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.

The first batch came out good, but there’s wasn’t enough chocolate. I thought maybe chocolate chips might help, but no. It needs much more chocolate. I don’t want to use a chocolate ice cream base since that would be too overpowering. Instead, I used a chocolate fudge ice cream flavoring. This in addition to a chopped up chocolate bar made from the Chocolate Almond Butter Bombs recipe and a silicone chocolate bar mold.

Ingredients

Ice Cream

Low Carb Sweet Cream Base
1 tablespoon LorAnn Oils Flavor Fountain Flavorings, Chocolate Fudge
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon coconut extract

Chocolate Covered Almonds

½ cup almonds, roasted
melted sugar-free chocolate
1 bar Low Carb Chocolate

Sweetened Coconut Flakes

1 tablespoon (14 g) coconut oil
¾ cups (45 g) Bob’s Red Mill Unsweetened Flaked Coconut
½ teaspoon Splenda
½ teaspoon Truvia
more granular sweetener for sprinkling

Directions

1. Mix-ins: Add the coconut oil to a 2 cup Pyrex mixing cup. Microwave for 30 seconds or until melted. Add granular sweeteners and mix in.
   
   
   
   
   Add flaked coconut and stir until all of the coconut flakes are coated.
2. Spread coconut flakes out on silicone cookie sheet.
   
   
   
   
   Sprinkle with more Splenda and Truvia and leave out at room temperature. When the coconut oil hardens, stir the flakes with your hand and transfer them to a plate for later. Do not put in the refrigerator or freezer.
3. Put a metal cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat in the freezer to chill for a half-hour. Dip the almonds in melted low carb chocolate and place on cookie sheet.
   
   
   
   
   Pour melted chocolate in a silicone chocolate bar mold and put in refrigerator to make a low carb chocolate bar. Return cookie sheet to freezer for chocolate coating to harden. Transfer chocolate covered almonds to empty ice cream container and store in freezer.
4. Break up chocolate bars into small pieces, add to ice cream container, shake to mix, and return it to the freezer.
5. Ice cream: 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 LorAnn Oils Flavor Fountain Flavorings, Chocolate Fudge, coconut extract, and almond extract to the sweet cream base. Cover and chill if necessary.
6. Follow your ice cream maker’s directions for making ice cream. Five minutes before the ice cream is done, add the coconut flakes and make sure they get churned in completely. One to two minutes before the ice cream is done, add the other mix-ins. Use a silicone spatula to remove the ice cream from the ice cream maker and freeze until solid.