Keto Chocolate Ice Cream with the Ninja Creami (High Protein!)

If you have a Ninja Creami, then here's your new go-to keto chocolate ice cream that is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth or chocolate cravings! Plus it's high in protein!

This keto chocolate ice cream tastes similar to REAL chocolate ice cream: it's rich and chocolatey, smooth and creamy, and just melts in your mouth. But, we love it for other reasons, too: it's low in carbs and calories, high in protein, sugar-free, made with just 5 ingredients, and so easy to make with the Ninja Creami.

If you're not familiar with the Ninja Creami, it's a new appliance that can make ice cream out of almost anything. It does so by taking liquid ingredients that have been frozen solid and finely shaving them into creamy substances.

We've been using the Ninja Creami for several months now and highly recommend it, especially if you're interested in making lower calorie or protein ice creams with non-standard ingredients. It's also very easy to use.

Each serving of this keto ice cream is 1.3 net carbs and a whopping 63 percent protein. With traditional ice cream makers it would be difficult to achieve that kind of low-carb and high-protein combination.

Ingredients

Just a few notes on key ingredients:

• Powdered erythritol: We use Swerve Confectioners Sweetener, but you can use any of brand of erythritol sweetener. Be sure to use confectioners — not granular — otherwise the ice cream may end up grainy.
• Unsweetened almond milk: To create the right consistency, you need to include a liquid. We use unsweetened almond milk since it's keto-friendly and low in calories. You can substitute another type of low-carb milk like unsweetened macadamia milk or coconut milk.
• Low-carb, chocolate whey protein powder: We use low-carb chocolate whey protein powder to make this a high-protein ice cream. Our favorite chocolate protein power is Quest Chocolate Milkshake.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder: Although we use chocolate protein powder in this recipe, you need to add unsweetened cocoa powder for a rich, chocolaty 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.

How to Make

STEP 1: Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until fully mixed and smooth in consistency.

STEP 2: Pour the blended mixture into a Ninja Creami pint container and place in the freezer. Let freeze for at least 24 hours.

STEP 3: 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. Select the Lite Ice Cream mode, and it will spin for several minutes.

STEP 4: 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 4 (as opposed to creamy and smooth), then you'll need to respin.

STEP 5: If you need to respin, place the outer bowl lid back on and lock it back into the Ninja creami and push respin.

STEP 6: 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 6, serve immediately. If still powdery, continue to respin until you reach the desired consistency. Depending on your freezer's temperature you may need to respin multiple times.

Expert Tips For Using the Ninja Creami

• 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 it's not made with standard ingredients and in the same manner as regular ice cream, it does not store as well as traditional ice cream.

If you have leftovers, we recommend letting the ice cream melt until soft (which happens fairly quickly) and then storing it back in a Creami pint since you'll likely need to re-run the Creami on it after it re-hardens. Be sure to flatten the surface of the ice cream in the pint before placing it in the freezer.

To serve, simply re-run the Creami process again or respin the ice cream (as it may be frozen) until smooth and creamy.

Why the Ninja Creami Can Make Ice Cream Out Of Almost Anything

With traditional ice cream machines, the ice cream is stored in the freezer so it has to maintain its creamy texture while in there. Keeping a liquid creamy at freezing temperatures requires a careful balance of ingredients. For example, in traditional ice cream, if you reduce the amount of sugar in the mixture it will get too hard in the freezer to be ice cream.

By contrast, with the Ninja Creami you start by freezing your mixture into a solid and then the Creami pulverizes it to create ice cream. The benefit of this approach is almost any mixture will freeze to a solid. This is especially useful in low calorie or protein ice creams with non-standard ingredients that won't stay creamy in the traditional ice cream making process. The trade off is that you have to eat it right away and it can't be stored like traditional ice cream.

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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!