UPDATED 7/1/2020. The Dole Whip is a famous popular treat at the Disney parks, and there have been several attempts at copycat recipes. The SECOND recipe below is one of the copycat attempts which I originally posted in April 2019. However, Disney has now released the ACTUAL recipe which is (not surprisingly) absurdly simple. I also got a detailed response from someone on Reddit who makes this all the time. Here is their description, and below that is the official recipe.
I add the pineapple chunks and juice in the blender first (without the ice cream) and work it until it’s a creamy consistency...essentially creating a pineapple smoothie. It’s so thick that the mixture will stay just above the blades so I have to stop the blender and push the mixture back down into the blades with a wooden spoon. If you do this, make sure the blades have stopped before poking the mixture down. I do this about 8-10 times before it becomes the consistency of soft ice cream.
At this point is when I add the vanilla ice cream. If you’re not into dairy products you can probably omit the ice cream and just plop it into a glass as-is. Experiment with it.
I don’t bother trying to make it look like the authentic Disney Dole Whip...doesn’t last long enough. I just add some pineapple juice into a big glass (about 1/4 full) and top it with the creamy mixture. Sometimes I add a fourth ingredient (rum)
I’ve made this often enough to know that you should drink it right away. After a few hours of being left in the fridge the mixture will just begin to separate. I don’t follow a recipe anymore, just throw in the ingredients and blend, adding more pineapple juice until the consistency is right.
I haven’t had an authentic Disney Dole Whip in over a year so without a side-by-side comparison I can’t tell you if it’s identical in taste. But I can say that when I tried it the first time back in March, it tasted the same and I was mentally transported back to that cute patio space behind Tamu-Tamu Refreshments in Animal Kingdom...like I was still on vacation.
Tastes equally good with dark rum or coconut rum.
Official Recipe
Ingredients
One big scoop of vanilla ice cream (I do wish this was more specific)
4 ounces pineapple juice
2 cups frozen pineapple chunks
Instructions
Put ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. At Disney the "Dole Whip" is put in a star-tipped piping bag and made into a swirl in a serving cup.
NOTE: The article I read had a link to another article by a columnist who attempted this recipe. The result was far too liquid to be a "whip", she said it was basically soup. Her solution was to freeze it for three and a half hours. After that it could be put into a piping bag and/or saved in the freezer. She also said the frozen pineapple chunks weren't fully pulverzied in the blender. Anyway this makes me wonder whether the blended mixture could be processed in my ice cream maker to get the desired consistency, as well as for storing in the freezer. I'm also wondering whether this would work using ice cream made with my favorite homemade vanilla ice cream recipe, which uses vanilla beans and is intensely vanilla flavored. I'm almost wondering whether it would be better to use store-bought ice cream, which is blasphemy for me.
Recipe Version 2
This was the first copycat recipe I posted. It's really more like a Pina Colada, and in fact the original recipe said you could add rum. I'm also questioning the 1/2 cup sugar (which is rare for me because I'm not one of those anti-sugar persons). Pineapple juice is actually really sweet so adding that much more sugar seems a little overboard. It's also weird how pineapple juice is used to make the slushy soft-serve product and then you add MORE pineapple juice to it when you serve it.
Ingredients
4 cups frozen pineapple chunks
10 ounces coconut milk
10 ounces pineapple juice
1/2 cup sugar
24 ounces pineapple juice
Instructions
1) In a blender combine all ingredients except 24 ounce pineapple juice. Blend until smooth.
2) Transfer to a gallon size freezer bag and freeze for one hour until mixture is the consistency of soft serve.
3) Snip one corner of bag and pipe into glasses.
4) Add desired amount of pineapple juice.
5) Garnish as desired and serve immediately.