Leafy Green Mint Chocolate Chip Sherbert (dairy-free, 5-ingredients, no-churn, vegan)

Leafy Green Mint Chocolate Chip Sherbert (dairy-free, 5-ingredients, vegan)
This recipe relies on SCIENCE..
I detail this below, but in a nutshell, I will say, these are frozen ingredients blended and frozen into ice cube trays and blended again.
No churning involved. Instead, this is a tricky recipe that depends on ice cube trays. And this one works perfectly.
It is also a bit of an unusual recipe because it is a frozen dessert yet the main ingredient is leafy greens and yet it does not taste like a salad.
Hey, leafy greens are a mainstay addition to healthy smoothies, so why not to healthy ice cream recipes, right?
Actually this is a sherbert, not ice cream.
Do you know the difference?
Well pull up a chair, or your screen, haha.

Sherbert

Sherbert (or spelled “Sherbet”, both variations are correct according to Merriam Webster) is like sorbet with a creamy ingredient added. In the vegan world, we often add yogurt, cashew cream or coconut cream or even avocado.

Sorbet

The definition of sorbet is a frozen treat made of only fruit and sugar. And in my world, “fruit” can sometimes be a veggie😍

Granita

And then there is granita, which is basically sorbet only in icy flake form.

Ice Cream

And of course plain old ice cream, which is supposed to have at least 10 percent fat to earn the name. Vegan recipes typically use either cashews or coconut cream for that fat.

Nicecream

Well, this term generally means a frozen treat that is made with wholesome vegan plant-based ingredients, often bananas but also coconut cream or other plant-based ingredients. The “N” stands for both bananas, but also “nice” in that no animal was harmed and the recipe is “nice” and healthy. So I suppose this recipe could also be a nicecream, and so could this my Blueberry Citrus Sherbet and this my Cauliflower Ice Cream.

Okay, class, now put away your dictionaries, and let’s move on to science.😂
To give this recipe the icey texture needed to call it a sherbert, there are a few tricks.
Be sure your leafy greens and mint leaves are frozen. I mean crispy frozen. I always keep baby kale and baby spinach and chopped chard leaves frozen in the freezer for many recipes, including smoothies.
Using crispy frozen leaves will help provide the quintessential crystal texture you want in a sherbert or even a sorbet.
And I suggest your use chilled maple syrup. Again, I always keep mine refrigerated.
Finally, use yogurt frozen into cubes in ice cube trays – don’t just dollop creamy yogurt into the blender.
I often keep plain yogurt or even plain cashew cream frozen in ice cube trays to use for smoothies and these frozen treats.
My favorite ice cube tray is recommended below, the same one I use in my Make-Ahead Smoothie Ice Cube Concentrates Recipe here. I love it because mixtures freeze fast, and the odd half-moon shape is blender-friendly.
Each cube in this tray holds 1 ounce so you’ll need 12 cubes of yogurt to achieve 1 1/2 cups.
And finally you don’t need the blueberries for texture but they give this sherbert a pretty blue/green shade and they help fruiten (Is this a word?) the flavor up, and move it away from green so you don’t think you are spooning a salad.
I hope you enjoy this recipe – it is one that depends more on chemistry than ingredients, wouldn’t you say?
And the result is both fun and nutritious.