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Briana Thomas

easy, healthy recipes...and lots of ice cream!

Ice Cream FAQs

Your homemade sugar free ice cream questions answered!

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My ice cream recipe index

Ice Cream Recipe Index

Equipment

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Ice Cream Equipment

Ice cream churn | I use this Cuisinart 1 1/2 quart automatic countertop ice cream churn to make all my ice creams. It’s super easy to use and doesn’t involve the mess of ice and rock salt. Just keep the insert in your freezer and pull it out when you want to make ice cream!

Feel free to use your favorite churn to make my recipes. Just be aware that you may need to change the size of the batch to fit into your particular churn.

Blender | If an ice cream recipe involves eggs or cottage cheese or granulated sweetener (or basically anything else that’s not liquid or a fine powder), a blender can be really helpful to get the ice cream base completely smooth. I love my Vitamix!

Immersion blender | If you don’t want to dig the big blender out (or clean it), an immersion blender can simplify making an ice cream base.

Instant read thermometer | This really comes in handy when cooking a custard (egg) based ice cream. It takes the guess work out of how long to cook the base to a safe temp without scrambling the eggs.

Ice cream storage container | I prefer a relatively shallow container for storing ice cream so that the ice cream can thaw faster if needed to achieve the best consistency for scooping and eating. This Tupperware Modular Mate size fits most of my ice cream recipes perfectly.

Ingredients

ice cream ingredients

Cream | Fat content is kind of the key to good ice cream. Cream is the easiest path to delicious, “normal” ice cream with that silky mouth feel we all love. An ice cream base using all cream would be overkill, so I like to balance it out with half and half.

Half and half | Half and half isn’t as calorie dense as cream but it stays creamier than almond milk when frozen, so I often use it as part of the volume in my ice cream recipes. (It has far fewer carbs than whole milk, which is often used in traditional homemade ice cream.)

Tip: Dairy products make for the creamiest ice cream, which is why my favorite ice cream base recipe uses cream and half and half. Adding a nut milk will decrease the calories but also make for an icier texture.

Tip: Lower fat ice creams and/or ice creams made using nut milks are best eaten on the melty side for the most creamy texture.

Unsweetened almond, cashew, or coconut milk (the very light kind from the carton with about 40 calories per cup) | I use this in my ice cream bases when I want a lower fat ice cream. Nut milks are great in that they’re low calorie, but they’re also going to give you an icier texture than dairy products.

Canned coconut milk | This is what I usually use as my base if I want to make a dairy free ice cream. (Click here for my dairy free base recipe.) I use Thai Kitchen brand full fat coconut milk (unless I want a low fat ice cream), which you can find at Walmart or your local grocery store with the Asian foods.

Click here for all my dairy free ice creams!

Cottage cheese | I use this in some of my recipes to add creaminess without a lot of extra calories. I don’t usually recommend using Greek yogurt in its place because yogurt has more of a tang.

Eggs | Eggs (especially their yolks) can really add to the richness and enhance the texture of homemade ice creams! Cooking and chilling a custard ice cream base takes time, but the results can be delicious.

Egg whites | Sometimes I use carton pasteurized egg whites in low fat ice cream recipes for extra protein and a fluffy consistency.

Sweetener | THM Gentle Sweet (made with xylitol) is 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 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.

Vegetable glycerin | This article does a good job of explaining what vegetable glycerin is, so I’ll let you read it instead of trying to put everything into my own words. It’s a clear liquid that helps give ice cream a creamy texture and stay scoopable instead of icy when frozen. It also helps keep the ice cream from creating a thick frozen layer on your ice cream churn insert. I have not received a definitive answer about how much is approved on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, but supposedly it’s safe for diabetics and doesn’t metabolize like sugar does. I only use about a tablespoon in my recipes for my 1.5 quart ice cream churn, so you’re getting a small amount per serving. You can make ice cream without vegetable glycerin, but once I started using it I haven’t made ice cream without it. I always buy vegetable glycerin on Amazon and have linked the brand I use. I’ve heard that you can often find vegetable glycerin in the skincare section of grocery or health food stores, and I believe that NOW brand is food grade.

