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 Ultimate 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. It’s also super easy and quick to make — and secretly full of protein!
I think I’ll celebrate that with another scoop! 😉
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM ICE CREAM
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 have a high water content, 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.
Tip: I don’t recommend substituting Dutched or special dark cocoa powder. These have a different acidity level, which can affect the flavor and consistency of your ice cream. They also tend to make this ice cream taste more muted and bland, compared to the really decadent and rich flavor of regular unsweetened cocoa powder.
To sweeten the ice cream, you’ll use another one of my favorite ingredients: liquid 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 love its sweet 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, but I usually buy it online here because that’s the best price I’ve found. (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 — 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 ultimate healthy chocolate ice cream!
The Ultimate Healthy Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (270mL) 2% milk (see Notes!)
- 1 cup (240g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup (40g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured like this – and see Notes!)
- 1 ½ tsp liquid stevia
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 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…
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Vanilla Ice Cream
♡ Healthier Cookies ‘n Cream Ice Cream
♡ Healthy Chai Spice Ice Cream
♡ Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream
♡ Healthier Brownie Bark Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches
♡ Skinny Strawberry Cheesecake Frozen Greek Yogurt Sandwiches
♡ Healthy Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt
♡ Lightened Up Mini Hula Pie Ice Cream Desserts
♡ Lightened Up Blueberry & Cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches
♡ Healthy Fudgy Triple Chocolate Cookies
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
Hello,
I was wondering whether I could replace the cocoa powder with fat free hot cocoa mix? Trying to make it the most low fat as I can.
TIA!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Julia! I haven’t tried that substitution, so I don’t know whether it will work. My hunch is that the ice cream won’t taste nearly as chocolaty since hot cocoa mix typically contains more sweetener than cocoa/chocolate flavoring.
If you do end up trying to make this ice cream, I’d love to hear what you think of it!
Hi, I can not get xanthan gum where I live. Do you have a recipe using eggs instead? Due to medical conditions my son is on a low fat, low sugar diet. He needs protein so eggs are ok.
Thanks
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Marisol! I haven’t tried using eggs to make my ice cream recipes before. However, one reader found a way to make a modified version of my vanilla ice cream recipe without xanthan gum! You can find her version here.
I’d love to hear what you and your son think if you decide to try making this ice cream!
I made it but it was too sour so I added some sugar replacement. Next time I will try to put half of the cocoa I think it was too much 1/2 cup. Kids love it I have 3.
I’m glad your kids enjoyed this ice cream, Karla! Thanks for taking the time to let me know. It means a lot! 🙂
I’d love to help with that flavor issue, if you’d like! Did you use the same exact stevia sweetener that I did? Or did you use another sugar substitute instead?
Hi Amy,
I love your website. So glad to know there is a place to go for recipes that are healthy and DELICIOUS. I am a chocoholic also. The first time I made this it didn’t turn out that great because I was rushing and put in a cup of swerve because I overlooked the 1 1/2 teaspoon of stevia for 1 1/2 cup. Wasn’t paying attention. Since I am the only person in my household that likes to experiment with healthy eating I bought a DASH icecream maker for myself but the mixture froze too fast and the mixing paddle wouldn’t move. Next time I decided not to follow the directions of the DASH and not pre freeze the mixture just the icecream freezer cup. It turned out to be delicious. The only tweek I made this time was one individual container of plain non fat greek yogurt because thats all I had left, 1/2 cup of swerve, and instead of 1 tsp of vanilla extract, I was able to locate vanilla flavor liquid stevia. I used 1 tsp of the liquid stevia, guar gum instead of xanthum gum. It was delicious. Reminded me of the chocolate soft serve I used to get from Mr. Softee when I was a kid. I couldn’t stop licking the mixture bowl. This recipe is defintely a keeper. Thanks Amy!
I’m so glad you loved this chocolate ice cream, Chandra! You’re so kind to call this recipe a keeper. It means so much — and so does how you’re loving my website and other recipes too! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. You just put the biggest smile on my face and made my entire day!! 🙂
Howdy, Amy,
My COVID hobby has become making ice cream. I have the “real” ice cream down making a custard with egg yolks etc. However, I am looking to make a low calorie ice cream and tried your recipe. I followed it exactly and with the xanthan gum it was creamy. My only complaint was that it was not very sweet and did not have much taste. I added some additional stevia, but it did not do the trick. Thoughts and recommendation. Thanks for putting out the recipe. It was very quick.
Jerry
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Jerry! That sounds disappointing and not at all like how this ice cream is supposed to turn out, so I’d love to help figure out why that was. In order to do so, I have some questions for you!
Did you make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section?
How much extra stevia did you use?
Did you use the same exact vanilla stevia that I did? If not, what did you use instead? (Both the brand and product name would be incredibly helpful to know!)
By “not much taste,” are you referring to the sweetness? Or could you not taste the chocolate either?
Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups?
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!
Amy, thanks for the quick reply.
I did not make any substitutions. The only “variation” was that I had to use both Hershey Cocoa and Droste Cocoa blended as i did not have enough Hershey Cocoa. What brand do you use? They both are unsweetened. When I sampled it after mixing in the bowl, I added another teaspoon of organic stevia. I went to Whole Foods and purchased the vanilla stevia and the xanthan gum brands you used. In referring to taste, it was not sweet and it had more of taste of yogurt than chocolate. I used measuring cups. One other thing that was different than your instruction was that mine never “frothed up”. With the blender, it became very smooth, but never frothy. I suspected it might have something to do with the xanthan gum. Looking forward to your reply.
Jerry
It’s my pleasure, Jerry!
I use Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder. (If you click on the pink “unsweetened cocoa powder” text in the Ingredients list, that will show you the exact brand that I use — and the same is true for any other ingredient! My links are in pink. I know many people miss that little detail! 🙂 )
From what I understand, Droste cocoa is Dutched cocoa. This means it has a different acidity level and flavor profile. I’ve found Dutched cocoa powders don’t taste nearly as rich or chocolaty as regular unsweetened cocoa powder (they tend to have a more muted flavor), so that may have been part of the taste issue that you experienced.
I’m surprised that 1 additional teaspoon of stevia didn’t make much of a difference. If you used the same liquid vanilla stevia that I did, 1 teaspoon is the sweetness equivalent of ½ cup of granulated sugar! The one you bought from Whole Foods came in a small green glass bottle with an eyedropper, correct?
What brands of 2% milk and nonfat Greek yogurt did you use?
I didn’t realize you used a blender instead of an electric mixer! As long as you used 2% milk, that’s likely why your mixture didn’t froth. The blender typically won’t incorporate as much air into the mixture as a hand-held electric mixer or stand mixer. However, that wouldn’t have affected the flavor!
Hi Amy, we loved your recipe, using the lello musso ice cream maker.
The texture was fabullous, like we were in Italy The ice cream was not sweet enough. I ordered the stevia from your link, I used fage nonfat Greek yogurt and horizon 2%, I used measuring cups (should I weigh instead?). I did add 2 extra tbl of cocoa which was Dutch. I will go for non Dutch next time, and not add the extra cocoa, but how can I get it sweeter?
I’m so glad you enjoyed this ice cream, Ruth! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. It means a lot!
Unfortunately, the extra cocoa powder that you added would have contributed to the ice cream not tasting sweet enough. That cocoa powder does add more chocolate flavor, but it also adds bitterness since it’s unsweetened cocoa powder. If you omit the extra cocoa powder, your ice cream should taste sweeter! You can also add more liquid stevia to boost the sweetness too.
If you have a kitchen scale, then I highly recommend using it for cup and tablespoon measurements where I provide the gram amounts in my recipes! It’s almost always more accurate compared to using measuring cups and spoons, which means your sweet treats should end up with a much better (and more predictable!) taste and texture every time you make them. 🙂
However, do NOT use the kitchen scale for liquids where I’ve given measurements in mL. Scales measure weights, not volumes! Almost all liquids have different densities, and because scales aren’t programmed with all of those different densities, they can’t accurately measure anything except water. 😉
When I measure the yoghurt grams on a kitchen scale it comes out to a cup and a 1/2 or more rather than the plain cup so are you sure I should measure grams for liquid on the kitchen scale or should it just be for the dry ingredients when you have grams?
I used the kitchen scale this time for the hersheys Cocoa. The battle still tasted too better so I added half a teaspoon more of stevia and it tasted even more bitter. I’m going back to sugar or Maple syrup!
That’s really strange about your yogurt, Ruth! I use grams to measure the Greek yogurt in my recipes (since it’s a mostly solid ingredient!), and Fage’s Greek yogurt is my favorite brand. If 240g of Fage’s plain nonfat Greek yogurt is 1 ½ cups by your measuring cups, that’s very worrisome. According to Fage’s nutrition label, ¾ cup of their nonfat Greek yogurt is 170g. That would mean 1 ½ cups would be 340g, not 240g. Just to confirm, you’re measuring in grams on your kitchen scale, correct? Not ounces?
Amy, thanks for the quick reply.
I did not make any substitutions. The only “variation” was that I had to use both Hershey Cocoa and Droste Cocoa blended as i did not have enough Hershey Cocoa. What brand do you use? They both are unsweetened. When I sampled it after mixing in the bowl, I added another teaspoon of organic stevia. I went to Whole Foods and purchased the vanilla stevia and the xanthan gum brands you used. In referring to taste, it was not sweet and it had more of taste of yogurt than chocolate. I used measuring cups. One other thing that was different than your instruction was that mine never “frothed up”. With the blender, it became very smooth, but never frothy. I suspected it might have something to do with the xanthan gum. Looking forward to your reply.
Jerry
Sorry….did not use a blender. Used a hand mixer…..Just a rookie Texan guy trying to learn to make ice cream for his grandkids!!!!
Awww, your grandkids are incredibly lucky to have you as their grandfather, Jerry!! Especially when you put this much time and energy into making a dessert that they’d enjoy! 🙂
I’m happy to continue helping solve this chocolate ice cream flavor mystery! Two more quick questions for you…
The SweetLeaf liquid stevia that you bought from Whole Foods came in a small green glass bottle with an eyedropper, correct?
What brands of 2% milk and nonfat Greek yogurt did you use?
Green bottle, blue label, eye dropper….just like the picture.
“Happy Belly” Nonfat Greek Yogurt
7-11 2% milk (Whole foods was out of 2% and this was on the way home)
Thanks for being persistent. Only thing I see is the cocoa unless you have other ideas.
Jerry
It’s my pleasure, Jerry!
I haven’t tried the Happy Belly brand of Greek yogurt, so I’m not sure whether that would factor into the flavor as well. Some brands of Greek yogurt have a much more prominent tangy taste than others. If you taste the Happy Belly Greek yogurt straight from the container, does it have a strong tang to it?
(My personal favorite is Fage! It has the thickest texture and one of the least “tangy” flavors of the Greek yogurt brands that I’ve tried. 🙂 )
Thanks for sharing about the SweetLeaf liquid stevia! In total, you used 2 ½ teaspoons, correct?
Yes – 2 1/2 teaspoons….or 1 tablespoon.
I have Hersey’s cocoa and Fage yogurt. Will try again.
Stay tuned.
Great! I have my fingers crossed for you, Jerry — and your grandkids too! 🙂
I love how easy and healthy this ice cream is. It took no time to put together and we enjoyed it (me, hubby and 3 kids). The general consensus for us was less cocoa. I think it may depend on the brand and quality of your cocoa and taste preference of course. I also used liquid Monk Fruit instead of stevia but sweetness wasn’t an issue. We have plans to try the vanilla and experiment with mix-ins. It’s going to be a delicious summer!
I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed this ice cream, Chenelle! It’s great to know that your liquid monk fruit sweetener worked. Thank you for taking the time to share!
I’d love to hear what you and your family think of the vanilla ice cream too — and maybe even some of your fun mix-in creations! Summer can’t come soon enough! 😉
Hi I made this ice cream, I used the ice cream maker I used also the xanthangum and still it came very hard. Can you pls help me out pls?
Tkx
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Marisa! Was your ice cream hard right after you removed it from your ice cream maker? Or are you referring to the texture after leaving it in your freezer for an extended period of time?
Can I use gelatine powder instead of xanthan gum for this ice cream recipe?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Josette! I haven’t tried using gelatin powder instead of xanthan gum. My main hesitation is that many gelatin powders require heating to activate their thickening properties, and since I don’t recommend heating this ice cream mixture, using those gelatin powders won’t produce the same thick and creamy ice cream texture as the xanthan gum.
If you decide to try making this ice cream, I’d love to hear what you think of it!
Hello
I was wondering if you have ever made an ice cream adding a protein powder for us workout nuts.
Thanks
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Josh! I haven’t tried using protein powder in my ice cream recipes before, so I’m not quite sure how that would turn out. However, I’ve baked with protein powder before! You can find all of my recipes that include protein powder as an ingredient here. 🙂
If you decide to try making this chocolate ice cream, I’d love to hear what you think of it!