurge so I'll enjoy it more once my senses come back to me and I'm not so emotionally hung up on the words of my doctor who's a 1/3 of my size.
And while I didn't have dark cherries I did have the next best thing to making up an ice-cream euphoria of my own.  Strawberries.  

Now I just need a name worthy of this mix.  It's time to Name that Ice-Cream.  Any suggestions?

In the meantime, here's the recipe.

The Base:
1 can full fat coconut milk
1/2 cups non dairy milk (I used Vanilla Almond Breeze this go around)
1/2 cup agave
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 TBS. coconut oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. xanthan gum

The Mix-Ins:
about 20 strawberries
2 tsp. raw sugar
a hand of dark chocolate chips
splash of coconut oil

Directions:
Start by preheating your oven to 300.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Quarter your strawberries and place on pan and sprinkle with 2 tsp. raw sugar.  Bake for 25 minutes on center rack.  Then turn off the heat and then allow the berries to cool completely.
*side note:  I used frozen berries and it worked almost just fine.  I had to transfer cookie sheets half way through since they were releasing so much juice, and I didn't want it to burn to the pan and create a mess.  And I roasted them for about 10-15 minutes longer.  Also, save the juice, it's delicious in Perrier! 
While they're roasting you can mix your base together in a blender and then chill, since it takes 2-3 hours to firm up in the freezer.
Once your base has chilled, follow manufacturer's instructions on ice-cream maker a blend away.  While this is happening melt your chocolate with a splash of coconut oil.  The coconut oil will help it to melt as well as harden back up once you place it in your ice-cream mix to give you ribbons of dark chocolate chunks. Once it's melted set it aside to allow it to cool off a bit.  About 3/4 of the way through your blending of your base mix, add your strawberries.  In the last few minutes slowly pour in chocolate at different increments to allow it to blend throughout your mixture.  Once it's all done, scoop back into your freezer safe container and allow it to chill for 2-3 more hours until firm or overnight.  

While I am excited for Fall to be here in all of it's glory and pumpkinness, I'll be patient just a little while longer with a bowl of this in hand and spoon in mouth!

Mmmmmhhhmmmm!