Glucomannan | Glucomannan is a natural thickening agent made from the konjac root. It adds body to the ice cream and helps make it creamy. If you don’t have it you can try substituting xanthan gum in its place in the same amount. (Xanthan gum is easy to find locally.) Since glucomannan can clump when it comes into contact with liquid, add it a little at a time while blending or whisking. Brands may vary in strength, so if you find your ice cream to be slimy, try decreasing the amount of glucomannan.

Vanilla extract | Ice cream is one place that I think a good vanilla extract is worth using, especially if vanilla is the primary flavor.

Vanilla bean powder | This is a “luxury” item that can be fun to have on hand. If you’re like my mom, those crunchy vanilla bean specks are what make the ice cream *chef’s kiss.* (Try this Ultimate Vanilla Bean Ice Cream recipe.)

What sweetener works best in sugar free ice cream?

THM Gentle Sweet (made with xylitol) is 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 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.

Always feel free to add more sweetener to my recipes! Taste buds vary so much and I definitely prefer less sweetener than a lot of people do.

I used to use THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder to sweeten all my ice cream recipes…until I found that xylitol keeps them scoopable! I then switched to using a combination of xylitol and stevia. And then I broke down and just bought some THM Gentle Sweet (not the xylitol free blend) and found that it really gives the best result. If you’re making one of my older recipes, I recommend switching out the sweetener for the best experience.

In my Ultimate Vanilla Bean Ice Cream recipe – my favorite base recipe – I use 1/2 cup THM Gentle Sweet for a 1.5 quart ice cream recipe. You can use this as your starting point and taste and adjust from there depending on whether you like more or less sweetener than I do. (The ice cream flavor may change the amount needed as well.) Note: some of my older recipes don’t make a full 1.5 quarts, so you may not need the full amount of sweetener.

Tip: Erythritol does not have the same anti-freezing effect that xylitol does. I tested it. This means that THM Super Sweet Blend will not have the same scoopability results that THM Gentle Sweet does.

How to keep your homemade ice cream scoopable

Check out the Ingredients section above to learn more about these ingredients and what they do.

How to cook a custard based ice cream

Blend the custard mixture together until smooth using a regular blender or immersion blender.

Cook in a saucepan 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.

Chill the cooked custard completely before churning.

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.

How to use your Cuisinart 1.5 quart ice cream churn

I know that making ice cream may seem daunting if you’ve never done it before, but trust me: ice cream is one of the easiest healthy desserts to make (in my unbiased opinion). Blend some stuff in a blender, pour it into an ice cream churn, eat. A countertop ice cream churn (like the Cuisinart 1.5 quart model that I use) with a freezer canister is hassle-free and easy to clean. Let me show you where to start.

The ice cream maker comes with a bowl insert that you keep in your freezer. When you’re ready to make your ice cream, simply place the canister on the ice cream machine, lock the plastic blades inside the canister with the plastic cover, turn the machine on, and add your ice cream base!

Tip: Make sure the ice cream base is not warm. If you used cold ingredients to make it, you’re good to go. If you cooked a custard base, chill it before churning.

Tip: Make sure your ice cream churn’s freezer insert is completely frozen before trying to make ice cream, otherwise your ice cream will not freeze properly. Your ice cream churn’s instruction manual will have information on how long your specific model takes to freeze. When you first get your ice cream churn and freeze the insert, I recommend letting it freeze for 48 hours to make sure it’s properly frozen. For subsequent batches, I like to give my ice cream canister 24 hours in the freezer just to be on the safe side.

Tip: Turn the machine on and make sure the canister is rotating before adding your ice cream base. Otherwise the base will start freezing to the canister and may lock the blades in place, and then you’re up a creek with no ice cream.

In 20-30 minutes, you’ll have soft serve ice cream! I wait to stop the machine until I can tell that the ice cream has been spinning for a few minutes with no noticeable change in texture. When the ice cream is finished, transfer it to an ice cream storage container. (I use a plastic spatula so I don’t scratch the surface of the freezer canister.) Enjoy right away as a soft serve or freeze for several hours to firm up.

