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This Basic Vanilla Scoopable Ice Cream is a yummy – well – basic vanilla with a cooked custard base. THM S, low carb
Update – 2022:
My ice cream journey keeps evolving. Instead of rewriting this post I’ll just leave my initial thoughts here for posterity to show my excitement at finally crafting a scoopable ice cream recipe, BUT there’s been a further iteration in this journey and I want to share it with you. This Ultimate Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is now my go-to favorite ice cream base, and it doesn’t involve cooking a custard. If you’re just looking for a simple and quick vanilla ice cream, make that recipe. The texture is phenomenal and totally scoopable right out of the freezer. And despite containing 2 cups of cream, it comes out at 125 calories per serving – 4 calories less than this cooked custard recipe.
It has been my quest for YEARS to find a moderate-calorie homemade ice cream that’s SCOOPABLE out of the freezer! I have tried many ingredients and many methods but they all fell short. Until now. **dramatic drumroll** Introducing Basic Vanilla Scoopable Ice Cream.
We all love the convenient yumminess of Halo Top and Carb Smart; but Halo Top is really expensive and has some cane sugar in the ingredients so you have to be pretty careful with your portions, and Carb Smart uses Splenda which isn’t ideal for frequent consumption. The obvious solution is to make your own, but a lot of homemade ice creams (even the homemade ice cream my family used to make before we knew about the THM lifestyle) freeze rock hard if you don’t eat them right after churning. Using a lot of high-fat ingredients like a boatload of heavy whipping cream can help them stay softer and creamier after long-term freezing, but that’s awfully calorie dense! While recipes like that can be great for special treats, I happen to enjoy ice cream on a regular basis. And I don’t like half cup servings, either.
Today’s recipe is the culmination of years of experimentation and research and is a delicate balance of ingredients with a dose of science. I don’t recommend replacing ingredients or varying the procedure because everything is in here for a reason and you may not get the same results if you change something. I usually encourage people to take my recipes and run with them to make them their own, but this recipe is a little more finicky than most. I’ve tried to figure out which elements help ice cream stay softer after being frozen (dairy products such as half and half and cream, eggs, xylitol, vegetable glycerin, air – which is why I blend the cream in after cooking the egg mixture) and combined them in a way that gives me a scoopable end result while not overloading the calories.
A lot of my older recipes are even lighter than this one, but they take longer to thaw to an eatable consistency when leftovers are frozen for an extended period of time. Speaking of which, this recipe still takes about 10 minutes at room temperature to thaw to a scoopable consistency. Halo Top is the same way! If you store this recipe in a shallow container (like this ice cream storage container), it will thaw quickly, and even if it won’t scoop for a few minutes, you can still pick at it with a fork right out of the freezer, no problem. Don’t ask me how I know.
This Basic Vanilla Scoopable Ice Cream has a good flavor and a creamy texture! If you want to make it even creamier, feel free to substitute some more cream for part of the almond milk, but keep in mind that you’ll be increasing the calories. Since I like to enjoy peanut butter on my ice cream, it’s better for my waistline to keep the ice cream itself as calorie smart as possible. 😉
YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:
Check out my no cook Ultimate Vanilla Bean Ice Cream!
My ice cream making journey has been a long one, and this Ultimate Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is the latest stop on that path. It has the best taste and texture of any ice cream base I’ve made so far, and it doesn’t involve cooking a custard. Give it a try!
Basic Vanilla Scoopable Ice Cream
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 12 half cup servings
Description
This Basic Vanilla Scoopable Ice Cream is a yummy – well – basic vanilla with a cooked custard base. THM S, low carb
Ingredients
COOK:
- 2 cups half and half
- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon glucomannan
ADD AND BLEND:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup xylitol (or more, to taste)*
- 1 tablespoon vegetable glycerin
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/32 teaspoon (3 doonks) THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder
Instructions
*Since making this recipe I have discovered that THM Gentle Sweet (made with xylitol) is my preferred sweetener for ice cream. In this recipe I would use about 1/2 cup THM Gentle Sweet in place of the xylitol and stevia, adjusting to taste.
Add the first set of ingredients to a saucepan and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Add the glucomannan slowly while blending to avoid clumping.
Cook over medium heat to 160*-170*F, whisking constantly, at least once the mixture heats up. (An instant read thermometer is really helpful here.) As soon as the temp reaches 160*, pull the pan off the heat. (Tip: if you don’t have an instant read thermometer, just cook the custard until it’s thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remember that water boils at 212*, and 160* is a lot lower than that, so don’t boil the custard or you’ll end up with curdled eggs.)
Immediately add the rest of the ingredients to cool the custard down. Whisk or blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the sweetener as desired. Chill completely before churning.
Churn the chilled custard in a 1.5 quart ice cream churn according to manufacturer’s directions. Transfer to an ice cream storage container and freeze to firm up – overnight is great!
