One of my favorite childhood memories was running after the neighborhood ice cream truck and buying a creamsicle ice cream on a stick in the hot summer sun. So naturally, I wanted to recreate this great familiar flavor in a Paleo friendly recipe that I could share with the rest of the world.

The texture and more importantly the flavor will hit on smooth, rich, and just enough orange flavor to not overpower the experience but instead allow you to savor, close your eyes, and think back to yesteryear when you last had an orange creamsicle ice cream.

And while summer has just slipped behind us, you can still enjoy this ice cream indoors.

Here’s how you create this simple yet flavorful ice cream!

Ingredients:

5 egg yolks – beaten

3/4 cup of maple syrup

2 cans of full fat coconut milk

Half of a vanilla bean

3 tsp vanilla extract

Zest of 2 oranges

Directions:

Start a medium pan over low heat on the stove. Add the coconut milk, maple syrup, and beaten egg yolks.

Scrape the vanilla beans from the inside of the vanilla bean pod (a butter knife or small spoon work well) and add the beans as well as the pod to the mixture.

Stir well.

Allow the mixture to slowly heat, be careful to not allow it to boil!

Add the fresh orange zest to the mixture and stir well again.

Once the mixture has thoroughly heated throughout, after about 10 minutes, remove the mixture from the heat and carefully pour it into a medium mixing bowl.

Add the 3 tsp of vanilla extract to the mixture and stir one last time.

Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until cooled completely (generally 3-4 hours).

Remove the mixture from the refrigerator once it has completely cooled. Be sure to remove the vanilla bean pod from the mixture as well.

Stir the mixture really well one final time and pour into your ice cream maker.

Follow the directions of your ice cream maker to complete the process of turning the mixture into ice cream.

Enjoy!