Can’t go wrong with quick, easy low carb mocha ice cream. And you don’t even have to share!
So it’s Valentine’s Day and here I am presenting you with a recipe that serves one. That must seem a little miserly of me, but hear me out. We don’t all have a significant other in our lives, but we do all need love. And isn’t self-love just as important as other-people-love? Maybe even more so? This holiday typically celebrates only one kind of love, but I say phooey to that. Love thyself and lavish thyself with gifts and chocolate today. You deserve it.
Really, though, this post is actually a review of and giveaway for my dear friend Brenda’s cookbook. You may know her as Sugar-Free Mom. I’ve featured her in some of my low carb recipe collections and I’ve shared her work on social media. She’s a great blogger with much the same goal in mind as I have: making the sugar-free world just a little bit sweeter. I’ve been following her blog for quite some time and I know she’s a great recipe writer, so I barely needed to glance at her cookbook to know I would want to give it a favourable review. But of course I glanced. And glanced. And glanced a little more.
One thing that impresses me about the book is that it’s straightforward. We aren’t talking about complicated recipes with long ingredients lists and instructions that go on for pages. Besides juggling her blog and career, Brenda home schools three kids. She knows what it’s like to try and get healthy meals on the table in short order. Her approach makes sugar-free living accessible to everyone, even if they aren’t culinarily inclined. It’s much easier to stick to a healthy, sugar-free diet when it isn’t overly complicated.
I zeroed in on the Single Serve Mocha Ice Cream because who doesn’t need a quick serving of ice cream sometimes? This is not a custard-based ice cream, so it doesn’t require a candy thermometer or chilling time in the refrigerator. All you need to do is give your ingredients a quick whirr in your blender and pour them into your ice cream maker. (Yes, it does require an ice cream maker but she has another recipe for no-churn vanilla ice cream in the book as well). It’s delicious, decadent and the perfect recipe to show yourself a little love the Valentine’s Day.
I will clarify that not all the recipes in the book are low carb. Brenda comes at being sugar-free from a somewhat different angle than I do, but she is embracing the low carb lifestyle more and more these days. And quite a few of the recipes in the book get the “low carb” label, so it’s still a great read and great inspiration.
GIVEAWAY – enter to win a copy of the Sugar-Free Mom cookbook!

Can't go wrong with quick, easy, low carb mocha ice cream. And you don't even have to share!
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup brewed chilled coffee
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- pinch salt
- 1-2 full droppers chocolate liquid stevia (I found 1/8 to 1/4 tsp to be plenty sweet for my taste)
- 1 tbsp cacao nibs (optional)
-
Add all ingredients into a blender. Taste and adjust sweetener before adding mixture to your ice cream machine.
-
Churn according to manufacturer's instructions.
Serves 1. *Nutrition data is from the Sugar-Free Mom cookbook
Calories 238; Fat 23.6 g; Carbs 11 g; Fiber 6 g; Protein 2.8 g; Cholesterol 82 mg; Sodium 24 mg.
Kathy says
I’ve been sugar free for 25 months. Best months of my life! Thank you for the chance to win this great cookbook.
M.D. says
“I’ve been sugar free for 25 months. Best months of my life!”
I know, right? Who knew??! 72 months and never going back thanks to these great recipes.
M.D.
Marcia says
I have been “trying” to go sugar free – I do for most things – love swerve – having these blogs with all the recipes and information is awesome
Tom @ Raise Your Garden says
I’m going to need more than a single serve of this. It might be cold in Buffalo, NY but I’m always game for some good ice cream. Mocha is a fabulous flavor.
Antonia says
I’ve been sugar free for about 4 -5 years now! Don’t miss it at all 🙂
Kat says
1 1/2 years. I love Trivia.
But most of all I love your recipes.
Thanks for all your hard work.
Carolyn says
Thanks, Kat!
Agnes says
One year! 🙂
[email protected] Mom says
Thank you for the kind review my friend!
Deborah Rosen says
I’ve been sugar free since June 1, 2014, and I still haven’t figured out how to do it all without it.
Angela R. says
I have been sugar free for about 1 year! Your recipes are great!! Love sugar free desserts (maybe a bit too much 🙂 !
