This rich keto chocolate ice cream ice cream is for serious chocolate lovers only. Rich and creamy, it’s called Death By Chocolate Ice Cream with good reason! No wimpy chocolate flavor here, my friends.
I often write a blog post thinking about what I have to say about a particular recipe. But today we are going to flip that on its head: what does this recipe say about me? I think this one is speaking loud and clear.
This recipe is saying that I love really rich keto chocolate ice cream. This recipe says that when it comes to chocolate cravings, I don’t mess around. It also says that I am your typical woman, moody and irritable at times, and chocolate is the best way to soothe the beast.
This recipe is saying that yeah, if it’s my time to go, I wouldn’t mind drowning in a big vat of low carb dark chocolate ice cream. That’s what this recipe says about me. Now ask yourself, what does this recipe say about you?
If you love seriously chocolatey keto treats as much as I do, be sure to check out my Death By Chocolate Cheesecake too. And go ahead and check out my Fudgy Keto Brownies while you’re at it.
Updating Keto Death By Chocolate Ice Cream
I originally wrote this death by chocolate ice cream recipe back in 2015. Since that time, I’ve gotten better and better at making keto ice cream so I decided it was time to re-visit this and see if I could improve upon it.
One of the advancements in my keto ice cream making skills is the use of some BochaSweet, as I have discovered that using half Swerve and half BochaSweet produces the perfect ice cream texture. The ice cream doesn’t freeze as solidly, which means you can scoop it more easily right out of the freezer.
I also discovered that I made a bit of an error in my nutritional calculations. I should have increased the number of servings, since the churning process increases the volume of the ice cream significantly (usually by another 30 to 50%). This is an incredibly rich ice cream and I should have said it served at least 10, if not 12.
Because it makes a huge amount of ice cream, I decided to cut back on the quantities of all ingredients when I re-tested it, so this new updated version actually does serve 8 people (1/2 cup per serving).
How to make Keto Chocolate Ice Cream
I actually made this recipe a few times before I was satisfied with it. The first time, the custard was so thick and rich after being refrigerated that it was like keto chocolate pudding and I could hardly pour it into the ice cream maker. It was so good and chocolate-y, though, I knew I was on to something. I just had to tweak it a little to get it right.
Here are my best tips for making the best keto chocolate ice cream recipe!
Use good quality dutch process cocoa powder
Dutched cocoa powder has been treated with an alkaline solution to neutralize the acidity. It is darker than natural cocoa, and has a richer, more chocolate-y flavor. I find that it also dissolves and mixes better into liquids and cake batters.
My favorite brand is Valrhona, but it’s quite pricy. King Arthur Flour also has a nice dutch process, as does Rodelle. Hershey’s Dark is a good store-bought option as well. I don’t recommend black cocoa as it would be too dark for this recipe.
Use an instant read thermometer
I simply cannot recommend a good instant read thermometer enough. It’s ideal for making sure your meats are cooked to temperature but it’s also great for ice creams, custards, and candies. This is a custard-based ice cream, as it contains egg yolks, and being able to tell when those eggs have reached a proper temperature is ideal for both food safety and for the consistency of the ice cream itself.
Both sweeteners are important
I find myself saying this a lot lately! Trust me, I know it’s frustrating to have to purchase two ingredients to make up for what sugar would normally do, but the results are beyond compare. Using only Swerve will result in a rock hard ice cream out of the freezer. Using only BochaSweet will make it so soft, it’s more like soft serve.
The ONLY substitutions for BochaSweet are allulose or xylitol. Please do not ask if you can substitute monk fruit sweetener. Most “monk fruit sweeteners” are erythritol based, which means they are very similar to Swerve. Which also means that they will cause your ice cream to freeze very hard.
The reality is that for any keto ice cream, you can use whatever sweetener you want. But you will face issues with scoop-ability and will need to let it thaw on your counter for up to 20 minutes before serving.
The vodka is optional
But it does help a lot. Alcohol inhibits large ice crystals from forming, which helps keep your keto ice cream recipes softer and creamier. And 1 1/2 tablespoons spread among 8 servings amounts to about 1/2 teaspoon per serving, which is not enough alcohol to affect anyone.
