So I’m uploading the photos for this post and it’s taking forever and I’m all like “I’ll just open a new tab and head over to Pinterest for a minute…” ((((time stops)))) An hour and 10 minutes later – here I am. With mascara smudged all over my face because I laughed so hard I cried. Four times. True story.
Anyhoo, let’s talk about ice cream people! I love it! In case you couldn’t tell by this giant photo of it to my left. Oh you didn’t notice? Yeah it’s right over there…
The great news about ice cream is that you can eat it when low carbing. The bad news is that most store bought ice creams are made with at least some milk which contains carbs from lactose sugar.
On top of that it’s made with strange unpronounceable goo to make it taste and feel sort of like the real thing and that’s just scary. So your best bet is to make it at home. Even then, it’s hard to get the right consistency with just cream and no sugar – I know this from experience because I’ve had a few fails in the last month that I never even bothered posting.
As a side point – I really need to do one “epic fail” post of all the lousy stuff I’ve made that you never see here just for fun! While I’m at it I could post photos of my kitchen and the giant pile of dishes that results from these cooking sprees I go on. And of me, still in my jammies and a ponytail, typing up posts after crazy day of said cooking and photographing. Of course all that would ruin your illusions that I’m like this amazing cooking savant who whips up delicious and beautiful food with zero effort on a daily basis while dressed to the nines and in a sparkling clean kitchen. Yeah. Forget I said anything – just keep on thinking that! ha ha! No pink and orange polka dotted pj’s and unshaven legs here…..nope…..perfectly groomed and coiffed and all that….
Anyway, success when it finally comes is oh so sweet – just like this amazing ice cream! If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can try just freezing it and mixing every 15 minutes but it probably won’t be as creamy! If you do have one, hooray! Read on!
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Sugar Free Mint Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy
- whipping cream
- 1/4 cup unsweetened
- almond milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 5 drops green food coloring
- 3 Tbsp Torani S.F. Peppermint flavored syrup
- 1/4 tsp mint extract
- 1 tsp stevia powder (or 2 Tbsp Splenda)
Instructions
- Combine cream and almond milk in a medium microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes.
- Combine all other ingredients in another bowl. Add to heated cream and stir until combined. Microwave for one minute. Stir. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir. Microwave for another 30 seconds, stir. (Don’t try to do this all in one step or you’ll end up with sweet green scrambled eggs. Trust me on this.) Alternatively you could heat it in a saucepan until thickened but be very very careful not to overcook it.
- Strain into a chilled bowl to get any lumps out and chill overnight in the fridge or in the freezer for 15-20 minutes until cold.
- Add to ice cream maker, following manufacturer instructions, and then eat soft or freeze until firmer.
Notes
You can add bits of dark chocolate or cocoa nibs in the final minutes of churning if you want. Or shave dark chocolate over it and drizzle sf chocolate sauce over it before eating like I do (I hate giant chunks of frozen solid chocolate in my ice cream but that’s just me!) However you eat it, it’s delicious! Creamy and smooth, just the way ice cream should be! Mmmm….mmmmmm….good!
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Ice cream
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup
- Calories: 315
- Fat: 35g
- Carbohydrates: 1.7g net
- Protein: 5g
Download my e-cookbook, The Gluten Free Low Carber for more awesome ice cream recipes!
Tyffany says
Mellissa, you are a genius! I had high hopes for this recipe and was not disappointed. It tasted every bit as good as your picture makes it look! I really didn’t believe a low carb, sugar free ice cream could be this much like a high quality, full sugar ice cream.
I did have to go to World Market to find the peppermint flavor of Torani syrup, after trying Walmart and another grocery store. Also, I added chopped roasted almonds and chopped 90% chocolate to the mix at the end. We liked the additions.
Ice Cream Magic says
One of the benefits to making your own ice cream is that you get to make it whatever flavor you (or the kids) wants! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Anonymous says
Isn’t the syrup a sugar? So then if it is, that wouldn’t be sugar free?
Mellissa Sevigny says
It’s a sugar free syrup that is sweetened with splenda so it is still sugar free. Just make sure you buy the sugar free one and not the regular one and you are good to go!
Laura Mcgrade says
This is probably the hundredth comment you have read on what an amazing job you do. You know..creating diabetic friendly, gluten free, low carb, sugar free deliciousness-ness. I just found your blog today and I’m amazed, awed, appalled, excited…glad….that I can get to now cook yummy and even *sweet* things! Not have to feel the sugar rise explosion through my body.. (specially now that I’m pregnant and everything affects me even more). I just wanted to thank you for using your brilliant intellect (google helps doesn’t it?) and coming out with these amazing recipes for your health and ours! It’s a sweet thing indeed. Thank you!
