Nearly every 4th of July throughout my childhood, Mom slid our paperback copy of the Ben & Jerry’s 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 Mom’s 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 Mom’s 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 bucket’s 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 Dad’s 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 & Jerry’s indulgent version full of heavy cream and sugar, we made my healthier recipe…
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 you’d 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, you’ll start with Greek yogurt and 2% milk. If you’ve been around Amy’s 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—here’s 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—sugar, fat, and air—reduces the chances of those frozen water spheres touching, which makes your ice cream smooth and creamy!
Since you aren’t sweetening this ice cream with sugar (more on that in a minute!), it’s 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 that’s clean eating friendly, and it’s very concentrated. A little goes a long way—you just need 1 teaspoon! This is the kind I buy because I love its sweet flavor and don’t 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 you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
{Another nerd alert!}
Finally, there’s one more important ingredient in this ice cream base. Eggs act as a natural “glue” that helps hold together the different spheres and therefore create that perfect smooth, creamy texture. Because we’re skipping the eggs (I’m impatient and don’t want to heat my ice cream base—I just want to eat my frozen dessert as soon as possible!), you’ll use a different “glue” 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? That’s why it’s important to use an ice cream maker for the best result! This is the one that I have, and it’s really affordable and so easy to use. I bought it online, and I can already tell I’m 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. That’s why your ice cream will be ready to eat just 25 minutes after you start mixing together the ingredients! (If you don’t 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 recap…
Special “glue” = 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 we’ve covered all of those nerdy ice cream chemistry things… (I was an organic chemist before a baking blogger!)
Who’s ready for dessert?? 😉 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 I’ll see the notification from you! 🙂 ) I’d 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 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp liquid stevia
- ½ tsp xanthan gum
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- The night before you plan on making your ice cream, place the bowl of an electric ice cream maker 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 recipes…
♡ Healthy Chocolate Ice Cream
♡ Healthier Cookies ‘n Cream Ice Cream
♡ Healthy Chai Spice Ice Cream
♡ Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream
♡ Lightened Up Mini Hula Pies
♡ Healthier Brownie Bark Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches
♡ Ligthened Up Blueberry & Cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches
♡ Skinny Strawberry Cheesecake Frozen Yogurt Sandwiches
♡ Mango Almond Popsicles
I know you mentioned not to use nonfat milk but that’s all I have because my that’s the one my family drinks. Would it be that bad if I used it? Also, if I use it, would I need to add something else?
I completely understand, Isabella! I’ve actually covered what will happen if you substitute nonfat milk in the text of my blog post above the recipe. I know it can be easy to miss! 😉 If you do use nonfat milk, then I recommend eating this ice cream the same day you make it for the best texture. It’ll taste okay right after it comes out of the ice cream maker, but it’ll turn icier and harder if frozen to eat at a later date. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of this ice cream if you try making it!
Thank you, I can’t wait to try it! 😊
It’s my pleasure, Isabella! I can’t wait to hear how it turns out!! 🙂
I can’t wait to try this recipe, thank you!
Can I substitute the xantham gum with cornflour or chia seeds and water?
I’m honored that you’d like to try making this recipe, Safia! Cornflour won’t work because it needs heat to activate its thickening properties… And you definitely don’t want to heat this ice cream! 😉 I haven’t tried chia seeds and water, but I’m worried that the chia seeds’ size would create problems when making the ice cream because they could disrupt the ice crystal formation, which could then make your ice cream really grainy with a weird texture.
If you decide to try making this ice cream, I’d love to hear what you think of it!! 🙂
Thank you for replying!
I did some research and I found that eggs might work? Coukd I use one egg instead?
It’s my pleasure, Safia! The issue with eggs is that you’d need to cook the milk mixture since it isn’t safe to eat raw eggs. It’s a bit of a hassle to do (and I don’t always have the best luck when doing that either!), so I typically avoid eggs in my ice cream recipes for that reason. 😉
So I’d cook the milk and then add the egg and cook for about 5 minutes? Would I add the sugar and rest of the ingredients in or just add the heated mixture into a food processor?
Thank you very much!
Since I haven’t had good luck with using eggs in ice cream recipes, I’m probably not the best person to ask… 😉 Like I previously mentioned, I typically avoid eggs in my ice cream recipes, so I’m not an expert in what you’d need to do in order to safely prepare ice cream that includes eggs. I really don’t want to lead you astray and end up giving you salmonella by sharing bad advice! ♡
No problem! I’m so sorry for hassling you and thank you so much for your replies!
