Keto coffee ice cream without an ice cream maker? It’s not a dream, I promise And this is the richest, creamiest, keto no churn ice cream recipe. What a way to beat the heat!
I first created this no-churn coffee ice cream back in 2015, and I am so excited to give it a new update. It’s better than ever before, and it stays perfectly scoopable, even after weeks in the freezer. If you manage to get it to last that long!
Read on to get all the best tips for this keto coffee ice cream recipe.
Keto ice cream for the coffee lover
I make no secret of the fact that I am a coffee addict. And like many addicts, I have no desire to quit my drug of choice.
But while I do love the energy I get from the caffeine, there’s much more to it than that. It’s about the flavor, the aroma, the hot bitter liquid on my tongue every morning. The slow sipping and savoring in the stillness of my quiet house, before the kids are awake.
I love coffee and I love everything about coffee. And I adore coffee flavored desserts – especially coffee ice cream.
There’s a magic that happens somewhere in there, when coffee comes together with cream and sweetener. It’s a heavenly combination and even many non-coffee drinkers enjoy coffee ice cream.
So when I make a keto coffee ice cream, you can bet it’s rich and creamy and full of deep coffee flavor. When you love that dark liquid brew as much as I do, you can’t mess around!
No ice cream maker required
I love my ice cream maker and I use it frequently. But a few years ago, I started to see all of these no churn ice cream recipes popping up all over the internet, and I was intrigued. I didn’t even know such a thing was possible.
After a little reading and investigation, I realized just how simple and brilliant the method was, and I was eager to try my hand at a keto no-churn ice cream recipe.
Conventional no churn ice cream recipes usually use sweetened condensed milk, which is then folded into some whipped cream. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it. An ice cream machine serves much the same purpose, churning air into a cream-based mixture to increase the volume.
I thought it might be possible to use the exact same approach with my keto sugar-free condensed milk. And so keto no-churn ice cream was born!
Of course, having to make the sweetened condensed milk from scratch means it’s not quite so simple as the sugary version, but it really is a great option for those of you without ice cream makers.
And now that I’ve improved my keto condensed milk recipe, this keto ice cream stays scoopable for days, even straight out of the freezer!
Tips for making keto coffee ice cream
A few tips for getting the most out of this delicious no-churn recipe:
- Make the condensed milk in advance and let it cool properly. If you attempt to proceed while it’s still warm, the whipped cream will melt and become liquid again, and your ice cream will never set properly.
- Both Swerve and BochaSweet are critical to this recipe, so that the ice cream firms up but stays scoopable.
- The only thing you can replace the Swerve with is another erythritol based sweetener (Lakanto, Sukrin, etc.).
- The only things you can replace the BochaSweet with are xylitol or allulose.
- The xanthan gum is important for thickening the condensed milk properly but it also inhibits ice crystals in the ice cream. If you must skip it, that’s fine but do realize that the texture of your ice cream may suffer somewhat.
- How much coffee you add is up to you. I like mine with a strong flavor but I also use decaf instant coffee so it doesn’t keep me up at night. You can use any instant coffee and even the Starbucks Via packs work well (I add two when I am using those).
- No churn ice cream takes longer to firm up and freeze properly so be patient and consider making it the day prior to when you want to eat it.
Ready to try your hand at this delicious Keto Coffee Ice Cream?
More great keto coffee desserts
- Keto Double Espresso Brownies
- Low Carb Mocha Chip Biscotti
- Keto Tiramisu
- Coffee Creme Mousse
- Keto Espresso Chocolate Cheesecake Bars
- Sugar-Free Coffee Creme Brûlée
No Churn Coffee Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream divided
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk (or hemp milk for nut-free)
- ½ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener divided
- ¼ cup BochaSweet
- 2 tablespoon butter
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 to 1 ½ tablespoon instant coffee (I use decaf!)
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 cup of the cream and the almond milk. Whisk in ¼ cup of the Swerve and the BochaSweet. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer 40 minutes, whisking occasionally.
- Remove from heat and add the butter. Whisk to combine, until the butter is melted. Then sprinkle the surface with xanthan gum and whisk vigorously to combine.
- Whisk in the instant coffee and vanilla extract, until the coffee granules have dissolved. Let cool to room temperature.
- Whip remaining 1 ¼ cups whipping cream with the remaining Swerve sweetener until it just holds stiff peaks. Gently fold in the cooled coffee mixture until well combined.
- Transfer to a container and freeze until firm, about 5 or 6 hours.
tori says
I love this so much…. can I put this into my Ninja Cremi Ice Cream Maker? I can’t find any recipes that come close to yours for ice cream!
