Nearly every 4th of July throughout my childhood, Mom slid our paperback copy of the Ben & Jerryโs cookbook off of its spot on the bookshelf, flipped through the pages, and pulled out the ingredients for their egg-free vanilla ice cream recipe. While she beat the sugar and heavy cream with our hand-held mixer, Dad drove over to the grocery store to brave the crowds and pick up a box of rock salt and big bag of ice.
When Dad returned, he finagled our antique ice cream maker out of its cabinet in the garage, maneuvering it Tetris-style past the parked cars, rod of Momโs fancy dresses, and two bicycles hanging upside down from the ceiling. He carried it out to the backyard, setting it down near one of the grated drains, before pouring Momโs ice cream base into the metal container and placing that in the center.
After nestling alternating layers of ice and rock salt around the edges in between the metal container and the wooden bucketโs sides, we gathered around the machine, perched on little plastic step stools, and quickly planned out our turns. Dad took his place at the hand crank first, easily turning it round and round, to ensure a smooth start. My younger brother grabbed it next, placing his hand directly over Dadโs and continuing to push the handle at the same speed in the same direction. Dad taught us very early on that seamless transitions were the key to perfectly smooth and creamy ice cream!
I took over after my brother, hunkering down on the little step stool and turning the crank around and around in a circle. By the end of my turn, the ice cream had begun to thicken, and pushing that handle required a lot more effort! With their bigger muscles, Mom and Dad took the last two turns, and about 20 minutes after we started, Dad hoisted the metal container out of the wooden bucket and carried it into the kitchen on a rimmed baking sheet (to catch the salty water droplets from the melted ice!).
After removing the lid and scraping off the plastic paddle in the center, Dad served us each a big bowl of that fresh, homemade ice cream. As smooth and creamy as soft-serve and with its classic vanilla flavor, that ice cream tasted a hundred times better than anything we bought from the grocery store!
This year, the county fair ended on the 4th of July, and since the fairgrounds sit directly across from the grocery store, we decided to avoid the massive crowds of cars and people and skip buying ice for our antique ice cream maker. However, my brand new electric ice cream maker arrived in the mail the day before, so we still whipped up homemade ice cream! Instead of Ben & Jerryโs indulgent version full of heavy cream and sugar, we made my healthier recipeโฆ
This Ultimate Healthy Vanilla Ice Cream! Mom and Dad were completely surprised by how perfectly it turned out. Even with no heavy cream or sugar, they agreed it was still just as smooth and creamy as their favorite cookbook recipe (or anything youโd order from an ice cream parlor!), and it had the same sweet, rich vanilla flavor. And because it’s surprisingly full of protein, nobody felt guilty serving themselves a second scoop!
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY VANILLA ICE CREAM
To make this healthier ice cream, youโll start with Greek yogurt and 2% milk. If youโve been around Amyโs Healthy Baking for a while, you already know how much I love Greek yogurt! Its thick texture is perfect for this ice cream base, and with around 21g of protein per cup, it gives your frozen treat a big protein boost too!
As for the milk, I highly recommend using 2% instead of trying to substitute something else. Ice cream requires some fat to give it that smooth, creamy texture.
{Nerd alert โ hereโs why!}
Traditional ice cream is a combination of sugar molecules, fat molecules, air molecules, and frozen water molecules. Think of them as tiny spheres of various sizes. If too many frozen water spheres are touching, the ice cream has ice chunks form, which makes the ice cream taste hard or grainy. Adding the other types of spheres โ sugar, fat, and air โ reduces the chances of those frozen water spheres touching, which makes your ice cream smooth and creamy!
Since you arenโt sweetening this ice cream with sugar (more on that in a minute!), itโs very important to make sure you include fat in the ice cream base. You can use higher percentages of milk (i.e. whole milk) if you prefer, but do not substitute nonfat or 1% milk. I also recommend against substituting almond or cashew milk because both of these have a very high water content, which will increase the chances of your ice cream having those ice chunks and grainy texture.
Instead of refined sugar, you’ll sweeten this ice cream with one of my favorite ingredients instead: liquid stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener thatโs clean eating friendly, and itโs very concentrated. A little goes a long way โ you just need 1 teaspoon! This is the kind I buy because I love its sweet flavor and donโt notice any bitter or strange aftertastes like some stevia products can have. You can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, as well as online. (And youโll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
{Another nerd alert!}
Finally, thereโs one more important ingredient in this ice cream base. Eggs act as a natural โglueโ that helps hold together the different spheres and therefore create that perfect smooth, creamy texture. Because weโre skipping the eggs (Iโm impatient and donโt want to heat my ice cream base โ I just want to eat my frozen dessert as soon as possible!), youโll use a different โglueโ called xanthan gum. You can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, as well as online. Do not skip the xanthan gum. Your ice cream will taste icy and hard without it.