If needed, let the ice cream thaw on the counter for 10 minutes before scooping for best taste and texture. (Even Halo Top needs to thaw for a few minutes, so just be patient for the sake of healthy ingredients, folks! If you want it softer, just microwave it for a few seconds after scooping.) Note: using Gentle Sweet as your sweetener may make the ice cream more scoopable right out of the freezer due to the higher volume of xylitol.
Notes
Sweetener: THM Gentle Sweet (made with xylitol) is now my favorite sweetener to use for ice cream because it provides the best balanced sweetness and creamy, scoopable texture of any sweetener I have tried. It’s important to use a xylitol based sweetener (like Gentle Sweet) because xylitol keeps the ice cream scoopable after being in the freezer overnight. Xylitol is part of the key to the scoopability of this ice cream, so substituting other sweeteners could change that. Xylitol does cause digestive upset in some people and is poisonous to dogs so I understand that not everyone wants to use it, but you may sacrifice scoopability if you substitute other sweeteners. Feel free to add more sweetener if desired.
Vegetable glycerin: I don’t recommend omitting the vegetable glycerin. It helps keep the ice cream from sticking to the ice cream maker and vastly improves the creamy texture of the ice cream.
Glucomannan: Glucomannan is a natural thickening agent. If you don’t have it you could try substituting xanthan gum in its place.
Allergy info: gluten free | For a nut free version, you could try replacing the almond milk with carton coconut milk. Most people with tree nut allergies can have coconut products, but confirm with your doctor first.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Ice Cream
- Method: Churn
- Cuisine: THM S, low carb, sugar free
Keywords: thm, trim healthy mama, vanilla, ice cream, homemade ice cream, scoopable, custard base, sugar free ice cream
Im curious if you’ve used raw cream instead of whipping cream. I have some I need to use up right now, but I’ve noticed there’s usually carageenan added to heavy whipping cream, and it tends to be thicker than raw, so I wasn’t positive it would work the same.
No, I’m sorry, I haven’t.
I am intolerant to xylitol. Will I still be able to make this recipe with stevia?
Feel free to use your favorite sweetener to taste, but as I noted in the recipe, the xylitol is what keeps this recipe scoopable. 🙂
What do you mean by “not scoopable?” Does this mean that the ice cream will be stuck to the pan, or that the ice cream will remain life-like in texture?
I’m not sure what you mean by “life like in texture.” By not scoopable, I mean that the ice cream will be more like a block of frozen creamy dessert and not soft enough to scoop without a lengthier thawing time (half an hour at least).
Thanks!
Just made your ice cream followed the easy directions it was so easy to make and it’s delicious thank you very much!
★★★★★
Do you think this recipe would work in a Popsicle mold if you let it churn to a soft serve consistency then poured into the mold and let firm up in the freezer? I thought about making the chocolate drizzle and pouring into the molds and then pouring the soft serve consistency ice cream into the mold and putting the Popsicle stick in to have a chocolate covered ice creme stick. I was just wondering if you had ever tried it.
★★★★★
No, I’ve never tried that, but I’d be interested in hearing how it turns out! If you want a chocolate covered ice cream stick, I would just make the ice cream sticks as you mentioned, then dip them in chocolate ganache once frozen. The ganache should harden over the ice cream. If you put the chocolate coating in the molds you may have a hard time getting them out in one piece.
Can I use something else besides xylitol?
Feel free to use your favorite low glycemic sweetener, to taste, but keep in mind that it probably won’t have the same anti-freezing effects as xylitol. 🙂
Hi,
I’m making your icecream for the 1st time today and I’m hoping for a yummy icecream treat after 5 years of sugar free living! My concern is with the vegetable glycerin. I’ve never used it before and I’ve found websites saying it turns to glucose in the system anyway and that there are other health concern potentials (2 of my kids have asthma and my condition demands a very low glucose diet). Are there any substitutes you know of for this product? Thanks – Melissa
Hi Melissa! No, I’m afraid I don’t know of any substitutes that have the same effect. You can leave it out but the ice cream won’t be quite as creamy and may stick to the sides of the ice cream maker. It should still be good, though. 🙂
Since discovering this recipe several months ago, it’s the only ice cream we eat. I can’t wait to try the eggnog version which should work really well with my addition of 2 tablespoons of either bourbon or white rum. The rest of the recipe is identical to yours. I made pistachio on the last batch by adding some crushed nuts and almond extract to the base followed by whole pistachios as it was churning. So yummy. Thanks for such a great low carb and low calorie ice cream.
★★★★★
Thanks so much for your comment! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the ice cream, and your pistachio version sounds amazing! A good pistachio ice cream is on my list for the future. 🙂
Made this ice cream! I haven’t got to try it yet, still in the freezer. I was wondering how long it stays good in the freezer? An do you have nutrition facts for it?
