Creamy low carb vanilla ice cream with decadent chunks of sugar-free brownies. The ultimate summer indulgence!
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream, right? I mean, who doesn’t like the creamy cold stuff? I can honestly say I haven’t met a single person in my life who doesn’t like ice cream. Some people are intolerant to the dairy-filled treat, but even they usually love the stuff. And they do their darnedest to get little paws on dairy-free versions as often as possible. Summer just isn’t summer without copious amounts of ice cream to cool you off on a sweltering day.
And there are so many wonderful flavour possibilities with ice cream, so many amazing and creative ways to serve it up and enjoy it. I have a long list of ideas for ice cream recipes at any given moment, some more outlandish than others. I also have many grand plans for more elaborate ice cream creations like cakes and pies and sandwiches. The vast majority of these will probably never get made because I have more recipe ideas than one could possibly make in a lifetime. Actually, I have more recipe ideas than one could possibly make in 12 lifetimes. But at least I have dreams, right?
I truly love making ice cream recipes to rival those that you see on grocery store shelves. I often find myself walking down the freezer aisles, thinking “well, I could make that!”. And I thought that very thing a few months ago when my son clamoured for a sugary, high-carb brownie chunk ice cream we passed by on a grocery store run. It’s so ridiculously simple and yet so decadent, putting chunks of brownie in ice cream. And I knew my basic low carb flourless brownie recipe would make the ideal chunks for a much healthier version. I just made a batch, let them cool, then chopped them all up and added them to a rich low carb vanilla ice cream. And for an extra special treat, I topped it off with some low carb salted caramel sauce. Take that, store bought!
Brownie Explosion Ice Cream
Ingredients
Brownies:
- 1 recipe ultimate keto brownies (skip the added chocolate chips)
Ice Cream:
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup almond milk
- ⅔ cup Swerve Sweetener
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoon vodka optional, helps reduce iciness
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
Instructions
Brownies
- Prepare and bake the brownies according to the directions, omitting the added chocolate chips. Let cool completely and then cut into chunks or crumble with your hands.
Ice Cream
- Set a bowl over an ice bath and set aside.
- Combine the cream, almond milk and sweetener in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until erythritol dissolves and mixture reaches 165F on an instant read thermometer.
- Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly add about 1 cup of the hot cream mixture, whisking continuously, to temper the yolks. Then slowly whisk the egg yolk mixture back into the pan, whisking continuously.
- Cook until mixture reaches 175F on an instant read thermometer and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
- Pour the mixture into bowl set over ice bath and allow to cool 10 minutes. Then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill at least 3 hours.
- Stir in vodka, if using, and vanilla extract. Sprinkle with xanthan gum and whisk vigorously to combine.
- Pour the custard into the canister of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's directions.
- Once churned, transfer half to a large, airtight container. Stir in half of the brownie chunks, then top with remaining ice cream and remaining brownie chunks until well combined.
- Freeze until firm but not rock hard, another 2 to 3 hours.
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Sunny Blackiston says
Hi, can I use coconut milk instead of almond milk?
Thanks
Carolyn says
Yes, that should work.
Sunny says
Thanks, I’ll let you know, just made and put the Brownie Explosion in the freezer. BTW – I made the Keto Strawberry Ice Cream the other day with fresh Strawberries – Loved it! Next – Coffee
Jackie Martin says
Is there a reason you removed the 2 T gelatin from the recipe? This vanilla Ice cream has been my go-to for years now and I thought it was perfect as is? I’ve made subsequent recipes with mixing sweeteners but they’re impossible to scoop – could be that the bocha sweet would have helped that but I only have allulose and it doesn’t ‘cut it’ 🙂
Carolyn says
I don’t believe that the ice cream ever had gelatin in it. I’ve never used gelatin in ice cream. There is a tbsp of gelatin in the brownies…
Jackie Martin says
I took a closer look at this recipe and compared with the old printed one and see you made quite a few changes (i.e gelatin now in brownies, not ice cream). I don’t have bocha sweet to do a comparison so will stand by my comment that your original vanilla recipe was perfect 🙂
Carolyn says
I feel the newer versions are perfect but it’s up to you! I don’t plan on going back to putting gelatin in ice cream. I don’t even remember doing that…
Kathy says
Have the Death by Chocolate cooling in the fridge now. Wanted to ask if this vanilla recipe would stay scoopable if I change out the sweetener like what you did with the chocolate recipe? I have been enjoying your recipes. Thanks for all the hard work you share with us.
Carolyn says
This is a really old recipe but if you do half Swerve and half BochaSweet, it should remains scoop able.
Trisha says
Is this supposed to get slushy like sugar ice cream mixtures before you put it in the freezer? Mine never did, followed the recipe exactly.
Carolyn says
It’s supposed to be like soft serve. If it didn’t freeze at all, then something is wrong with your ice cream maker. Did you freeze the canister for a full 12 hours before churning?
Linda says
Hi Carolyn,
I hope this finds you well. Happy Spring!
I’ve a couple of question for you, based on your vast experience with baking/making desserts. I’ve noticed that you’ve got quite a few ice cream recipes and…
With the understanding that there might be exceptions to the rule, do you think it’s safe to take most regular ice cream recipes and adapt them simply by changing the sweetener from sugar to something keto friendly?
