Low Carb Almond Joy Ice Cream

I hated Almond Joy bars as kid. I preferred Mounds, instead. It wasn’t an aversion to almonds. I just didn’t like that giant nut in the middle of my chocolate and coconut. Nevertheless, I do like the combination of chocolate, coconut and almond, so this should translate well to an ice cream.

I like chunks of stuff in my ice cream, so almonds are a no-brainer. Wait, scratch that. Chocolate covered almonds. Yes, much better. I don’t have a coconut ice cream flavoring, but coconut and almond extracts are readily available. I think coconut flakes would be a good mix-in, but we need to sweeten them. Granular Splenda and Truvia should work well and I’ll use melted coconut oil to get it to stick.

Ice Cream Junk and Stuff #2

I’ve got some more short topics to talk about...

Low Carb Chocolate Ice Cream with Peanut Butter

Ice cream from Baskin-Robbins is one of my fondest childhood memories. Back then, their stores actually stocked 31 different flavors to choose from and the quality of the ice cream was a huge step above the stuff at the supermarket. Most Baskin-Robbins stores today share space with other non-ice cream offerings to support off-season revenue streams (like Dunkin Donuts) and the available flavor selections are scaled back dramatically since the old days. One of my favorites was “Peanut Butter ‘n Chocolate Ice Cream,” which is exactly what it sounds like: chocolate ice cream with a ribbon of peanut butter running through it.

Low Carb Apple Cinnamon Granola Ice Cream

Apple-Cinnamon is another ice cream flavoring that I was able to procure a sample size from a distributor. It’s not readily available for consumers, so you’ll need to do some hunting to find it. Apple and cinnamon flavoring extracts are readily available, so it might be possible to replicate the taste. (Be careful not to use cinnamon oil. Unless you want ice cream that tastes like Red Hots and Atomic Fireballs, don’t use it! I plan on using cinnamon oil for a different ice cream recipe, but not this one.)

I found an off-the-shelf low carb granola product that pairs perfectly with this ice cream: Dukan Diet Granola, Apple Cinnamon. It’s a good tasting product, but it’s really hard to bite into. It may not be the perfect granola, but it’s perfect for adding to ice cream since it doesn’t get soggy at all.

Low Carb New York Super Fudge Chunk Ice Cream

This classic Ben & Jerry’s flavor was developed in 1985. It’s got three kinds of nuts and both white and dark chocolate chunks.

Low Carb Chocolate French Custard Ice Cream Base

UPDATE 2015-08-18: Please use my new Low Carb Chocolate Philadelphia-style Ice Cream Base for now. It's easier to make and work with. The recipe below will be reformulated slightly in the future.

My formula for low carb chocolate ice cream was inspired in part by Jerry (of Ben & Jerry) and David Lebovitz (“The Perfect Scoop”). Jerry’s proportions of cocoa, chocolate, cream, and milk work really well when converted to low carb. However, David’s preparation steps for a custard base result in a smooth mix that churns into an equally smooth ice cream quite nicely. I’m including LC Foods Milk Powder in an attempt to make the ice cream less crumbly. I will probably continue to do some minor tweaking to the formula to improve the scoopability, but I feel it’s ready enough for me to post it to the world.

This is a rich chocolate ice cream that any chocoholic will love. It’s tough to scoop straight out of the freezer, so a little thawing time in the microwave will be required. I use Ghirardelli unsweetened chocolate and Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa. I haven’t had any issues with the acidic regular cocoa curdling the cream. You can use Dutch cocoa instead if you prefer the darker color.