As one who loves homemade ice cream (who doesn’t?), and also enjoys experimenting with low carb spins on typical favorites, my attention was piqued by the simplest New York Times headline: The Best Ice Cream Maker.
I’m not typically a gadget person. I find that, at least for me, they usually just sit there, still boxed and unused, sometimes for decades.
But the best ice cream maker? That’s a big statement.
The folks at Wirecutter tested 21 ice cream makers, looking at things like simplicity of design, ease of cleaning and churn speed (a faster churn time means finer ice crystals and smoother texture), and landed on the Cuisinart ICE-21RP1 as their favorite.
I must say, I think they’re spot-on. And at $69.95, it also happens to cost far less than their other recommendations.
It’s stunningly simple; many of the recipes in the accompanying booklet are literally a one-two process: whisk the ingredients in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for a few hours. Pour into the ice cream maker, press one button and you’ve got a batch of rich, creamy ice cream in 20 minutes.
The hardest part about the entire process is planning ahead and remembering to freeze the bowl overnight before churning.
If do-it-yourself homemade ice cream sounds like your kind of thing – and if you’ve read this far in our wellness column – you may feel a bit of ambivalence. My dad, for one, mused that having such unfettered access to homemade ice cream might not be a good thing.
I get it. Which is why I was so excited to test out low- and no-sugar varieties as soon as our new ice cream maker arrived. Granted, they still contain heavy cream – so they’re not low in calories, just low in carbs and sugar.
My first round of lower-sugar ice cream was just that – lower in sugar. We used the ‘simple vanilla ice cream’ recipe from the instruction manual. The only edit was to cut the sugar by 50 percent.We kept everything else exactly the same. Even with half the sugar, the ice cream was surprisingly sweet, and still rich and creamy.
For my next batch, I went very low carb, with zero sugar. Still just a simple vanilla ice cream, but it was ridiculously creamy and rich, in the best of ways. I love this version as much – actually, I think more – than any super premium, rich vanilla ice cream I can remember.
I used two zero-calorie plant-based sweeteners in place of sugar: Swerve Confectioners and granular allulose. Both measure cup-for-cup like sugar. I opted for the confectioners-style specifically (versus granular sweetener) to give the ice cream a smoother texture. And allulose is a sweetener that brings a good bit of moisture into recipes, so I included it in hopes that it would impart a satisfying creaminess.
The original recipe called for 3/4 cup of sugar (12 tablespoons). For my first batch, I used 6 tablespoons of granular allulose and 6 tablespoons of Swerve Confectioners. It was a notch too sweet, so I dialed the Swerve back to just 4 tablespoons and the result was perfection.
Regardless of which ice cream maker you use, it’s easy to create these lower- and no-sugar variations with a few simple ingredient edits. Or try out our recipe below and email me at wellness@myneworleans.com to let us know what you think!
Simple Vanilla Ice Cream | Low Carb, Zero Sugar
Makes about 10 half-cup servings
3 cups heavy cream
6 tablespoons granular allulose
4 tablespoons Confectioners Style Swerve
1 pinch salt
1 ½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk until sweeteners are dissolved. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours, or overnight.
Turn on the ice cream maker; pour the mixture into the frozen freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 15 to 20 minutes. The ice cream will have a soft creamy texture similar to soft-serve style. If a firmer consistency is desired transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer a few minutes before serving.
Tip: Make it vegan by substituting plant-based dairy free heavy
cream alternative (I like Califia Farms’ Dairy Free Heavy Whip) in
place of heavy cream.
• Half-sugar: Cut the sugar called for by 50%, you likely won’t even notice the difference.
• Zero-sugar low carb: Replace half of the sugar with granular allulose (available at Whole Foods and Amazon). Replace the other half with Confectioner’s Style Swerve (this can be dialed back even more if desired).
For those who are NOT DIY’ers – Storebought Ice Cream!
3 low carb, low sugar pints that we’re loving now
*nutrition facts for 2/3 cup serving
Mammoth Creameries
340 calories, 2 grams net carbs, 2 grams sugar
Halo Top KETO
160 calories, 3 grams net carbs, 1 gram sugar
Rebel (Molly’s favorite!)
210 calories, 1 gram net carb, 0 sugar