As long as it’s in a tightly sealed container it should keep as long as any other ice cream usually keeps in your freezer. 🙂 The nutrition facts are at the bottom of the recipe card.
Thanks! We loved the ice cream! We just added 2 tbls of gentle sweet and a 1/2 tsp of vanilla to make it a little extra sweet.
Do you have one like this, but chocolate? My sons requested chocolate, I wasn’t sure how/when to add the chocolate.
Yay! I’m so glad to hear that! I’m glad you added more sweetener to make it what you liked. 🙂 I do have an amazing Extreme Chocolate Ice Cream recipe in my second cookbook, Convenient Food. It’s a little different than this one and is a little higher calorie, but totally worth it and the best chocolate ice cream I’ve ever made. There’s a Frozen Chocolate Custard recipe in Necessary Food that’s amazing as well. I have a Light Chocolate Ice Cream here on my website (and in Convenient Food) that you could try too: https://www.briana-thomas.com/dairy-free-light-chocolate-ice-cream/
All of those recipes are a little different in ingredients/nutrition/process than the recipe in this post, but all are delicious! You could also just try adding some cocoa powder (after cooking) and sweetener to the recipe in this post.
Thank you!!!😁
Okay so my ice cream just give isbed in the ice cream mixer…. Should it still be liquid!? I just put it in the freezer.
I’m afraid you were a victim of autocorrect and I’m not sure what happened to your ice cream. 🙂 It should reach a soft serve consistency in the ice cream maker before transferring it to the freezer.
Mine didn’t get to soft serve either. It was thoroughly chilled and I didn’t make any changes to the recipe.
I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you! The only times that’s ever happened to me was when my ice cream maker freezer insert wasn’t thoroughly frozen.
Could alcohol work instead of glycerin?
I’ve never tried alcohol in my recipes so I don’t know how it acts, but you’re welcome to experiment! I know that some people do that to keep it from freezing so hard, but I’m not sure on amounts required. I think the glycerin may have a better impact on the texture (creamier) in general.
I have made this ice cream and it was wonderful! I was wondering if it would work as popsicles? Could I just make it as written and freeze in popsicle molds instead of using the ice cream maker?
Hi Erin! I’m so glad you liked it! I’ve never tried it as popsicles but I bet it would be good! You might want to make a smaller batch though, unless you have a LOT of popsicle molds!
Just finished making this. Wow!—mostly because of the lower calories AND great taste. Most LC ice cream recipes, as you noted, are very high in calories (which I have to monitor). I located this recipe just after discovering that Carb Smart has a new formula which traded polydextrose for maltodextrin so no more of that for us. For this recipe, the only change I made was using Now stevia glycerite (3/4 tsp which is 1/4 c sugar equivalent) for the THM sweetener. I really don’t know about how scoopable it will be, but I made twelve 100 g portions before putting in the freezer so it doesn’t matter. FWIW, the mixture was beginning to rise above the top of my 2 qt. Cuisinart freezer bowl. Not enough to require a spoon (sigh), but I did get every bit off the paddle and the 30 or so grams left in the bowl. Yum. Thank you so much.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you like it, Anne! Thanks for sharing how you did it.
Our family loved this recipe the best out of the others we’ve tried. Thank you! I made a THM DQ Peanut Buster Parfait the other night that was awesome and enjoyable knowing it wasn’t off plan.
★★★★★
Do you think I could make this without ice cream machine? And do you know how?
★★★★★
An ice cream machine will definitely make the best texture, but you can find some suggestions for making ice cream without an ice cream maker in this post: https://www.briana-thomas.com/your-healthy-ice-cream-faqs-answered/
I made this as vanilla in hopes I could try something else next (ok, mint chocolate chip!), but it had an icy consistency and not at all the smooth creaminess you and all the other comments have described. I used all the same ingredients and felt like I followed the directions to a t… any ideas what could have caused my ice crystals?
Hi Crystal! I’m sorry it didn’t turn out for you! If you followed the directions and used all the same ingredients I did, I’m not sure what could be causing the iciness. You cooked the ice cream base, then chilled it? Used xylitol, glucomannan, and vegetable glycerin? What brand of glycerin did you use? I’m just trying to troubleshoot where the problems would most likely be coming from. 🙂 What kind of container did you store it in? A shallow container with a very tight seal is best. Perhaps let it thaw on the counter a little longer before eating and see if that helps?
I used AuraCacia brand glycerin and a shallow container to store it in. I didn’t feel like it was the storage container. I am used to Halo Top and other ice creams you have to leave to thaw. It was more like the actual consistency started off with too many crystals. How long do you usually let the ice cream go in the maker? Like what signals you that is is done? I feel like this one I left in longer than usual because it kept expanding and I thought maybe I let it get to airy.