Susan says
I know lots of Mom’s who would consider “sugar Free” with help. A book is a great tool to put in their hands. Thanks
Jan says
single serve would be good for me since it’s hard for to stop at 1/2 cup when I make a full batch 🙂
Cheryl says
I’ve been sugar free for 5 years and can’t even imagine going back to it.
I also love the fact that this is single serve. It’s just me and my husband in our household and since he is blessed with a perfect metabolism he eats high carb. Often I would like a little dessert but don’t need a whole recipe. I could (and do) divide whole recipes into individual portions and freeze, but that’s not always a good option.
Lisa says
Need to get out of my vanilla rut (although my vanilla rut is also very, very delicious!)
Teresa Cline says
Been sugar free for about 7 months now. Love all the recipes of this blog. Time to figure out where I packed away my ice cream maker.
Dita MacDonald says
I’ve been sugar free for 3-1/2 years. I sure would like Sugar Free Mom’s Cookbook. Thanks for the opportunity.
Dot says
I am trying very hard to turn my family in to eating gluten,sugar free and low carb foods. As we both have heart disease and my husband is diabetic. I really enjoy your recipes. I tried sending a comment on the blog for the free cookbook but could not figure it out it entered nothing. Thank you Happy Valentines Day to all.
Carolyn says
All you need to do is comment here and then note that you commented on the rafflecopter widget. Then you will be entered!
Lori F says
I’ve been sugar free almost 3 years!
Judith says
Sugar free since the 90’s and love sugarfreemom!! I would love that book.
Teresa says
I’ve been sugar free since April 2014, combined with low carb keto I’ve lost 50 pounds so far.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshines says
SO long! I never consume refined sugar!
linda says
Hi Carolyn, I’m making a double portion of this for ME today but would like a substitute for the Chocolate Stevia. I only stock the unflavoured stuff….
Happy Valentine Day to you and yours!
Carolyn says
The unflavoured will be fine.
Jennifer D. says
Off and on for the last 2 years.
Carolyn Curielli says
I’ve been sugar-free for 4 years! Don’t miss it at all.
TrishInFL says
I’m not totally sugar free, but try to cut sugar where I can!
Debbie Jennings says
18 months!!! : )
patricia says
I have been sugar free about one year now.
nancy says
‘ve been very inspired by Sugar Free Mom would love to win her book. I’ve tried being sugar free for about year.
Itzia says
I’m interested in going sugar free
Erin says
I’ve been sugar free since starting keto back in August 2012! I’ve never felt better.
maryann says
I would love to win this ! I need to get back to my sugar free !
Denise says
Sugar-free since 1997. Gluten-free since 2009. So glad the dairy elimination trial indicated I’m ok with dairy, whew!
Susan Broughton says
I have been sugar free now for about 10 years. I slip every now and then but because of my health I have to be really careful!
Jan says
5 Years for me….need to borrow an ice cream maker for this!
mary says
I guess it depends on how you define sugar. I haven’t had white sugar (knowingly) in many years. However, I’m into my 6th day Whole30, so I’ve been super-sugar free for 6 days now. That’s no stevia either (my favorite “sugar”) which hasn’t been that hard to not use!
Annette says
I struggle with being sugar-free, but right now I need to return to it because I’m feeling a lot of join pain. But I first went sugar-free in 2001 and it was tough; I made it through and my health improved.
Ashley says
I have been trying to be sugar free. Blogs like these are a life saver. I am not creative enough to come up with more complex recipes on my own. Getting a book would be an awesome help.
anita says
This looks awesome
Colleen says
I’ve been sugar-free for about a year. -Haven’t had a bowl of ice cream for much longer than that, though-thanks for the recipe, love anything mocha! Thank you, Carolyn, for all your recipes!
Twila says
It will be two years in March that I’ve been sugar free. I can’t imagine going back to eating all the sugar laden stuff I used to eat, and thankfully, I feel a lot better now too.
Jennifer says
This is perfect for me! I just started being sugar-free a month ago and need help finding sugar-free options as I’m starting off.
Jules B. says
I’ve been working on it for two years.
Rene Hughes says
I’ve been sugar free on and off for about 2 years. Need to be more on!
