On a spur-of-the-moment whim last Sunday, my mom and I decided to attend an Oakland A’s baseball game. We purchased season tickets for the past two years, but because we skipped this season, we’ve start to go through withdrawals… We let three weeks go by since our last baseball game, and that was far too long!
We picked seats in our favorite section (just beyond the A’s dugout and even with the bag at third base), directly on the aisle to avoid climbing over other fans for bathroom and concession stand breaks. After greeting our favorite usher with big smiles and hugs, we settled in to cheer on our boys with the rest of the crowd.
As a pitchers’ duel (aka a low-scoring game, for those of you not quite as obsessed with baseball as I am!), we saw plenty of spectacular defensive plays from both teams. Diving catches, leaping grabs, speeding fastballs, line-drove comebackers… It felt like we applauded for something amazing at every other at-bat (oops… every other player’s turn, if you aren’t familiar with baseball terms!), which really worked up our appetites!
With the temperature above 80°F and not a cloud in the sky, vendors walked up and down the aisles offering plenty of cold, refreshing treats to the fans sweltering in the heat. Snow cones, iced tea, frozen lemonade, bottles of soda… But as huge chocoholics (I inherited that from my mom!), the chocolate malts, Häagen-Dazs dark chocolate ice cream bars, and Nestlé ice cream drumsticks really caught our eye!
Although the fans around us readily caved and purchased those sweets, Mom and I tried to summon the willpower to avoid the temptation. Although it felt virtually impossible…
It was a lot easier when I remembered I could make a batch of this 25-Minute Healthy Chocolate Ice Cream when we returned home! It’s rich, smooth, and creamy, just like anything you’d find at an ice cream parlor, but has just 85 calories and over 8g of protein!
I think I’ll celebrate that with another scoop!
For the base of your healthier ice cream, you’ll use Greek yogurt and 2% milk. If you’ve been around AHB for a while, you know how much I love Greek yogurt! It’s thick and creamy, making it perfect for this ice cream, and it also adds a big protein boost. One cup of Greek yogurt contains about 21g of protein!
I highly recommend that you use 2% milk, as the recipe calls for. This is because ice cream needs a certain amount of fat in order to be smooth and creamy. Without it, your ice cream would be grainy and icy. I explain more about that (and why it’s so important!) over here.
Note: I do not recommend substituting almond milk or cashew milk. These are very watery, so they would have the same effect on your ice cream’s texture as nonfat or 1% milk.
For the chocolate flavor, you’ll mix in cocoa powder. Yes, just regular unsweetened cocoa powder—no melted chocolate! I wanted to make this ice cream recipe as easy as possible for you to whip up. You’ll add in a full ½ cup of cocoa powder, so your ice cream will still taste very rich and decadent.
To sweeten the ice cream, you’ll use another one of my favorite ingredients: vanilla crème stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that’s clean eating friendly, and it’s highly concentrated. You’ll only need 1 ½ teaspoons for this entire batch of ice cream—that’s the equivalent of ¾ cup of sugar! This is the kind that I buy because I absolutely adore its warm vanilla flavor, and I don’t notice any strange aftertastes like with some other stevia products. 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!)
There’s one last important ingredient in this ice cream base. Eggs act as a natural “glue” that helps hold together traditional ice cream bases 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. (You can read more of my nerdy explanation of that here!)
Now all that’s left is to turn on your ice cream maker (I own this one by Cuisinart—it’s really inexpensive and I love it!), pour in that chocolaty milk mixture, wait for 20 minutes or less, and…
Serve yourself a big scoop! 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 ice cream and feature it in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| The Ultimate Healthy Chocolate Ice Cream | | Print |
- 1 ¼ cups (270mL) 2% milk
- 1 cup (240g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup (40g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla crème stevia
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp xanthan gum
- ¼ tsp salt
- 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.
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.
For a more dark chocolate flavor, add an additional 2-3 tablespoons (10-15g) of cocoa powder.
I have not tried substituting other sweeteners and do not know how they will turn out. If you prefer not to use the vanilla crème stevia, you’ll need the equivalent of ½ to ¾ cup granulated sugar.
Do not skip the xanthan gum. Without it, your ice cream will taste icy and hard rather than smooth and creamy.
I own this ice cream maker by Cuisinart, and I love it! It’s so easy to use and really inexpensive.
After about 10 minutes, I found that my ice cream started getting “stuck” and wasn’t fully churning around the ice cream maker. If that happens to you, carefully “help” it along by gently pressing down with a small spatula to get the ice cream moving around the ice cream maker’s bowl. (I did that very frequently for the last 10 minutes of freezing!)
To achieve the best smooth and creamy texture, the ice cream should be made in an ice cream maker. If you don’t own one, use the following method (but keep in mind that the ice cream will turn out with a grainier and harder texture).