Carolyn says
I have no idea, I don’t own one. 🙂
Elissia says
can I use powdered espresso instead of instant coffee?
Carolyn says
Yes.
Kerry says
Am I missing where to use the keto condensed milk?
Carolyn says
No… because making it is built into the first few steps of the recipe…
Kerry says
Thank you! Now, I understand. Using the condensed milk was specifically mentioned in the vanilla recipe. I didn’t translate.
Carolyn says
yes, they are a bit different, although it’s a similar process.
Krista L Harris says
thank you! I’m thinking of making a copy cat recipe from a local ice cream shop and this article is perfect. They call it “Exhausted Parent” – coffee ice cream with brownie pieces.
Elizabeth Dickey says
Wow! This coffee ice cream tastes wonderful. I added 1 tsp of Ceylon cinnamon.
Bobbie Benge says
I made this yesterday along with the chocolate zucchini bunt cake, I shared the cake but gave my non-keto eaters vanilla ice cream rather than share my coffee ice cream. This is so yummy!
Carolyn says
Smart! Keep that keto ice cream to yourself! 😉
Katherine Sylvester says
I love this recipe but I won’t use almond milk. Is is okay to use lactaid whole milk?
Carolyn says
Sure!
MJ says
Made this 2 days ago–DELISH!! Heat index has been in the 100+ range all week–so nice to have some ice cream again! and keep to the low carb diet. Recipe is a definite winner.
Kimberly says
So delicious!! Creamy and tasty! 😋
Margareta Sindaco says
Hi Carolyn, I made your death by chocolate ice cream and really love the taste. It was a bit hard to scoop though. We did enjoy it though.
Now, I would like to make the coffee ice cream, can I put in an ice cream maker and churn it? Can all no churn ice creams be churned?
Love your recipes.
Margareta
Carolyn says
If you want to churn it, simply don’t whip the additional cream. Whisk it in and pour everything in your ice cream maker when it’s chilled.
Alexandra says
This ice cream is truly amazing, I love the coffee taste and it stays amazingly scoopable for so long! Honestly, the most amazing part was that there was ice cream left to scoop! I was really craving a coffee flavour and this really hit the spot.
For anyone else who wants to make this, but doesn’t have instant coffee, I can tell you what I did. I didn’t want to swap the instant coffee directly with espresso, because the dry vs liquid ratio would be different. Instead I added about 1/2 cup of coffee to the condensed milk halfway through the process, i.e. 20 minutes before the condensed milk was done simmering. The end result was very thick, especially when the xanthan gum was added, so I think the coffee could be added later on in the process, maybe 10 minutes before the condensed milk is done. Also, definitely worth remembering for coffee condensed milk in general, because it tastes amazing!
Christi says
My hubby loves Michigan Cherry coffee and international delight coldstone sweet cream creamer. International delight changed their recipe, so he’s been quite disappointed. WIFEY TO THE RESCUE! I made your coffee ice cream and added fresh chopped cherries. (He’s not keto). He loved it! Now I’m trying to find a cherry alternative so I can enjoy too. Any suggestions?
Janet says
Can almond milk be added to your original keto sweetened condensed milk recipe at the same ratio as it is in this recipe ? Of all of the KSCM recipe’s I’ve tried, yours is the absolute best, however I’ve wondered how I might reduce the heavy cream amount if possible. Thanks !!
Carolyn says
You can, it’s just thinner in the end.
Sandra Rosen says
Can you use regular cows milk instead of almond milk?
Carolyn says
Yes, but it’s higher in carbs.
Laura says
would you give me your churning directions?
did you use recipe as written?
Linda Parrillo says
Would love to try this recipe. I have read through some of the old posts and most of my questions about a dairy free version have been answered except one. Can the butter be replaced with butter flavored coconut oil?
Thank you
Linda
Carolyn says
I think so!
Martha G says
Awesome recipe! I churned it using the guidelines for the vanilla ice cream. The only addition was dark chocolate shavings: I froze them while the ice cream was churning, then added once it was almost ready. So good!! Thanks you!
Anthony says
I don’t see any condensed milk in the list of ingredients. Is it not used?
Carolyn says
It’s built right into the recipe itself. The first few ingredients ARE the condensed milk.
Terry says
Carolyn – have you tried using fresh espresso (cooled) in place of the powdered coffee and less almond milk to compensate for the additional liquid?
Vicki Morgan says
Just a note to say bravo on this coffee ice cream recipe! I did follow your suggestions for using my ice cream maker. I am smitten! Thank you for all of your wonderful recopies and the time you take to perfect them for us.
Have a beautiful day!
Cheers! Vicki Morgan
Carolyn says
So glad it worked out!