Mellissa Sevigny (sevimel) says
Thank YOU Laura for taking the time to leave such a “sweet” (see what I did there?? tee hee…)comment! :) Congrats on the pregnancy and I hope these recipes help you manage your own sugar cravings as well as they do for me!
JavelinWarrior says
Mellissa, I’m in love with this ice cream! I can’t believe it’s possible to make this sugar-free – with this kind of texture… I have featured this post in today’s Friday Food Fetish roundup. Let me know if you have any objections and thanks for the inspiration
Mellissa Sevigny (sevimel) says
What? FFFR again! Sweet! I’m on a roll – woot woot! ;) Glad you like the ice cream JW – I will say that it needs a couple of minutes to soften back up when you take it out of the freezer to enjoy the best texture when you’re eating it. Just had some more last night and still loving it! Thanks for the feature – FFFR rocks!
MyFudoâ„¢ says
Looks like a perfect treat…I am using the gel food color, less of this I supposed. I want it to be light greenish in color, like yours. Excited to try this out…;)
Mellissa Sevigny (sevimel) says
I’m going to finish off the rest after I put my son to bed and I can’t wait! :) I guess start with less color and keep adding until you get the tint you want – it’ll taste good no matter what color it turns out though!
Chef Connie says
Again, another fabulous low carb recipe. I will have to try this. I think I need to get some of the sugar free syrups!
thanks for the inspiration.
Mellissa Sevigny (sevimel) says
Thanks Connie, hope you like it! You could probably use splenda or stevia and mint extract in the absence of the syrup but I do think the syrup helps the consistency. I love all of the sf syrups. I bought a bunch and haven’t even tried them all yet! Definitely makes a difference in the desserts and opens up a lot of new flavor options!
Lisa @ Organized Chaos says
Gosh, this looks so great right now!! I wish I had an ice cream maker! I have never made homemade ice cream before, but if I ever do…this one is the first to be tried! Pinning!
~Lisa @ O.C.
Mellissa Sevigny (sevimel) says
Thanks for the Pin Lisa! Don’t let lack of an ice cream maker stop you, as long as you stir it 4 or 5 times during the freezing process it will still be delicious and creamy! Let us know if you try it!
pietro says
Cream is another food that is non-standard throughout the world so just wondering the percentage of milk fat in your “heavy cream”. In Australia we get 35% milk fat usually thickened with gelatin, and 45% milk fat, called pure cream or sometimes double cream.
Mellissa Sevigny (sevimel) says
Actually I should have specified that I used heavy whipping cream which is required to have 36% or more of milk fat. The brand I used for this recipe doesn’t give a percentage but I usually use an organic heavy whipping cream that I get at Costco – I think the name is Farmland or something like that. I haven’t seen double cream around here but I will look next time!
Sandra Sebastian says
I thought that “heavy whipping cream” in US about equalled “double cream in UK”
Paul Halliday says
Haha! Good on you … good method! Funnily enough, “Bacon & Egg Ice Cream” from Chef Heston Blumenthal came about from a mistake – scrambling the eggs.
Lots of technology in there, but if backward cavemen like me want to try this out, it’s a case of gently warming heavy cream with egg yolks, allowing it to air cool and then popping it in the freezer, whipping it every 30 minutes until you just can’t anymore. The sweetness from coconut milk works well for me with no need for non-sugar sweetener. Stevia is a banned food in the UK anyway.
This does remind me to make ice cream again – I’ve been on a real Panna Cotta kick recently (how good is Panna Cotta?) and think I’ll try out some proper wacky concoctions – pistachio and wasabi? Mint, too, with coconut. That sounds like a combination as daft as the Three Stooges, yet could work so well.
Again, inspired … thank you.
Mellissa Sevigny (sevimel) says
Hey Paul! What??? Stevia is banned in the UK? Must. Google. Now! Ok not RIGHT now but as soon as I finish this comment! I like the sound of all of your wacky concoctions! Oddly enough I have never made Panna Cotta but I’m going to put it on my list of things to try soon! Thanks!!
Mellissa Sevigny (sevimel) says
Ok, googled it and according to what I read from several sources it’s believed to be banned because it provides too much competition to the chemical sugar substitute products big business and the govt are profiting from. Whether this is true or not I don’t know but my main concern was safety in using it which doesn’t seem to be the issue. Bummer for you guys though!
liam broadbent says
Actually it was recently legalized over here in the UK. I have recently started seeing Truvia appear on the shelves and also has been advertised on tv. Great looking icecream by the way!
Mellissa Sevigny (sevimel) says
Thanks Liam! It tasted as good as it looked! :) I use the Truvia brand or the PureVia brand over here too – whichever I can get cheaper when I stock up. I used to use Splenda which is Sucralose but switched to Stevia because it’s a more natural product. The taste took some getting used to though!