Storing homemade ice cream

I prefer to store ice cream in a shallow container with an airtight seal, like this ice cream storage container. It’s a Tupperware Modular Mate that’s the perfect size for most of my ice cream recipes. The shallow container means that the ice cream can thaw fairly quickly if needed for a better texture. (Although my recent recipes are creamy and scoopable right out of the freezer.)

If portion control is an issue for you, or if the ice cream you make is low fat and/or not as scoopable, you might want to freeze it in individual portions for easy thawing.

If your ice cream isn’t scoopable right out of the freezer, it will probably need to thaw for 30-60 minutes on the counter (or 3 hours in the fridge) to achieve a scoopable consistency. (Individual portions probably won’t need this long.)

A great way to use up leftover ice cream that has frozen solid is to make a milkshake! Blend it up with some unsweetened almond milk, half and half, or heavy cream + some sweetener and add any additional flavorings or stir-ins you desire.

I don’t have an ice cream churn. Can I still make ice cream?

If you don’t have an ice cream maker and don’t want to invest in one, you have a couple of options:

  • Make a no churn ice cream. I do not personally have a lot of experience with this, but I’m sure there are recipes out there if you know how to Google. Most no churn ice cream recipes rely on sweetened condensed milk or something similar to give them a nice consistency, but I’ve seen a few healthy (sugar free) no churn ice cream recipes floating around. You’ll probably need a recipe with a high fat content and a xylitol-based sweetener if you want something remotely scoopable.
  • Use your blender. Quite a few ice cream recipes can be made using a blender, although the texture won’t be as nice. Simply freeze the ice cream mixture in ice cube trays, soften the cubes a bit, then blend them with a little unsweetened almond milk or cream in a high-powered blender until a soft serve consistency is reached. Freeze the ice cream in your freezer for an hour or so to firm up more, if desired.
  • Try the plastic bag method. Click here for a tutorial. (Use a low glycemic sweetener instead of the sugar, or just use the method with a different recipe.)
  • The single serve recipes in my ice cream index (or this Mango Soft Serve) are made in a blender – no ice cream churn required.

My Ice Cream Recipes: Where to Start

If you’re new to making healthy homemade ice cream, or if you’re an old pro looking to source some new recipes – welcome!

I’ve been making ice cream since I started eating healthy (and blogging) in 2013, because a life without ice cream did not look appealing. I have learned a lot about making ice cream since then, and the recipes here on my site reflect quite a journey.

The older recipes are lower in fat and best eaten right away as a soft serve. I developed them before I knew how to keep sugar free ice cream scoopable.

The newer recipes – and older recipes that I have updated – will give you a better texture and remain scoopable right out of the freezer. (See below for a list of these.)

My favorite base ice cream recipe:

Updating the sweetener in my older recipes

I used to use THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder to sweeten all my ice cream recipes…until I found that xylitol keeps them scoopable! I then switched to using a combination of xylitol and stevia. And then I broke down and just bought some THM Gentle Sweet (not the xylitol free blend) and found that it really gives the best result. If you’re making one of my older recipes, I recommend switching out the sweetener for the best experience.

In my Ultimate Vanilla Bean Ice Cream recipe – my favorite base recipe – I use 1/2 cup THM Gentle Sweet for a 1.5 quart ice cream recipe. You can use this as your starting point and taste and adjust from there depending on whether you like more or less sweetener than I do. (The ice cream flavor may change the amount needed as well.) Note: some of my older recipes don’t make a full 1.5 quarts, so you may not need the full amount of sweetener.

Always feel free to add more sweetener to my recipes! Taste buds vary so much and I definitely prefer less sweetener than a lot of people do.

My favorite ice cream recipes:

These are my more recent (or updated) ice cream recipes that I recommend starting with.

Definitely check out my ice cream recipe index for tons of other ice cream options, including frozen treats like popsicles and ice cream pies. My second cookbook, Convenient Food, contains a lot of scoopable ice cream recipes as well, including more dairy free options.

Find more ice cream recipes in my cookbooks!

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Other pages you might enjoy: