Maple walnut ice cream is one of my all-time favourites. This homemade maple ice cream recipe is keto, sugar-free, and absolutely amazing. It’s no-churn and stays scoopable even after days in the freezer! And at less than 3g total carbs, you can afford to indulge in this creamy low carb treat.
Okay, so I am usually a chocolate girl through and through. It’s a rare day that you can tempt me with anything other than chocolate. But when it comes to ice cream, I have a few other flavors I absolutely adore, and maple walnut ice cream is one of them. Maybe it’s the Canadian in me, I don’t know. But maple flavored treats have a special place in my heart. And when you taste this no churn ice cream, it’s going to have a special place in your heart too.
I feel like I’ve spent the summer perfecting my keto ice cream game. Both churned and no-churn recipes. And I feel like I have found the secret to perfectly scoopable sugar-free ice cream. Here’s the deal:
You have to use two different sweeteners – you can’t just use erythritol. You can use some erythritol sweetener, like Swerve, but you have to also use another sweetener that helps keep the ice cream soft. Such as Bocha Sweet. I hear that xylitol can do the same as well. And allulose may have the same affect too, although I haven’t tried it.
I know some people won’t be happy to hear this because Bocha Sweet isn’t cheap. But it’s worth it, believe me. You know I am a huge fan of Swerve, which is an erythritol based sweetener. But erythritol and ice cream are not a great match, as the ice cream freezes rock hard once it’s been in the freezer longer than a few hours. Using some Bocha Sweet makes a huge difference, but you don’t actually want to use it full strength. Using only Bocha Sweet results in keto ice cream that is TOO soft and goopy – it stays like soft serve the whole time. That’s why the mix of the two sweeteners works so well.
I’ve found that using half Swerve and half Bocha Sweet results in ice cream that stays perfectly soft in the freezer.Check out this video as proof. This was after a full 24 hours in the freezer…and it stayed that way for the whole week until we finished it up.
How To Make Maple Walnut Ice Cream
For a no-churn ice cream like this, you want a thickened cream base. I basically used my sugar-free condensed milk recipe, except that I replaced the vanilla extract with maple extract. And since maple walnut ice cream typically has a darker appearance than vanilla, I used Swerve Brown for one half of the sweetener. If you can’t get Swerve Brown, you can also do regular Swerve with 1 teaspoon of molasses. The other half of the sweetener was Bocha Sweet.
Once the condensed milk was done, I let it cool and refrigerated it for a few hours. Then I whipped up some more cream, folded the two together, and stirred in some chopped walnuts. Don’t toast the walnuts for this ice cream, as they can get kind of bitter. You could replace the walnuts with pecans, or you could skip them altogether.
Then I simply spread the mixture in an ceramic dish and placed it in the freezer. No churn ice cream takes a long time to freeze so I left it there overnight. And the next day, it was soft and scoopable, straight out of the freezer! It’s some of the best low carb ice cream I have ever made.
Want more amazing keto ice cream? Check out my best Keto Desserts here!
Low Carb Maple Walnut Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups heavy whipping cream divided
- ¼ cup Swerve Brown
- ¼ cup Bocha Sweet
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 ½ teaspoon maple extract
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ⅓ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring 1 ¼ cups of the whipping cream and the two sweeteners to a simmer. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Watch carefully as you want it to simmer but not continue to boil. There should be little bubbles along the edges the whole time.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and maple extract. Sprinkle the surface with xanthan gum, whisking vigorously to combine. Let the mixture cool to room temperature and then refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.
- In a large bowl, beat the remaining whipping cream until it holds stiff peaks. Fold in the chilled maple/cream until well combined. Stir in the chopped walnuts.
- Transfer the mixture to an airtight container and freeze until firm, about 5 hours.
Amy Pruitt says
I used Allulose. I’m not sure if you are aware but anything with xylitol is not good for anyone on keto or for anyone that is diabetic. It acts just like sugar and Spike’s blood sugar like crazy. I Know what they claim but it’s not true. So your favorite go to for baking… You might want to switch to Allulose. It’s available on Amazon. And it has zero after taste and no crystalization. You’ll love it as an alternative. I love all of your recipes!! Keep up the great work!
