Low Carb Chunky Monkey Ice Cream

“Chunky Monkey” is a flavor combination that often pops up in baked goods and ice creams. Ben & Jerry’s version uses broken off candy bar chunks of chocolate (they call it “fudge”), walnuts, and bananas in a banana flavored ice cream.

A low carb version of this is pretty straightforward. LorAnn Oils banana flavoring is preferred, but banana extract should be readily available from your local supermarket. Low carb chocolate chips are easy to get, although you could make your own chocolate chunks using the Chocolate Almond Butter Bombs recipe, if you so desire. I bought two of these chocolate bar molds a while back when I was attempting to make low carb white chocolate and they make chunks that look just like the ones in the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.

Gram values in the ingredients list were based on my own measurements. The serving size conversion based on the nutritional information table on the walnuts packaging was way off.

Ingredients

Low Carb Sweet Cream Base
1 tablespoon LorAnn Oils Flavor Fountain Flavorings, Banana
1 cup (88 g) walnut halves

2 chocolate bars made from the Chocolate Almond Butter Bombs recipe
or
½ cup (85 g) Lily’s Dark Chocolate Premium Baking Chips, No Sugar Added

Directions

1. Cut the walnut halves in half and place on a cookie sheet. Put in a preheated oven at 350 °F and bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool and put into an empty ice cream container.
2. If you’re making a batch of  Chocolate Almond Butter Bombs, make two chocolate bars using Freshware CB-607BR Break-Apart Chocolate Bar Silicone Molds. Freeze then cut lengthwise on the score, then cut the strips into chunks. Put chocolate into the ice cream container and return to the freezer.
3. Put the container for the ice cream including its cover upright in the freezer now. This serves two purposes: it keeps the container cold and it forces you to make sure that there’s space in the freezer.
4. Follow the instructions for the Low Carb Sweet Cream Base except slightly reduce the amount of heavy cream. (E.g., 2 cups instead of 2¼ cups of heavy cream.) Add the banana flavoring to the sweet cream base. Cover and chill if necessary.
5. Follow your ice cream maker’s directions for making ice cream. One to two minutes before the ice cream is done, add the chocolate and walnuts. Use a silicone spatula to remove the ice cream from the ice cream maker and freeze until solid.