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This Basic Vanilla Scoopable Ice Cream is a yummy – well – basic vanilla with a cooked custard base. THM S, low carb
Update – 2022:
My ice cream journey keeps evolving. Instead of rewriting this post I’ll just leave my initial thoughts here for posterity to show my excitement at finally crafting a scoopable ice cream recipe, BUT there’s been a further iteration in this journey and I want to share it with you. This Ultimate Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is now my go-to favorite ice cream base, and it doesn’t involve cooking a custard. If you’re just looking for a simple and quick vanilla ice cream, make that recipe. The texture is phenomenal and totally scoopable right out of the freezer. And despite containing 2 cups of cream, it comes out at 125 calories per serving – 4 calories less than this cooked custard recipe.
It has been my quest for YEARS to find a moderate-calorie homemade ice cream that’s SCOOPABLE out of the freezer! I have tried many ingredients and many methods but they all fell short. Until now. **dramatic drumroll** Introducing Basic Vanilla Scoopable Ice Cream.
We all love the convenient yumminess of Halo Top and Carb Smart; but Halo Top is really expensive and has some cane sugar in the ingredients so you have to be pretty careful with your portions, and Carb Smart uses Splenda which isn’t ideal for frequent consumption. The obvious solution is to make your own, but a lot of homemade ice creams (even the homemade ice cream my family used to make before we knew about the THM lifestyle) freeze rock hard if you don’t eat them right after churning. Using a lot of high-fat ingredients like a boatload of heavy whipping cream can help them stay softer and creamier after long-term freezing, but that’s awfully calorie dense! While recipes like that can be great for special treats, I happen to enjoy ice cream on a regular basis. And I don’t like half cup servings, either.
Today’s recipe is the culmination of years of experimentation and research and is a delicate balance of ingredients with a dose of science. I don’t recommend replacing ingredients or varying the procedure because everything is in here for a reason and you may not get the same results if you change something. I usually encourage people to take my recipes and run with them to make them their own, but this recipe is a little more finicky than most. I’ve tried to figure out which elements help ice cream stay softer after being frozen (dairy products such as half and half and cream, eggs, xylitol, vegetable glycerin, air – which is why I blend the cream in after cooking the egg mixture) and combined them in a way that gives me a scoopable end result while not overloading the calories.
A lot of my older recipes are even lighter than this one, but they take longer to thaw to an eatable consistency when leftovers are frozen for an extended period of time. Speaking of which, this recipe still takes about 10 minutes at room temperature to thaw to a scoopable consistency. Halo Top is the same way! If you store this recipe in a shallow container (like this ice cream storage container), it will thaw quickly, and even if it won’t scoop for a few minutes, you can still pick at it with a fork right out of the freezer, no problem. Don’t ask me how I know.
This Basic Vanilla Scoopable Ice Cream has a good flavor and a creamy texture! If you want to make it even creamier, feel free to substitute some more cream for part of the almond milk, but keep in mind that you’ll be increasing the calories. Since I like to enjoy peanut butter on my ice cream, it’s better for my waistline to keep the ice cream itself as calorie smart as possible. 😉
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Check out my no cook Ultimate Vanilla Bean Ice Cream!
My ice cream making journey has been a long one, and this Ultimate Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is the latest stop on that path. It has the best taste and texture of any ice cream base I’ve made so far, and it doesn’t involve cooking a custard. Give it a try!
5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star
5 from 10 reviews
- Author: Briana Thomas
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 12 half cup servings
Description
This Basic Vanilla Scoopable Ice Cream is a yummy – well – basic vanilla with a cooked custard base. THM S, low carb
Ingredients
COOK:
- 2 cups half and half
- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon glucomannan
ADD AND BLEND:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup xylitol (or more, to taste)*
- 1 tablespoon vegetable glycerin
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/32 teaspoon (3 doonks) THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder
Instructions
*Since making this recipe I have discovered that THM Gentle Sweet (made with xylitol) is my preferred sweetener for ice cream. In this recipe I would use about 1/2 cup THM Gentle Sweet in place of the xylitol and stevia, adjusting to taste.
Add the first set of ingredients to a saucepan and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Add the glucomannan slowly while blending to avoid clumping.
Cook 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. (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.)
Immediately add the rest of the ingredients to cool the custard down. Whisk or blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the sweetener as desired. Chill completely before churning.
Churn the chilled custard in a 1.5 quart ice cream churn according to manufacturer’s directions. Transfer to an ice cream storage container and freeze to firm up – overnight is great!
If needed, let the ice cream thaw on the counter for 10 minutes before scooping for best taste and texture. (Even Halo Top needs to thaw for a few minutes, so just be patient for the sake of healthy ingredients, folks! If you want it softer, just microwave it for a few seconds after scooping.) Note: using Gentle Sweet as your sweetener may make the ice cream more scoopable right out of the freezer due to the higher volume of xylitol.
Notes
Sweetener: THM Gentle Sweet (made with xylitol) is now 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 is part of the key to the scoopability of this ice cream, so substituting other sweeteners could change that. 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. Feel free to add more sweetener if desired.
Vegetable glycerin: I don’t recommend omitting the vegetable glycerin. It helps keep the ice cream from sticking to the ice cream maker and vastly improves the creamy texture of the ice cream.
Glucomannan: Glucomannan is a natural thickening agent. If you don’t have it you could try substituting xanthan gum in its place.
Allergy info: gluten free | For a nut free version, you could try replacing the almond milk with carton coconut milk. Most people with tree nut allergies can have coconut products, but confirm with your doctor first.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Ice Cream
- Method: Churn
- Cuisine: THM S, low carb, sugar free
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