Remember how I explained that air spheres are a crucial part of ice cream? Because they keep the frozen water spheres separate for that smooth, creamy texture? Thatโs why itโs important to use an ice cream maker for the best result! This is the one that I have, and itโs really affordable and so easy to use. I bought it online, and I can already tell Iโm going to use it just about every week this summer! (I have another new recipe coming for you in the next few weeks!)
{One last nerd alert!}
The ice cream maker plays two key roles. Firstly, by rotating and churning the liquid ice cream base, it incorporates more air spheres into the ice cream. Secondly, it rapidly chills the liquid ice cream base, much faster than a no-churn ice cream preparation method. Thatโs why your ice cream will be ready to eat just 25 minutes after you start mixing together the ingredients! (If you donโt have an ice cream maker, I included instructions for that no-churn method in the Notes section, but remember your ice cream will turn out a little grainier and harder!)
So to recapโฆ
Special โglueโ = smoother, creamier ice cream
More air molecules/spheres = smoother, creamier ice cream
Faster chilling = less time for those water molecules/spheres to stick together and form ice chunks = smoother, creamier ice cream
Now that weโve covered all of those nerdy ice cream chemistry thingsโฆ (I was an organic chemist before a baking blogger!)
Whoโs ready for dessert?? ๐ And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees that Iโll see the notification from you! ๐ ) Iโd love to see your healthy vanilla ice cream!
The Ultimate Healthy Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup (240mL) 2% milk (see Notes!)
- 1 ยฝ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp liquid stevia
- ยฝ tsp xanthan gum
- ยผ tsp salt
Instructions
- The night before you plan on making your ice cream, place the bowl of anย electric ice cream makerย in the freezer. Freeze for at least 12-16 hours.
- Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer for 1 minute or until very frothy.
- Working quickly, remove the ice cream maker bowl from the freezer. Place it on the ice cream maker, attach the paddle and the lid, and turn it on. With the ice cream maker turning, pour in the milk mixture. Let the ice cream maker churn for 15-20 minutes or until the ice cream is frozen and has reached your desired consistency. For the best texture and taste, serve immediately.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipesโฆ
โก Healthy Chocolate Ice Cream
โก Healthier Cookies ‘n Cream Ice Cream
โก Healthy Chai Spice Ice Cream
โก Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream
โก Lightened Up Mini Hula Pies
โก Healthier Brownie Bark Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches
โก Ligthened Up Blueberry & Cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches
โก Skinny Strawberry Cheesecake Frozen Yogurt Sandwiches
โก Mango Almond Popsicles
Iโm glad I found your recipe. Due to recent high cholesterol levels I canโt make my regular rich and creamy base.
My favorite ice cream is pistachio. Iโll try and add my pistachio paste to this base.
That means so much to us, Yoli! We can’t wait to hear how your pistachio ice cream turns out! ๐
Update, I did the pistachio ice cream with your base and it was delicious.
That’s the best news, Yoli! I was anxious to hear if your recipe worked well with this one, and I’m so happy it turned out delicious! Thanks for taking the time to let us know and rate the recipe, it means a lot! ๐
I tried this recipe exactly and the xanthan gum did not mix in. There were gummy pieces throughout the ice cream which I couldn’t tolerate.
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Tracey! That sounds disappointing and not like how this ice cream is supposed to turn out. It should be perfectly creamy and smooth with zero lumps or gummy bits, so I’d love to work with you to figure out what happened. In order to do so, I have some questions for you!
Was the flavor fine, and it was just the texture that was off?
Did you make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section? (It doesn’t sound like it, but I just wanted to double check!)
What brands of plain nonfat Greek yogurt and 2% milk did you use? (I’ve learned that some can perform better than others, which is why I ask!)
Did you use a hand-held mixer or a stand mixer in Step 2?
Did you beat the mixture for a full 60 seconds?
Was the xanthan gum fully incorporated at the end of Step 2? (I’m trying to figure out if it crashed out during the freezing process or whether it never “dissolved” to begin with!)
What’s the exact ice cream maker that you used?
How long did you let it run or did it take for the ice cream to fully freeze?
Did you ever have to โhelpโ it along by gently pressing down with a small spatula to get the ice cream moving around the ice cream makerโs bowl?
Were the gummy pieces present right after you removed your ice cream from the ice cream maker โ or did they only appear after putting it in the freezer to store and eat later?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but I’ll have a much better idea of the culprit and how to fix it once I know your answers to all of them! ๐
I followed the recipe exactly as written. The taste was not very pleasing, definitely sour. The gummy bits were there right after making. I used a stand mixer for the full, or a little longer than, one minute. It took about 25 minutes to freeze fully but the bottom was a little iced over. I used Great Value 2% milk and Great Value plain Greek yogurt. I used a kitchen Aid ice cream attachment to make the ice cream.