Thin out the custard before churning
The chocolate custard base is very thick once it’s chilled. Thinning it out with some almond milk will allow it to churn much more easily. Most home ice cream makers would not be able to handle that super thick consistency!
The richest, most chocolatey keto chocolate ice cream!
I have tried any number of keto chocolate ice creams on the market and they all suffer from the same problem… not enough chocolate flavor! I think many companies are so concerned with the final carb count, they reduce the chocolate so much it’s practically not even there.
I myself have made a few low carb chocolate ice cream recipes that simply aren’t chocolatey enough for me.
That’s why this recipe calls for both cocoa powder and unsweetened chocolate. It packs some serious chocolate flavor into this amazing sugar-free ice cream. Death by chocolate is the way to go!
Keto Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cups unsweetened almond milk, divided, use hemp milk for nut-free
- 1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 1/3 cup Bocha Sweet, can sub allulose or xylitol
- 3 large egg yolks
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 1 1/2 tbsp vodka, optional, helps reduce iciness
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- Set a bowl over an ice bath.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream, 1/2 cup of the almond milk, cocoa powder and sweeteners. Whisk together until well combined and stir until mixture reaches 160F on an instant read thermometer.
- Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly add 1 cup of the hot cream mixture, whisking continuously to temper the yolks. Slowly add the tempered yolks back into the saucepan, whisking continuously. Cook and stir until mixture reaches 165F on an instant read thermometer and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth.
- Pour mixture into bowl set over ice bath and let cool 10 minutes. Then wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Before churning, whisk in the remaining 1/4 cup of almond milk milk, the vodka, if using, the vanilla extract, and the salt (the mixture will be VERY thick until these ingredients are whisked in).
- Pour the mixture into the canister of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's directions.
- Once churned, transfer to an airtight container and freeze another few hours until firm.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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So, the ice cream is delicious! Super chocolatey goodness. However, I don’t know what I did wrong, but it’s gotten incredibly hard since putting it in the freezer. I’m the only one eating it, so I can’t eat all of it when it first comes out of the ice cream maker. Although I know homemade ice cream freezes more firmly once put into the freezer, I can barely cut this in chunks off with a knife. I left it out for 15 minutes to try to dethaw a bit, and it’s still hard. HELP! I followed your directions; do you have any idea what I may be doing wrong?
Actually, I did change one thing. I didn’t use the liquid stevia, instead I used 1 tsp of swerve (I hate stevia) – would that have had that much of an impact?
You did not do anything wrong. It happens to keto ice cream. This is because there is no sugar in it, sugar helps to not deep freeze because sugar cannot actually freeze. I believe there is another recipe on this site that uses vegetable glycerin to prevent that hard freeze. I have the same issue. I typically just microwave it for 30 seconds about 30 minutes before I want to eat it, and then just leave it on the counter. Haven’t had any weird texture issue with this method.
You’re not doing anything wrong, except that for the stevia, you should have been replacing it with another 1/4 cup Swerve, not a tsp. 1/4 tsp liquid stevia is much MUCH sweeter than Swerve. So I worry that your ice cream wont’ be sweet enough.
Sugar keeps ice cream soft and low carb sweeteners do not. So it’s the nature of the beast, and I often divvy mine up into individual servings. Also, 10 to 15 seconds in the microwave can help too, making it soft enough to scoop but not melted.
Thanks for both of your replies! It makes me feel better that I wasn’t doing anything correctly.
My grandma thought it was way to chocolatey, but I loved it (but I’ll definitely remember the difference in measurement and compensate next time)! I love super dark chocolate. I actually thought the mixture before adding the eggs would also make an excellent hot chocolate mix during the winter.
I did think about freezing in individual servings, and I think that’s what I’ll do next time.
Again, thanks for letting me know I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Just started keto a month ago, so I’m still learning. And this was the first week of experimenting with ice cream (made a couple of different batches), so it’s nice to know, I’m not heading down the wrong path.