Carolyn says
Hi Amy… as a diabetic who tests her blood sugar, I have to say: every diabetic is different. It spikes me a little but I know other who say it does not. Also, I did not use xylitol here. I used BochaSweet. Not sure where you got the idea I used xylitol.
And also… allulose in high concentration makes me very sick – it’s a common side effect for many people. Again, everyone is different, so we need to keep that in mind when “advising” folks what to use.
Elizabeth Hill says
I just made this – only used 1/4 cup Sukrin gold and that was sweet enough for me. I also added 2 scoops of inulin (unsure where I got the info from for using that in ice cream!)!) However I just put it in my ice cream maker, so unsure what the results will be compared to no churn? Must say the custard was delicious and I added vanilla essence as no maple.
Carolyn says
I am sure it will be fine. Next time, if you want to adapt no churn to your ice cream maker, just leave the cream part unwhipped. The ice cream maker does the whipping for you.
Jennigirl says
Hey Carolyn, I discovered your website about a month ago and have been using recipes like crazy. You are an amazing creator! I have made many of your ice creams and they were all perfect. I just made the maple walnut and it’s actually too creamy. Did I mix the cream too much with the hand mixer ? Or? Any ideas what could’ve happened?
Carolyn says
I’m not entirely sure what you mean by “too creamy” but if the texture is different from what you’re used to, I think that’s just the nature of no-churn ice cream.
Jennigirl says
It’s so thick, like paste. It’s not a normal texture for homemade ice cream. I may just have done something wrong and will try another time. All your other ice creams I have made turned out beautifully. Thanks so much.
Teddianne Parent says
This is so good! I followed recipe to the tee…amazing. I want to do a strawberry cheesecake one next!
Leslie Whitney says
is it possible to adapt this to a churn style?
Carolyn says
Sure, just don’t whip the second batch of cream and simply whisk it in as a liquid, then churn. Then stir in the walnuts after churning.
Christy says
I make this ice cream all the time. It’s my go to. I have used the xylitol instead of bochasweet because of the cost. I did adapt the recipe to a keto peppermint ice cream (with sugar free peppermints and all), but I used only xylitol. That amount of xylitol really upsets my stomach, so that I can only eat a few spoonfuls as a serving. Have you had anyone say that Bochasweet does the same? I’ll fork out the big bucks for it to try it out.
Carolyn says
It’s very hard to say, since I usually use Bocha Sweet only mixed with Swerve in most recipes. On Amazon, I have seen reviews that BS upsets some stomachs, but other people say that they have no issue with it. It’s a very individual thing, I think.
Lenita says
Wow, wow, wow.
This is delicious!! I made the base then finished in an ice cream maker. The ice cream stayed scoopable in the freezer.
I sometimes hesitate to try keto recipes because of the cost of the ingredients, but every recipe I’ve made from you has been fantastic!!
Thank you for your hard work!
Carolyn says
I’m so glad, Lenita! It’s one of our favourites too.
Barbara says
I made this with converted amounts (because I live in the netherlands) but it turned out waaaay too sweet for me and my family. I used half erythritol 1:1 and half xilitol, each sweetner 0,25 cup converted to grams as if it was sugar. I used close to 600ml of cream in total. I guess the conversion didn’t go so well! Although the ice cream was very scoopable after 7 hours in a very cold freezer, it was so sweet we didn’t want more than one scoop. This morning I unfreezed and added another 300ml whipped cream to it: perfect taste! I hope this also turns out well scoopable tonight!
Carolyn says
Not sure what went wrong either, but 1/2 cup of erythritol/xylitol is very low on the sweetened scale (this is about as sweet as 1/2 cup sugar and most ice cream of this quantity would take 1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar!).
Any chance your erythritol or xylitol were also sweetened with something else?
