Ninja Creami Keto Vanilla Ice Cream

March 9, 2024

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Published: Aug 9, 2022 · Modified: Dec 16, 2022 by Cathy Chenard · This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Sweet and creamy, sugar-free and keto vanilla ice cream made in the Ninja Creami! It’s just as yummy as store-bought vanilla ice cream and so easy to make in the Ninja Creami!

Vanilla ice cream scoops in a bowl with mint leaves served with a spoon.

We went through many iterations to create our favorite keto vanilla ice cream in the Ninja Creami. We tried various versions with almond milk, protein powder, and alternative sweeteners. In the end, this sugar-free vanilla ice cream made with heavy cream and allulose won over our taste buds.

We love the sweet cream flavor in this ice cream, thanks to the heavy cream. It’s hard to tell this vanilla ice cream is even keto or sugar-free due to it’s smooth, creamy texture and sweet vanilla flavor, which comes with no strange aftertaste.

Vanilla may not have the excitement of other flavored ice creams, but it should! It’s an ideal base for so many fun and tasty add-ins like keto-friendly cookies, chocolate chips, nuts and more. Plus, it’s perfect with pie or cake!

Each serving of this ice cream is just 1.6 net carbs and 177 calories.

Unlike some of our other Ninja Creami recipes, we strongly recommend using allulose as a sweetener for this recipe. In our experience, recipes that combine a large amount of heavy cream and erythritol based sweeteners (such as Swerve) in a Ninja Creami result in a gritty and powdery texture no matter how many times you respin it.

Ingredients

Heavy cream: To get the right sweet cream flavor, we use heavy cream in this ice cream. The ice cream just isn’t the same without it. To balance the amount of carbs and calories, we combine it with unsweetened almond milk.
Unsweetened almond milk: We combine unsweetened almond milk with heavy cream since it’s low in carbs and low in calories. You may substitute it with another type of low-carb milk like unsweetened macadamia milk.
Allulose sweetener: When using heaving cream, you need to use allulose to create the right consistency. Please note: you can not use erythritol based sweeteners (such as Swerve) in the recipe or else the ice cream will remain powdery in texture.
Vanilla: Of course, you need vanilla extract in vanilla ice cream! We use 1.5 teaspoons, but you may use slightly more for a stronger flavor.
Guar Gum: Guar gum is thickening agent that helps create a creamy texture in ice creams and sorbets. You may substitute with xanthan gum, but the texture may not turn out as creamy.
Xanthan Gum: This is a new ingredient we recently added to improve the texture to make it creamier and minimize any ice crystals.

How to Make

STEP 1: Combine all the wet ingredients (almond milk, heavy cream and vanilla) in blender and mix briefly (too long and you’ll whip the cream too much).

STEP 2. Combine all the dry ingredients (allulose, guar gum, and xanthan gum) and blend with wet ingredients in blender. Make sure you’ve mixed the gums evenly into the allulose. If the gums aren’t spread evenly in the dry mixture they can clump together when mixed with the wet ingredients and won’t work properly.

STEP 3: Pour the blended mixture into a Ninja Creami pint container and place in the freezer. Let freeze for at least 24 hours.

STEP 4: After freezing, take the lid off the pint container and place in the Ninja Creami outer bowl. Install the Creami paddle into the outer bowl lid, place the lid on the outer bowl and lock into place according to the instructions in the Creami manual.

STEP 5: Select the Lite Ice Cream mode, and it will spin for several minutes. When it stops spinning, take the container out and assess the consistency of the ice cream. If it’s powdery in texture as shown in picture 5 (as opposed to creamy and smooth), then you’ll need to respin.

STEP 6: If you need to respin, place the outer bowl lid back on and lock it back into the Ninja creami and push respin.

Powder texture of ice cream after spinning.

Respining in Ninja creami for creamier texture.

STEP 7: After it’s done respining, take out the outer bowl and assess the ice cream consistency. If its smooth and creamy, as shown in picture 7, then it’s ready for serving.

STEP 8: Immediately serve in bowls and enjoy!

Final vanilla ice cream served in a blow with mint leaves and spoon.

EXPERT TIPS FOR USING THE NINJA CREAMI

When using a larger amount heavy cream, you CAN NOT use erythritol as an alternative sweetener since the texture will likely remain powdery. We recommend using allulose as an alternative sweetener. We have not tried other alternative sweeteners like stevia or sucralose.
When freezing your mixture make sure your pint is on a level surface in the freezer and that you don’t fill the pint past the fill line.
The Creami instructions also recommend freezing for at least 24 hours to make sure its fully hardened.
Depending on the recipe and your freezer’s temperature, you may need to respin multiple times. For example, if our mixture is frozen at a low temperature, we typically need to respin multiple times. We’ve even had situations where we needed to respin as much 8 to 10 times. If this happens to you frequently, consider increasing the temperature of your freezer.
If you want to include any mix-ins like sugar-free chocolate chips or candy, simply add them to the spun ice cream and press the mix-in button to incorporate. If you use the other settings, your mix-ins will be shredded too finely.

STORING THE ICE CREAM

Ice cream made by the Ninja Creami is best when eaten immediately.

Since this ice cream is made with heavy cream (which contains a high amount of fat), it stores better than our other ice creams without heavy cream.

If you have leftovers, simply store in the freezer and serve when desired. You may need to let it thaw slightly for a few minutes but there is no need to respin this ice cream before serving left overs.

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If you try this recipe, we would love to hear your feedback! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag @lowcarbsimplified on your photo of this recipe on Instagram or Facebook. We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!

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