This was my first attempt at low carb ice cream. Oh. My. Gosh…..delicious!!! No one would ever guess it was low carb, rich, decadent, chocolate….. so good!
I can’t wait to try this ice cream recipe! Can I substitute the swerve portions with maltitol? The maltitol that I have is of liquid/syrup consistency .
Yes. Swerve measure like sugar so use your sweetener in the amount you would use sugar.
O.M.G. Made this tonight and it is beyond amazing. One scoop was more than enough- it’s so rich and decadent, I thought I had somehow messed up and made this not low carb. But it is! This is definitely going to be a regular staple in my freezer.
Is it possible to make this without the unsweetened chocolate and it would still be yummy? Would there need to be any substitutions or changes to the recipe? I am thinking I want to reduce the carb count a bit for me and that would certainly help. Its also super chocolaty (which I love) but others in my family like it a little less chocolaty.
This is soooo yummy! I want to put this here in case someone else like me added ALL the milk in the beginning instead of reading through the instructions to save some back for later. It worked perfectly even with my mistake! I used all of the ingredients as listed except for the liquid stevia (only because i didn’t have any). It could have used the extra sweetness from the liquid stevia or from more swerve on the front end, but even without it its delicious! I used an old Cuisinart plug in machine (the kind with the container you freeze) and the recipe fit into it perfectly. Yay for yummy ice cream and now to try more!
First attempt at a low carb pudding after a chia disaster and I can’t say thank you enough! Easy to follow recipe, easy to make and absolutely delicious!
The husband loved it as well! Will definitely be making this again.
Perfect! Reminds me of my old days of eating Baskin Robbins’ dark chocolate ice cream. My family continues to rave!
For the refrigeration after the ice bath- is that necessary for an ice cream machine with a compressor?
I don’t have an instant read thermometer on hand- just an old school candy thermometer- will that work or is the recipe too sensitive for analog/non instant readings?
It might not be for the compressor type (I just got one!) but do need to refrigerate it for a while (3 hours). Otherwise it will be churning forever…
Isit sugar free ?
Yes.
Hi. I live in Japan and can’t get Swerve here. Whet other sugar substitutes do you recommend? There seems to plenty of Agave.
Thanks
Agave is sugar, I definitely do not recommend. Do they have any erythritol based sweeteners?
Thank you–yes they do. I assume I’d use the same proportions as Swerve? Thanks again
Yes, that would be fine.
What an awesome recipe!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!
I played around with the recipe, since I didn’t have the cashew/coconut/almond milk – but had all the other ingredients. I ended up adding about a cup of water instead of those milks. I have an ice cream maker but I ended up putting this into my popsicle molds without even using the ice cream maker and it turned out awesome!!! I didn’t have to worry about thawing a large batch, I just thaw one popsicle at a time. So rich, so good! LOVE!!!!
I made this last night and it was delicious. My husband said it tasted like chocolate pudding ice cream. I used 90% Lindt chocolate bar as the only substitution, I made a different one last week that was also delicious but made too small a batch for the family. The one addition I will make next time that I learned from the other recipe is that I will add a pinch of Pink sea salt. Thank you for this delightful recipe,
this ice cream is delicious!!! that being said, i also want to give attention to your equally delicious “low carb chocolate blender mousse”. if you don’t have the time or an ice cream maker, and you are in need of rich, delicious chocolate creaminess, the mousse is the way to go. 🙂
Just made another round of the mousse, the dairy-free kind, when my sister and her kids came to visit. She was thrilled and I was reminded how good it is.
Just made this today. It is AMAZING! My son has dietary restrictions and we do not feed him sugar. This was perfect for him and low-carb was great too. It tasted a lot better than I thought it would and we will definitely be making it again. Wow!
So glad you liked it!
What kind of ice cream maker do you us?
I have this one now but I have also used the smaller cuisinart to great affect (I had that one for 15 years!). https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006ONQOC/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=aldaidrabfo05-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B0006ONQOC&linkId=5753443c4783a88ec049a0693c66de2e