Make iconic Disneyland Pineapple Dole Whip at home. This sweet and refreshing pineapple soft serve is a welcome healthy frozen treat on a hot summer day!
We also love this mango coconut ice cream!
What Is Dole Whip?
Disneyland Dole Whip is a pineapple soft serve ice cream created by the company Dole. It is so popular it has its own cult following and is known to gather long queues at Disneyland, no matter the weather!
Recently Disney released a recipe for this pineapple frozen dessert. It’s made with pineapple juice, vanilla ice cream, and frozen pineapple.
Dole, the fruit company and original creator of Dole whip, also shared a recipe with pineapple juice, a banana, powdered sugar, coconut milk and lime juice.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy recipe: All you need is just 2 ingredients and a food processor.
- Better for you: It tastes better with no artificial ingredients or powdered sugar and at a fraction of the cost.
- Customizable: See Variations below for those with a super sweet tooth or wanting something a little creamier.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Frozen pineapple: You will need to use frozen pineapple chunks and not fresh. It serves a a base of this Dole Whip recipe.
- Water: To help everything blend. Be sure to use tap cold water. You can also use cold pineapple juice for more pineapple flavor.
How to Make Dole Whip
- Thaw the frozen pineapple: This will take around 15 – 20 minutes. Pineapple chunks should be slightly defrosted on the outside and still frozen inside.
- Process the pineapple: In a food processor, add the pineapple, process on high speed, pausing and scraping the walls and adding cold water in small amounts. Eventually, the frozen pineapple pieces will turn into a pineapple whip. Serve immediately.
Tips for Best Results
- Be patient: As long as the fruit is blending, do not rush to add more water. Then add in 1 tablespoon increments. Just like with protein fluff, it does take time for the fruit to emulsify.
- If you accidentally add too much water: Place it in the freezer until it has thickened up. How long will depend on how soft it is, but usually between 30-60 minutes is more than enough.
- To pipe the dole whip: Scoop the blended whip into a piping bag with a 1-inch star nozzle and pipe it into your cup or bowl. If Dole Whip is fresh and too soft to pipe, follow the above tip.
Variations
When I first experimented with the recipe, I tried various combinations. No matter what we added, it all seemed to detract from the star of the show – the pineapple. So we kept it simple but here are the variations you can make:
- Sweetness: I find pineapple more than sweet enough on its own. But if you have a super sweet tooth, then feel free to add 1-3 tablespoons of powdered sugar. If you want to add liquid sweetener, I recommend to thaw frozen pineapple only for 5-10 minutes.
- Ice cream: I suggest using a small scoop of homemade healthier ice cream like vegan vanilla ice cream and to keep recipe vegan. Or store-bought ice cream will work as well. I recommend to skip cold water and add at the end, if necessary.
- Banana: You can add up to 1 sliced frozen banana and still add water. Or add fresh banana chunks and then wait to add water till the end. I find banana flavor dominates the pineapple though.
- Coconut milk: Skip water and defrosting pineapple and add 1 cup of full fat or low fat coconut milk from a can and process until smooth.
- Lime juice: The original Disney dole whip has a slightly citrusy tang which you can recreate at home with a hint of lime juice. You won’t need much since there is no added sugar in this recipe.
How to Store
Since this pineapple soft serve recipe is whipped into the correct consistency, it’s best to enjoy immediately or store in the freezer for just a few hours before eating.
However, if you do find yourself with a ton of leftovers here is an option. Transfer mixture to a large freezer-safe Ziploc bag, spread out into a thin layer inside the bag, and then freeze flat for up to 1 week.
Then, when you want to use it, break into several pieces after a few minutes of thawing on the countertop, transfer to your food processor and blend back into the correct consistency. Add a little water or milk as needed.
FAQs
Unfortunately, I haven’t had much luck using a high speed blender unless you add way more liquid to the recipe. However, Vitamix might be the only powerful enough blender to work with this recipe. Meanwhile, even simple standard food processors will get the job done.
Simply fill up half a glass with pineapple juice, then top it off with the pineapple whip and optionally a maraschino cherry or a real cherry for a healthier garnish.
Yes, as is this recipe is vegan. If you add coconut milk, banana, lime juice or vegan ice cream it’s still vegan.
More Frozen Dessert Recipes to Try
- Protein fluff
- Healthy homemade popsicles
- Cottage cheese ice cream
- Chocolate ice cream
- Vegan vanilla ice cream
- Banana snickers
Dole Whip Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups frozen pineapple chunks
- Cold water
Instructions
- Thaw frozen pineapple on a counter for 15 minutes in summer (if your house doesn’t have AC) or 20 minutes in colder months. You are looking for defrosted semi-soft outer layer but still frozen inside fruit.
- In a food processor, add pineapple and process on High speed, pausing and scraping the walls with spatula and adding 2 tablespoons of cold water at a time to help pineapple pieces move around. As long as fruit is blending do not rush to add more water.
- Serve immediately or freeze leftovers for a few hours but not longer.
Notes
- Freeze leftovers: Transfer mixture to freezer-safe Ziploc bag, spread into a thin layer within the bag, and then freeze flat for up to a week. When ready to use, break into pieces, then transfer to your food processor and blend back into the correct consistency. Add a little water or milk as needed.
This is my absolute favorite “dessert” recipe! I use the frozen pineapple chunks from Costco, and sometimes add in a little of their frozen mango as well. I have found that microwaving the frozen fruit for 30-45 seconds works about the same as thawing it on the counter. I love how fresh it tastes and how easy it is to make! Thank you for this recipe!
Great tips, Veronica! We buy same frozen fruit.
Works in a vitamix.
Good to know. Never tried a Vitamix.
Thank you Olena for this awesome recipe. I’ve made ice cream the same exact way using bananas and a little water. I had no idea pineapple could do the same thing. Do you think using pineapple and banana at the same time would work?
Yes, totally would.
Looks great, I’ll try with pineapple juice instead of water! Thanks!
Great idea!
Tried this recipe, loved it! But my Dole Whip came out VERY cold, with chunks of pineapple still in it. Should I have let it thaw more? I gave it 20 minutes and didn’t want to over-pulse it and end up with liquid.
Depending on the temperature in your kitchen, you might have to thaw pineapple a bit more. It was super hot July day in my kitchen then. You can always add tablespoon of water at a time when processing to bring to desired consistency. Bit by bit. Or pulse a bit longer…It’s ok as long as you do not walk away. Glad you enjoyed.:)
The Disney recipe has pineapple juice in it.
Brilliant! Just perfect. My pineapple wasn’t as sweet as usual so I added a few drops of stevia but it was so easy and healthy. I’m going to experiment w/combining with some strawberry puree, probably a 3 pineapple to 1 strawberry ratio to see how that works.
Of course. Do what suits your personal taste. 🙂
This is SO delcious! I’m going to make it all the time.
Btw I added a small splash of coconut cream to my second batch and yep, pina colada. AHHMAZZZINNGGG.
Thank you!
You are welcome, Georgina! It’s too cold to think about it for me right now, so I will enjoy it through you.:)
Your dole whip is so-so good and simple. I would never think to make it this way!
Love your investigative streak! Thank you and once again you’ve proven that homemade with real food ingredients is best.