I’ve notice that you sometimes use xanthan gum, even in your custard based ice cream recipes, and I wondered if you could shed some light on the choice to use it.
(I LOVE that you have custard based ice cream recipes – that is my favorite style of ice cream making!)
Thank you so much! I absolutely LOVE your site and both of your cookbooks. Can’t wait for desserts to come out!!!
PS-David Lebovitz has a toasted coconut ice cream recipe that is to DIE for and I might give it a whirl with a keto sweetener.
Warm (but not too warm, don’t want to melt the ice cream) regards,
Linda
Carolyn says
Technically, yes you can take any ice cream recipe and make it more low carb by using a low carb sweetener. However, it tends to freeze rock solid without sugar so there are a few ways to help it along like xanthan gum and a few tbsp of alcohol.
Linda says
Ah ha, that’s where the xanthan gum comes in. I think I’ll try it with the vodka. Thank you, as always, Carolyn! I’ll let you know how the toasted coconut comes out but I’m excited about trying some of your recipes and specifically, the no-churn ones. I have an awesome Musso Lussino machine but most people don’t have a machine and it’s always fun to whip up a batch on the fly!
Best,
Linda
Kelly H. says
Hello! How should this be stored? Or I guess I’m asking, how long does it need to sit out before it can be served? Planning on making this for my son’s first birthday party. I followed keto for gestational diabetes the whole time I was pregnant, so it’s only fitting he gets this for his party! Thanks.
Carolyn says
I think you will need to let it sit out for 15 to 20 minutes to be soft enough to scoop after being frozen for a while. One thing that can really help is to freeze it in individual portions. If you do that, it only needs 5 minutes or so before people can eat it.
Adrian Pearson says
Hi there. I’m new to this site, so apologise if you’ve answered this before.
This recipe looks amazing. Where you list the serving/nutrition/carb content etc. how big are the servings that you have used?
Carolyn says
Typical 1/2 cup portions or so.
Beverly says
Adding 1 or 2 sleeves of Starbuck’s Via Instant coffee to the hot ice cream base would make a a delicious Coffee Brownie Chunk Ice Cream.
Carolyn says
It would indeed. Funny, I did that very thing for another upcoming, dairy-free ice cream bar. Yum!
David West says
Oh man! Will definitely be trying this in approximately 4 hours!
Thanks in advance for what looks like an authoritative fix to a long-time craving!
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
Yum! One of my favorite homemade ice creams I’ve ever made had brownie chunks in it.
Michelle H says
Can I use regular milk instead of almond milk?
Carolyn says
Sure, that’s fine. I’d go for whole milk to keep the carbs down.
Sherrie Lee says
Carolyn,
Do you happen to know if Wilton’s Glycerin found in the cake decorating section is the same thing as vegetable glycerin? It’s used in fondant and to bring dried out gel colors back to life, so it is edible. I just don’t know enough about glycerin to know if it’s basically the same thing.
Thanks for all your help!
Sherrie
Carolyn says
I don’t really know, actually. It must have the ingredients on it, if it’s used in cake decorating, right? If it says 100% vegetable glycerin then I suppose it is the same!
Crystal says
If I don’t have liquid stevia, can I use regular stevia?
Carolyn says
Powdered? Sure, I am just not sure how sweet it is. I think it’s more sweet than the liquid so you’d want to use less.
Theresa @ Cottage Violet's says
I used your Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie in a recipe, and put your link in the article. I hope this is okay with you. I gave you full credit here : http://cottageviolets.blogspot.com/ I really love your blog! Thanks, Theresa
Carolyn says
Thanks, Theresa! The link back is always appreciated. I love what you did with it! 🙂
Susan McIntyre says
Carolyn,
Do you have a link for the vegetable glycerin you like to use?
Carolyn says
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019LWU2K/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0019LWU2K&linkCode=as2&tag=aldaidrabfo05-20&linkId=QSYY6IFNR5SRGNLJ
this is the NOW foods one, which I googled and it states on their website that it is food grade.
susie t. gibbs says
Dang girlfriend. You’ve outdone yourself with this one!!! Licked the screen three times!
Ashley says
This recipe looks great! Can’t wait to try it. I have made low-carb ice cream in the past even with vodka, but they always seem to be rockhard when I eat it on subsequent days. Do you have any Tips or suggestions? Or does your family usually eat it on the first day made? Thanks!
Carolyn says
Ashley the BEST tip I can give is the 2 tbsp of vegetable glycerin. It makes a huge difference. I list it as optional because it’s a sugar alcohol and is said to not affect blood sugar, similar to erythritol. But I count half the carbs in the nutritional counts here, just in case. So far, it hasn’t seemed to affect my blood sugar negatively, so that’s a good sign!
Ashley says
Thanks!
Lisa says
Is the cream, heavy whipping cream in your ice cream?
Carolyn says
You bet!
Erin | The Law Student's Wife says
BEST WEEK EVER!!! Is there a problem in life ice cream won’t help make better? I think not!
Carolyn says
Excellent point, Erin! 😉