No Ice Cream Maker Method: After Step 2, add the mixture to an 8”-square baking pan, and place in the freezer, ensuring that the pan is flat and level. Freezer for 2-3 hours, vigorously stirring with a spatula for 2-4 minutes every 30 minutes to break up any chunks and mix air into the ice cream.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, low sugar, higher protein}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ 25-Minute Healthy Vanilla Ice Cream
♥ Skinny Strawberry Cheesecake Frozen Greek Yogurt Sandwiches
♥ Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt
♥ Mini Hula Pie Ice Cream Desserts
♥ Blueberry & Cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches
♥ Fudgy Triple Chocolate Cookies
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
Hi Amy,
I love this recipe but my husband is allergic to chocolate. Do you know how to make it coffee flavored?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Jen! I’d recommend using this vanilla ice cream recipe of mine instead. Then to make it coffee-flavored, I’d recommend using instant coffee granules for the best results (the kind that can dissolve in water!). Depending on how strong of a coffee flavor you’d like, you can add anywhere from 2 to 4 teaspoons. Make sure they’re fully dissolved before you transfer the mixture to your ice cream maker! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you and your husband think!
Oooh, I tried this tonight. It is yummy and a keeper! Thank you! Mine worked with a combination of granulated splenda and monk fruit.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this ice cream Amy! I’m truly honored that you’d call this recipe a keeper — thank you so much for taking the time to let me know! 🙂
This ice cream was wonderful. The only change I made was to use 1/2 cup of Bochasweet instead of the stevia and I have a kitchaid ice cream maker. It was rich, creamy, and delicious.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this ice cream Heidi! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know! 🙂
I was really excited about trying this recipe until I noticed that you set the serving size as 1/2 cup, which is VERY misleading. That’s great that 1/2 cup is 85 calories, you might as well say that it’s 42 calories and set the serving size as 1/4 cup… Normally someone is going to eat AT LEAST one cup of ice cream, if not two, to fill a bowl. Breyers chocolate ice cream is 135 calories when you manipulate the serving size to be 1/2 cup, so really you’re going through all of this extra work (and losing flavor) just to save 50 calories. You could better spend that 25 minutes burning 50 calories with very light exercise, and then get to eat the Breyers ice cream and break even.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Justin! I grew up eating Dreyer’s and Häagen-Dazs ice cream, and they set their serving size as ½ cup in the nutrition information on their cartons of ice cream, which is why I used that same serving size. I understand other brands like Breyers use a larger serving size in their nutrition information, but because of my childhood and my family’s favorite ice cream brands, that’s why I picked ½ cup for this recipe. That doesn’t mean you’re limited to just eating ½ cup of this ice cream per serving though — you’re more than welcome to eat 1 cup, if you prefer! 🙂 If you change your mind and decide to try making this ice cream after all, I’d love to hear what you think of it!
Thanks for the recipe!
I tried out the recipe last night, doubling the recipe (and for transparency, using 1/2 1% milk and 1/2 whole milk, since 2% was not available). The mixture’s consistency, coming out of the ice cream maker, was like soft serve, which was very satisfying!
However, after storing the ice cream overnight in the freezer, the ice cream became icy-hard. The recipe notes this is best served immediately, but is there no way to store this without losing the texture?
I’m so glad you enjoyed the fresh ice cream Adam! I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know! 🙂 Yes, when it’s stored in the freezer, it becomes icy hard, which is why I recommend serving it immediately. However, if you thaw it in the microwave for brief intervals at 30% power (the amount of time per interval will depend on the wattage of your microwave, but I recommend trying about 10-15 seconds per interval to start!), that helps soften it so it’s not so icy hard! Does that make sense?
Thanks! I appreciate the reply! With a bit of patience, letting the ice cream sit out helps, although I have enough left to try microwave pulses. I’ll give it a go!
It’s my pleasure, Adam! I’m always happy to help! 🙂 I’ve tried letting it sit out too, and you’re completely right — that does help. I just don’t usually have the patience to wait quite that long, which is why I often go with the microwave method! 😉
Can I subtitute honey for the creme stevia and if so how much?
I’m honored that you’d like to try making this ice cream, Saipranathi! I’ve actually covered this a bit in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions). I know it can be easy to miss! 😉 My main concern with honey is that it’s adding extra liquid, which can increase the likelihood of creating an icy texture, but since I don’t have any personal experience with using honey as a sweetener in this ice cream, I’m honestly not sure and don’t want to lead you astray.
If you decide to try making it, I’d love to hear what you think of this ice cream! 🙂
Hi,
You mentioned not to use almond milk or cashew, but what about unsweetened coconut milk?
I’m honored that you’d like to try making this recipe, Ashley! If it’s the kind with around 40-50 calories per cup, then I’d also recommend against it, especially if you don’t plan on eating all of the ice cream right after making it. Along with almond milk and cashew milk, this type of unsweetened coconut milk has a high water content, and that water content can make your ice cream icy or grainy when left in the freezer. However, if you do plan on eating all of the ice cream right after it comes out of the ice cream maker, you shouldn’t notice a big texture difference because it’ll still have most of the air that was churned into it by the ice cream maker. Does that make sense? 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of this chocolate ice cream if you try making it!
Amazing recipe!!! My family and I had it tonight and we actually topped it with fresh strawberries which I highly suggest to everyone else trying it. Thanks for sharing!!
I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed this ice cream, Allison! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know! 🙂 I love your idea of topping with fresh strawberries. We love doing that with our homemade vanilla ice cream, but for some reason, we haven’t done that with chocolate. It sounds fantastic!