Interesting. I’m not sure what would be causing the issues – I’m sorry! I usually just let the ice cream churn until it’s thick enough that it quits moving around in the ice cream maker or until it’s been churning for quite awhile and there are no noticeable changes in texture anymore (which means that the freezer bowl is losing its chill). The texture varies according to the richness of the ice cream recipe and the ingredients used, but it’s often a thick soft-serve texture.
used this recipe to make strawberry banana ice cream. fabulous. thanks for the recipe.
Linda
I’m glad you were able to adapt it, Linda!
This was amazing. Next time I will hide it from the teenage boys so it doesn’t disappear overnight! I did only have Gentle Sweet so I used a half-cup of that only (no pure stevia) and it turned out wonderfully!
★★★★★
Awesome! I’m so glad it turned out for you! Thanks for sharing the amount of Gentle Sweet you used.
I really dislike the aftertaste of the pure stevia. If I just used xylitol or maybe added Gentle Sweet would it create any problems? Thanks
That should be fine. 🙂 Feel free to substitute with your favorite sweetener.
Directions are a little wonky. What do I do with the second set of ingredients? Do I add to the first? It says pull of the heat (for the 1st) but unclear if 2nd set Is added to it or use a 2nd pot? ThAnks!
Hmm…maybe the instructions aren’t all showing up on the device you’re viewing from? They state, “Add the first set of ingredients to a saucepan and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Add the glucomannan slowly while blending to avoid clumping. Cook the ice cream mixture just until it starts to bubble, whisking occasionally, then pull it off the heat. Add the second set of ingredients and blend with an immersion blender for 1-2 minutes. Let the mixture cool on the counter, then cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight to chill completely.”
Add the second set of ingredients to the saucepan containing the first set of ingredients after pulling the pan off the heat, then blend with an immersion blender. 🙂
I am trying to find a flat container for the freezer. Do you have one that you recommend? I can’t tell if I’m the picture it is just one of those plastic food storage containers…
I love to use Tupperware products! They have really good seals that protect food well in the freezer.
I highly suggest SUMO ice cream containers (can get on Amazon). They are a bit more expensive but SO worth it. They are insulated and shaped perfectly to scoop out ice-cream. I bought two and use them all the time. They are designed well! They fit in the freezer perfectly and hold 1.5 quarts of homemade ice cream.
Briana – thank you for your wonderful recipes!
Thanks for the suggestion, Peggy!
Is there a substitute for the Stevia extract powder?
★★★★★
Feel free to use your favorite low-glycemic sweetener, to taste. 🙂 Pure stevia is super concentrated so keep that in mind.
Hi Briana. I visited your site a few weeks ago, and was very impressed. I’m new to this Keto diet I’m on, and started looking for low carb “cheats”. This dish looked like a winner, so I of course went out and got a ice cream churn. (I got the Cuisinart ICE -21 1.5 qt). The last of the ingredients came in yesterday, so I went and got the grocery items and put it together last night and in the fridge. A little worried as you have 1.5 quarts of liquids alone, plus the eggs and everything else, it would overrun the machine. I made the ice cream this morning, and it went really smooth, and so is the ice cream. And near the end of the churn, I was right, it did start coming out the top. Now, there is a job I can do every day, standing over your ice cream maker with a spoon in hand….ha, ha. It never did overflow though. The ice cream is excellent, smooth and flavorful, and thanks so much for putting this together. Had to use a small spoon to clean up. It was a hard job, but someone had to do it. ; )
★★★★★
Haha…glad you enjoyed the ice cream!
I read some negative scary reviews about the immersion blender. Could this part of the recipe be performed in my Vita-Mix blender perhaps?
★★★★★
I actually recommend using an immersion blender for blending the second set of ingredients into the hot ice cream base because blending hot ingredients in a covered blender can lead to pressure buildups and explosions. But it’s up to you! (You could definitely use your Vitamix for the initial blending of the cold ingredients before cooking. I was just trying to cut down on dishes.)
Wow! This is the best ice cream I have made so far. Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that, Pamela!
It`s in the fridge with my hubby asking “Is it ready yet?”.
Will rate after we get a taste.
Is there any way you can make this dairy-free?
You’re welcome to try substituting canned coconut milk for the dairy products in this recipe, but I’m not sure how it’ll turn out. I plan to experiment with scoopable dairy-free recipes sometime after my wedding!
I see u r using half & half in this one. Can heavy cream be used or will this change the texture?
Also thank u for doing the carb count because u say low carb on your recipes but it is nice to see what the carb count really is =)
Thanks
You could use heavy cream but the ice cream will be a lot heavier in calories. 🙂 The texture should actually be better (creamier), though!
Ok thanks, not really worried about calories but carbs =)