Thank you so much for sharing your answers, Tracey! This is really helpful. I think we’ve discovered the culprit!
I’ve found that using a stand mixer to beat the mixture in Step 2 often isn’t as effective as using a hand-held electric mixer. Stand mixers don’t always whip the ingredients together as efficiently, so the xanthan gum doesn’t always “dissolve” as well. (Technically, it’s dissociating, rather than dissolvingโฆ I was a chemist before I became a baking blogger and love nerdy things like this! ๐ )
If you have a hand-held electric mixer, I’d recommend using that instead! If you don’t, then try using your stand mixer’s wire whisk attachment, pausing to scrape down the sides and bottom with a spatula every 20-30 seconds (to help prevent any clumps of xanthan gum from forming or sticking to the sides!), and letting it run until the mixture is incredibly frothy. It may need closer to two minutes, if not more. When it’s “done” and ready for the ice cream maker, there should be a decent layer of bubbles on top of the mixture. It probably won’t be quite as thorough as using a hand-held electric mixer, but it should be better!
Another option would be to use a blender, occasionally pausing to scrape down the sides again. Other readers have done this and reported that it worked well!
Also, what’s the exact liquid stevia (brand + product name) that you used? Like I mentioned in the Notes section, many brands and products have different sweetness concentrations, so they’re not necessarily 1-for-1 substitutes for each other. (I know it can be easy to miss that though!) If the flavor was sour โ closer to that of plain yogurt, for example โ it may be that the stevia you used factored into that taste. If you’re able to share the exact liquid stevia that you used and it was different than the one I did, I’m happy to look it up and see whether you’d need to use a different amount to achieve the same sweetness level! ๐
Wow Amy! Most people would not take the time to figure out the problem in detail. Taking the time by asking all those questions to pinpoint the problem means you truly are interested in helping. I’m impressed. Keep up the good work, Amy!
Anyway, if one uses granulated sweetener with this recipe, l find it’s best to first combine xanthan gum with any dry ingredients thoroughly, and then add to the wet ingredients. There’s less chance the xanthan gum will chunk up. Just a little tip๐ซ .
You’re so sweet, Cat! I truly appreciate your kind words and how you’d take the time to leave such a nice comment. It really means a lot! โก
Thanks for sharing your tip about the xanthan gum too! I always love hearing about recipe tweaks and the results. It’s great to know that worked well for you!
๐ซ ๐ฅฐ
Hi again,
I’m still dreaming about your vanilla ice cream! It turns out l have Now Better Stevia Organic Glycerite. Would that work as the same as your stevia?
Also, since l will be using 160g of fage 0% and 160 ml of Fairlife 2%, would that make 320g of liquid or less?
My daughter won’t be able to get the greek yogurt until this weekend, and l probably will make it sometime next week. I’m trying to get all my questions answered first๐
Thank you,
Cat
Next week can’t come soon enoughโฆ I’m so excited for you to try this ice cream, Cat! ๐
I looked up Now Better Stevia Organic Glycerite. It’s slightly different from the liquid stevia that I use. The suggested serving size for Now Better Stevia Organic Glycerite is 5 drops, whereas the one I use is 4 drops. If that ratio is true for scaling up, then you may need closer to 1 ยผ teaspoons (instead of the 1 teaspoon that I suggested for you โ batch!).
I’d still recommend starting with 1 teaspoon of Now Better Stevia Organic Glycerite, then tasting the mixture after you’ve thoroughly beaten everything together. The goal is for the mixture to taste extra sweet (because frozen ice cream “numbs” some of your sweetness-detecting taste buds when it hits your tongue, so it won’t seem as sweet compared to when it’s just been mixed together!). If it doesn’t taste sweet enough, then go ahead and add more until the sweetness level suits your preferences.
If the max capacity for your machine is 320mL (or about 1 โ cups), then 160g of Greek yogurt and 160mL of milk should be 1 โ cups. The vanilla extract and liquid stevia will likely bump it up to just a teensy bit over 1 โ cups.
Let me know if you have any other questions โ I’m happy to help!
Morning Amy,
I would have never thought to compare to drop amounts. It pays to know a chemist! I appreciate you looking that up for me. I have typed your recipes with all your notes included, nice and neatly.
I have a Ninja Creami Deluxe, and it makes a maximum of 24 oz, but l rather make an amount l could eat at one time. Good to know that it will make just enough for me.
BTW, l live in Riverside, CA. I noticed that you stayed up late just to write me back๐. How sweet is that! Thank you Amy.
Have a restful day and a spectacular weekend ๐.
Cat
It’s my pleasure, Cat! I’m always happy when my chemistry background comes in handy. ๐
That makes perfect sense about scaling down to make just enough ice cream for yourself. So smart โ and I’m glad the vanilla extract and liquid stevia won’t push your machine past its max capacity!
