Peppermint Chip Ice Cream (and Hardshell Peanut Butter Fudge Drizzle)
 
 
Low-carb, Sugar-free, THM:S, Gluten free if using non-contaminated ingredients - This ice cream is very reminiscent of Chick-fil-A's seasonal peppermint milkshake. The fudge drizzle is definitely not necessary, but it's great if you want a little something special on this ice cream or another flavor.
Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 2½ cups unsweetened almond milk
  • ½ cup cottage cheese
  • ½ cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 T vegetable glycerin, optional but highly recommended
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 6-7 doonks THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder (a doonk is 1/32 tsp.), to taste
  • ⅛ tsp. salt
  • ¼ -1/2 tsp. pure peppermint extract (I use Watkin's brand; start with ¼ tsp. and increase upward to taste as it's very easy to get the peppermint flavor too strong)
  • 4 drops red food coloring, optional
  • 1 tsp. glucomannan
  • 1 oz. chopped/shaved 85% dark chocolate, unsweetened baker's chocolate, or Skinny Chocolate
Peanut Butter Fudge Hardshell Drizzle
  • 2 T refined coconut oil, such as Louanna brand
  • 1 T natural peanut butter
  • 1-1½ tsp. Truvia, ground in a coffee grinder (measure before grinding; you could also use ½-3/4 tsp. THM Super Sweet Blend, ground)
  • 1 T cocoa powder
Instructions
  1. Blend all the ice cream ingredients except for the chocolate together until completely smooth. Churn in an automatic countertop ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Add the chocolate toward the end of churning. Freeze to firm up even more, if desired.
  2. For the peanut butter fudge hardshell drizzle, microwave the coconut oil, peanut butter, and ground Truvia for about 30 seconds or until the coconut oil is melted and the peanut butter is soft. Add the coca powder and stir. Serve over ice cream (drizzle will harden once cold).
  3. Like most homemade ice creams, this recipe is best eaten fresh (unless using vegetable glycerin, which gives you more flexibility-see below). If you have leftovers, freeze them and when you're ready to eat them, either let them sit out on the counter for 30 minutes or so or defrost them for a few seconds in the microwave.
  4. I recommend adding 1 T of vegetable glycerin to this ice cream to keep it from sticking to the sides of the ice cream maker and to keep it softer and not let it get hard so fast in the freezer. If you freeze the ice cream for an extended length of time in the freezer, it will still freeze hard, but if you let it sit out to soften up a little, the glycerin keeps it scoopable instead of icy. Transfer the ice cream from the freezer to the refrigerator 3 hours before serving for optimum texture, or let it sit out on the counter for 30-40 minutes.
Notes
If you don't believe in using food coloring, you might be able to color this with a few tablespoons of beet juice. That may or may not add a slight beet flavor to the ice cream; I've never done it myself but I've heard of other people using beet juice as a natural coloring agent.
This ice cream would be yummy served over my single-serve brownie recipe or the Cake in a Mug recipe from the book "Trim Healthy Mama". Sugar-free peppermints sweetened with a sweetener such as stevia, xylitol, or erythritol would be good chopped up in the ice cream.
If you don't have an ice cream maker, blend the ice cream ingredients, stir in the chocolate chunks, and freeze in ice cube trays. Let the cubes soften slightly, then blend them to a soft-serve consistency in a high-powered blender. Firm up in the freezer, if desired.
Recipe by Briana Thomas at https://www.briana-thomas.com/peppermint-chip-ice-cream/