Oh my goodness, Safia — NO need to apologize whatsoever!! You aren’t hassling me at all! ♡ That type of ice cream base just isn’t my area of expertise, and I don’t want to give you bad advice. 😉 If you end up adapting this recipe to use eggs, I’d absolutely LOVE to hear how it turns out, if you’re willing to share!! 🙂
I spent ages researching recipes and there were way too many steps to make ice cream with eggs and the eggless recipes only used sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream- both of which I found too fattening to use! I finally stumbled on a relatively easy recipe without an ice-cream machine which I’ll include below in case anyone wants to try it! It turned out great!
Put these in a pot and boil it on a medium flame wwhile stirring with a whisk:
corn flour 2 tbsp
milk powder 2 tbsp
sugar ( I used xylitol ) less than 1/2 cup
milk- 2cup
vanilla essence- 2 tsp
scrape some vanilla pods in too
after about 7 minutes take it off the gas and keep stirring while it cools completely.
Put in a tub and freeze for 2 hours. Then take it out and stir it and keep doing this every 30 minutes until you get the texture you want and then leave for a few hours.
Thanks for sharing, Safia! I’m so glad you finally found something that worked and didn’t require a lot of time, energy, or heavy cream! 😉
I just tried it and I loved it! I actually found out we had some mini whole milk cartons so I used 2/3 whole milk and 1/3 nonfat milk, since I didn’t have 2%. I also didn’t have vanilla creme stevia so I used 1 1/2 tsp of honey plus a little extra drizzle, and 2 packets of normal stevia.
I’m so glad that worked out, Isabella!! Thank you for taking the time to let me know — that truly means a lot to me! 🙂
hi Amy! i would love love love to try this recipe but im curious on how you count the calories and protein out of the ingredients that you use. Bevause i found that different brands of the same type of product has different contents.
I’m honored that you’d like to try this recipe of mine, Jesslyn! This is the nutrition calculator that I use. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of this ice cream if you end up making it!
Hi, I came here from your chocolate ice cream recipe because you suggested to use this as a base for coffee ice cream. How much instant coffee would you recommend including?
I’m sorry, I just went back and found out you already specified the amount.
No worries whatsoever, Max! It really means a lot that you’d consider trying my recipe. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of your ice cream if you do end up making it!
Hi sorry I know I am a little late to the party but do you know the nutrition facts in this? Like the total fat and sugar?
Amy , can I add other flavors. , like strawberry, blueberries, mangoes or any fruits in the recipe ?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Darlene! I typically don’t recommend adding whole fruit, even if diced really finely, because the fruit ends up being hard and icy since fruit typically contains so much water. It’ll almost taste like you’re trying to eat chunks of fruit straight from the freezer! However, if you add jam or thickened purée (like the blueberry filling I made for cupcakes in Steps 2-3 of this recipe!), that would be much better because you will have cooked out most of the water from the purée and the purée will be smooth, without any chunks (that could potentially turn hard and ice-like!).
If you do end up making this ice cream, as written or with fruit jam or purée swirled in, I’d love to heard what you think of it!
Can you taste the yogurt?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Debra! My taste testers and I couldn’t taste the yogurt. With the amount of sweetener that I used, it just tasted like regular soft-serve vanilla ice cream! However, if you’re extremely sensitive, you may detect a really faint yogurt flavor. If you’d prefer using vanilla-flavored Greek yogurt, rather than plain, you shouldn’t taste the yogurt at all!
I’d love to hear what you think of this ice cream if you try making it!
This came out great. We used whole milk and 1/4c powdered sugar, 1.5tsp vanilla instead of the 2% milk and stevia. Froze the leftover in silicon popsicle molds to see how it does as popsicles 😊
I’m so glad you enjoyed this ice cream, Ann! That sounds like such a fun idea to freeze the leftovers as popsicles. I’d love to hear how those turn out, if you’re willing to share! 🙂
They came out great! Easy for kids to squeeze the ice cream out without waiting for the ice cream to defrost.
That’s wonderful, Ann!! Thank you so much for taking the time to share. I just pulled my popsicle molds out of the cupboard this week, so I’ll have to give that a try the next time I make this ice cream!