Barbara says
The erythritol is also sweetened with stevia to get to the sweetness of sugar per weight, but that could not be it, I think. My guess is that my conversion to grams went wrong. But I want to tell you, after sweetening by taste this icecream is a total winner with my family! Every month or so we come together at my mothers and stepfathers house for dinner. They make their famous juicy marinated chicken and I bring with me low carb dessert. For the first time, after one bite, my daughter (4) looked at me with some surprise, gave me thumbs up and said she really liked it. My stepfather, who is on a strict CICO diet (I know, I know) took seconds! My brother, who prouds himself by always being able to tell if something has sweetners or sugar (he is a sugarburner), asked incredulously if there really was NO sugar in there, took seconds, thirds and even fourths, repeatedly saying “yummy” and eventually calling a bite an “explosion of taste”. Ok, maybe that was a bit overstated but he meant it. He took the leftovers home. The flavours I made were banane/vanilla (half a ripe banana in about 2 cups of icecream) and coffee/chocolate/vanilla (one spoon of each unsweetened powder in about 2 cups of icecream). Together with the caramelly flavour of the condensed cream it is soooo good! So, thank you for this recipe! Also from my family!
Kris says
I tried making this with Allulose and it froze hard as a rock, had to keep putting it in the microwave for 15 second bursts to get it out of the container. Will try again with Botchasweet when it arrives. Still tastes good.
Carolyn says
That’s very interesting. Many people who use allulose don’t have that issue at all. Sorry! I don’t really use it because it upsets my stomach.
pjams says
I am wondering can I substitute Monk fruit sweetener for Bocha sweet in the ice cream recipe? And will using Monk fruit sweetener produce a hard ice cream?
Carolyn says
If by “monk fruit sweetener” you mean Lakanto, then no. It’s mostly erythritol.
Taylor says
This ice cream looks incredible! Love the maple and walnut flavors!
Kristyn says
This sounds so good right now!! These AZ temps are starting to get warm & all we eat is ice cream! Thanks for sharing!
Julie Blanner says
What a great combination for ice cream! I love that it is keto as well makes me not feel as guilty when I eat it.
Kim says
Looks delicious! I need to try this sweetener!
heather says
This recipe is so good! I love maple ice cream! Perfect to satisfy the sweet tooth.
Shirley says
OMG – just put this into the freezer for dessert tonight and “sampled” it. It is sooo good! Wish my dad was still with us, this was his favourite ice cream flavour. Thank you Carolyn🍨👍
Carolyn says
That touches my heart, thank you for sharing.
claudia says
I just made this, it came out amazing! Thank you!
Lorraine Gagnon says
You mentioned a price of about $15 for the Bocha Sweet. I assume this is in US $ ?
I live in Canada and Amazon.da sells it for $25 for the 1lb bag. This is terribly expensive. I read that xylitol had side effects so I’m a bit leery of trying it.
Carolyn says
Yes, it’s pricy. But you only use a little at time if you combine with other sweeteners. It’s not great in every application so I only use it for ice cream and sauces like caramel. A pound bag lasts me over a month and I bake and cook WAY more than anyone else I know!
Katrina Benjamin says
Hi there! Thanks for the great recipe. For this step: “In a large bowl, beat the remaining whipping cream until it holds stiff peaks.” Should I make it exactly as I would make whipped cream? That means I make the bowl and my hand mixer cold, then whip the cream until it tastes like whipped cream. I want to do it right! Thanks in advance.
Carolyn says
Yep, exactly like that!
Layla Khabiri says
Hi Carolyn,
I think I got impatient when waiting for the condensed milk to thicken and added wayyyy to much xanthan gum. At least that’s what I think caused my issue. My condensed milk turned completely solid in the fridge and the “sugar” seemed to crystallize. It tasted DELICIOUS, but I’m wondering if I can still use it– for this ice cream or anything else— in its current state. Is there something I can do to fix it? add more cream? Should I just make another batch and just eat this one with a spoon? I wouldn’t mind that 😉 but was hoping for your advice.
Thanks for reading and for this delicious recipe!
Layla
Carolyn says
Warm it gently in a saucepan and add some cream. If it’s not coming together, pop it in a blender and see if you can get it to smooth out.
Layla Khabiri says
Thank you very much!