I hope you have a wonderful weekend that’s just as lovely as you are!
Aww, you’re sweet!
I was just looking you up and found you’re popular! You even published some books! Wow! I noticed you use a lot of oat flour. Do you ever work with coconut flour or ground golden flaxseed?
You’re too kind, Cat! Thank you for your sweet words. You’re going to make me blush! โก
I’m not the biggest fan of the way flaxseeds taste, so I haven’t shared many recipes that use them as an ingredient. I do have some recipes made with coconut flour though! Maybe one of those might end up on your list of treats to try once you’ve made this ice cream? (My favorites from that selection are the muffins!)
Great! I tried searching, but l didn’t get any results. Thank you Amy!
I will let you go so you can get some rest.
Have a terrific weekend in beautiful San Diego ๐
You’re welcome, Cat! I hope you have a fantastic weekend too! โก
Amy,
I would have loved to try your coconut flour recipes, but all except one uses a specific protein powder. I have a big container of Levels Vanilla casein and 2 containers of unflavored protein isolate, and l don’t think that will do your recipes justice. Darn, l was hoping to try something new, although your recipes look yummy ๐.
You always say such lovely things, Cat! It means so much that you’d consider trying more of my recipes. โก I don’t have experience with those protein powders, but I do have other recipes here that are higher in protein from Greek yogurt, rather than protein powder! Would any of those be appealing? I completely understand if they’re not and your main goal was to use coconut flour. I wanted to mention it though, just in case! ๐
Hi Amy,
They didn’t have fage 0% at the store, Saturday. Since l was so anxious to try out your recipe, l subbed in Oikos Pro greek yogurt. I used only one 5.3 oz container which turned out to be only 141 grams! I also used 160 ml of Fairlife 2% milk, and 5g vanilla. Combined wet ingredients in the Ninja pint. Mixed 35g Allulose/Monkfruit, 1/3 tsp xanthan gum, and 1/32 tsp pink salt thoroughly in a cup and then poured it into the wet mixture. Stirred vigorously with a spoon and let it sit out for 15 mins before freezing for 24 hrs.
I just spun it once on sorbet, and it was perfect and dense! Omg, it was the best frozen dessert l have ever made, thanks to you Amy๐ฅฐ Thereโs so many possibilities…yay!!
Hooray!!! I’m thrilled to hear that you loved the ice cream and it turned out so well, Cat! You’re incredibly sweet to report back and rate this recipe too. That truly means so much! Hearing that it was the best frozen dessert you’ve made put the biggest smile on my face. You’re such a gem โ I’m really touched! โก
Well of course, Amy! I posted on Facebook Ninja Creami group 2 days ago, and also got 43 likes and 6 shares so far! Since my daughters told me they thought it was a frozen yogurt, that is what l referred it as. Hope that’s alright. And l posted your website, too!
You’re so kind to share my website, Cat! That’s incredibly thoughtful of you, and I’m truly touched. Thank you for doing that!! โก
I’m really glad people in the group are enjoying it! Frozen treats sound very appealing right now, especially with this summer heatwave. ๐ I hope your daughters liked it too! In the future, would you mind refraining from posting the full recipe and include a link to it on my blog instead? My website is my full-time job and full income source, and posting the recipes elsewhere detracts from that (including on Facebook, Instagram, and other websites!). It would mean that I couldnโt keep my blog running and would have to close it down, and Iโd much rather continue to create recipes for you! ๐
Oh girl, I’m so sorry! I didn’t think of that. I thought it would bring more traffic to your website, and l wanted to give credit to you. Alright, no more posting your recipes. But they like it…53 so far!
I’m so honored, Cat! You’re really thoughtful to give me credit and consider ways to bring more traffic to my website. My heart feels so full โ you’re such a sweetheart!! โก Please don’t feel bad at all. I know it was completely innocent! I’m thrilled to hear that many people have liked it too. What a compliment that is! ๐
Amy.
It is a compliment! And it must be that some people already know of your website since when l stated that it’s a scaled down version of your recipe, some “liked” it. Hopefully, I’m getting my point across to you๐ค. Not too good expressing myself.
I just hope since it got so many “likes”, they may want to check out your website.
You’re totally right, Amy! I just was so excited, l just didn’t think it all out. I will be careful in the future ๐
Well, hope you have a spectacular weekend ๐ฅฐ
You’re expressing yourself perfectly, Cat!! Don’t sell yourself short. Everything you’ve said has made perfect sense, and I’m so touched by what you’re doing! โก
I hope you have a lovely weekend too! Maybe there’s even another batch of ice cream waiting for you in your near future?? ๐
Aww, thank you Amy๐ฅฐ ๐ค๐ค!