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Recipe and pictures updated 2/24/16.
Between ice cream and chocolate, I don’t know which would be the quickest way to my heart. So I combined them.
And we’re not just talking chocolate. We’re talking melt in your mouth fudge chunks in creamy vanilla ice cream that tastes totally yummy but is totally healthy. Happy Valentine’s Day (or Single’s Awareness Day, depending on your Facebook relationship status. Mine reads, “Blissfully unattached.”).
I’m just gonna shut up now while you go make this ice cream. Because words would just detract from the atmosphere.
You can find this recipe in my cookbook, Necessary Food.
- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- ½ cup cottage cheese
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 T vegetable glycerin, optional but highly recommended
- 1½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 6-7 doonks THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder (a doonk is 1/32 tsp.)
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. glucomannan
- 2 T butter
- 2 T natural peanut butter
- 1½ T cocoa powder
- 2 packets Truvia (1½ tsp. or use ¾ tsp. THM Super Sweet Blend)
- 1 T unsweetened almond milk
- Combine all the ice cream ingredients together in a high-powered blender and blend until completely smooth. Freeze the mixture in an automatic ice cream churn according to manufacturer's directions. (See below for the model I use.)
- Meanwhile, soften the butter and peanut butter together in a bowl in the microwave. Stir in the cocoa powder and sweetener until totally mixed. Add the tablespoon of unsweetened almond milk and whisk until everything blends together smoothly and the fudge thickens. Set aside.
- When the ice cream is done, transfer it to a freezer-safe container. Put the fudge on top and using a knife, swirl it into the ice cream until it is in chunks of your desired size. Put the ice cream in the freezer to allow it and the fudge to firm up (about half an hour, or longer if desired).
- 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.
- 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.
Suggested products:
- Cuisinart 1 1/2 qt. Automatic Ice Cream Churn
- Ninja blender
- Glucomannan
- Vegetable Glycerin
- THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder and Sweet Blend can be purchased from the Trim Healthy Mama online store.
- Truvia
- Hershey Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
WOW! This looks great! I have your first cookbook and LOVE it!
I’m so glad! I enjoyed checking out your blog. =)
I’m trying icecream for the first time and using the icecream making you use.tge mixing arm is like stuck in place and not turning the icecream and the icecream is in a big glob in the middle. Any trouble shooting helps?
Did you turn the machine on before pouring the ice cream mixture in? If you don’t, it will freeze like a block of ice before you can turn the blades on. 🙂 Referring to your manual will help.
This is my husband and my absolute favorite flavor! We even tried the fudge chunks in the peanut butter ice cream, and it was good too, but still second place to this one.
I just substitute an egg yolk for the vegetable glycerin. Thanks, Briana!
So glad you enjoy it, Laura!
could I sub coconut milk for the almond milk? (kid with a nut allergy) and if so, would you suggest carton or canned?
Yes, that should work. 🙂 Carton coconut milk would be very similar to the carton almond milk I used, but canned would work as well for a richer result.
I can’t thank you enough for this delicious recipe !!! I needed something to help me get back to good THM eating and this is wonderful!!
Hi! This looks delicious! I don’t have vegetable glycerine. Is that like gelatin? Would gelatin work instead?
Hi Anna, vegetable glycerin is actually a liquid, and it helps give a smoother texture to ice cream. This is the product I buy from Amazon (affiliate link): https://www.briana-thomas.com/recommends/vegetable-glycerin-2/
I’m afraid gelatin doesn’t have the same properties.
Would it work to sub a couple more eggs for the heavy cream?
You’re welcome to try whatever you like, but I can only vouch for the results as written. I haven’t really experimented with eggs instead of cream so I’m not sure what to tell you.
Okay, I’ll have to try it. Thank you!
Brianna, God has gifted you with an amazing talent at such a young age! Keep up the great work!! My question is, for your ice creams, can you sub Xanthan gum for the gluccie or would that not work so well?
Hi Sandra! Thank you for the sweet words. Most of the time you can substitute xanthan gum and glucomannan interchangeably, but I haven’t tried it in ice cream. I’m guessing it would work but can’t say for sure since I haven’t tried it myself. Let me know if you try it!
Ahh, not sure how I missed the reply, but I will try it at some point and let you know.
I am wanting to know if I can replace the Stevia in any of your recipes? I have a Hubby who doesn’t care for the bitterness of it. I use xylitol erythritol, and sweet blend. Does the stevia make it bitter? I like THM Stevia, but trying to get a dessert the whole family can enjoy!
Thank-you,
Julie
Hi Julie! You’re more than welcome to substitute your favorite sweetener for the stevia if you don’t care for it. The Trim Healthy Mama website has a conversion chart that might be helpful for you. I don’t the brand of stevia I use in the amounts I have listed make it bitter at all. Most people oversweeten and that’s why it’s bitter. However, if you try any of my recipes and don’t care for the taste, by all means switch the sweetener out for something you enjoy.
Sounds so good. I’m lactose intolerant so hoping you might suggest a substitute for heavy whipping cream and cottage cheese. I typically sub greek strained yogurt for cottage cheese in other THM recipes. If I used coconut milk or additional almond milk in place of whipping cream, and added an additionsl egg, do you think that would work?
Thank you in advance!
Gretchen Strawn
Hi Gretchen, I personally wouldn’t suggest subbing Greek yogurt for the cottage cheese because Greek yogurt tends to have a fairly sour flavor. Using full-fat coconut milk as a substitution might work, but I wouldn’t suggest substituting the carton coconut or almond milks for the whipping cream. If you would do that, you’d need several eggs to replace the fat content. I’ve actually been toying with the idea of creating some dairy-free ice creams, so when I can lay my hands on some full-fat coconut milk I’ll probably do that. For now, my suggestion would be to go with an already-dairy-free ice cream recipe (like this one: http://minimalistbaker.com/dairy-free-chocolate-ice-cream/ ) and just replace the sugar with an on-plan granulated sweetener. 🙂
Thank you for your love of kitchen chemistry! Keep it up!!
This looks delicious! If I were to leave out the egg, do you think it would make a big difference? What do you think I could add in its place?
The egg just adds to the richness without as many calories as whipping cream, but you could definitely add an extra couple of tablespoons of whipping cream to make up the difference.
I don’t see egg… did this comment go to another recipe? I’d love to put egg in for extra protein and leave out some heavy cream if it can be done.
I’ve updated the recipe, and the original called for an egg. So many people have issues eating raw egg that I’ve taken it out of most of my recipes. You’re welcome to experiment with adding some eggs in place of some of the cream, although I’ve found this amount of cream to be a good amount.
Hi Briana, once I’ve done the Vanilla ice cream part can I churn it like normal in my Ice cream machine for 15 mins then add the fudge in the last 5 mins? Would that work?
If you do that, the fudge will probably not stay in bigger chunks, so it all depends on how big you want your fudge pieces to be. 🙂
This looks so good! Just pinned it to my ice cream board
Oh, my word! This sounds wonderful! I need to try to buy one of those ice cream churns. I have always thought making ice cream would be beyond my scope of capability. By God’s grace, I just might be able to handle this after all!! Enjoy your time away. 🙂