ARISHA says
I have been SUGAR Free for about 8 years.
Amy says
I’ve been sugar free for around 8 months. It’s made such a HUGE difference in my life!
Debi says
Trying the LCHF lifestyle the past few months. Love how much better I feel already. I always liked coffee flavored ice cream…..this recipe sounds yummy. Thanks for sharing and for the great give away.
Alisa says
I’ve been sugar-free on and off for a couple of years. I’ve been more consistent since the start of the year and want to build on this momentum!
Jeanine says
I just started on my journey of being sugar free. I have been free from sugar 16 days now and I am feeling like a new person already! I didn’t think there were dessert recipes without sugar so I was excited to see this!
Pam says
I’ve been low-carb and sugar-free for about 8 years, not counting my falls off the wagon!
Christine says
Sugar-free ten years off and on – mostly on. This ice cream looks amazing!
Ilisa says
Yummy! I love simple recipes like this ice cream. I do not have the time or desire to spend all day in my kitchen. Thanks for sharing!
Ilisa says
Oh, and I have been low carb for about 3 years now after my GI pretty much quit working. I have been high fat/low carb for about a year.
Jennifer says
I have been trying to do sugar free for some time now but struggling terribly with cravings. I will keep trying, though.
Kelly Macias says
I have been sugar free since Oct 2014
Kathleen says
I’ve been sugar free on and off over the last several years, but have been consistent with it this time for almost a year.
Abby Perkins says
I try to be sugar-free too! Love feeling guilt-free!
Sharon says
SF for almost 5 years .. best decision I ever made for myself 🙂
Sherrie Lee says
I’m not 100% sugar free, but I’ve been drastically sugar reduced for about 21 months now. I went low carb and lost 50 lbs. I haven’t seen this weight for over 30 years! I discovered All Day I Dream About Food and your great tasting recipes at a critical time when I was about ready to give up due to craving the sweets so bad! I crave no more! Well, I do but then I hit the kitchen and get cooking. There is no deprivation thanks to you! I’ve also learned a lot about Low Carb cooking substitutes that are healthy alternatives. I’ve never been a fan of the “fake” or “chemical” sugar replacements. Thanks for all you do and the great recipes!
Karen says
I’ve been sugar free for 3 years now. The thought of using real cane sugar actually scares me a little now.
Mary says
Only recently found your site. I am diabetic and struggling to find recipes that will satisfy me. I enjoy your website – you love food (as do I)! Looking forward to more information – although have not yet finished going through your entire site.
Sharon says
I have been sugar free since 7 July 2014. I never thought that I would ever be able to quit my Coco Cola habit – had my last sip on 6 July and started the LCHF lifestyle the next day expecting to last a couple of days. I haven’t looked back. I have lost 44lbs so far and my blood sugar readings are within normal range. I have learnt so much from the generous people who blog and post about the lifestyle.
Carolyn says
Good for you!
Stacy says
I’ve been sugar-free for about 1 1/2 years and low-carbing for nearly 12 years. My husband who has always had “perfect health” sustained a closed head injury in August 2014 and has impaired vision along with lots of chronic pain. He is a sugar addict, but unknown to him I started weaning him off sugar by using all kinds of flavored stevia’s and swerve. His vision improves when he has not consumed regular sugar for a few days, but he is a sneaky monkey when it comes to sweets brought to work by his co-workers. I follow both your and SugarFreeMom’s blogs religiously. Your creativeness and diligence Carolyn is greatly appreciated as it has helped dear H to realize that he can have a “sweet” life without sacrificing his health. Now I’m the one sending sweet treats to his work and he says they are quickly “inhaled” by those unaware of the lack of bad sugars. So thank you for all the hard work and dedication with your creations.
Carolyn says
I am so sorry to hear about your husband, Stacy. That is so scary, but very interesting that his vision improves without sugar!
Beth says
My husband is allergic to coffee and I love coffee and mocha ice cream. Having a single serving is perfect!
Roseanna says
Is there a way to make this without stevia?
Carolyn says
Sure, sweeten with whatever you like best.
Kathy Jo says
I made this amazing ice cream tonight, for the second time, and since it was already 8 pm and I didn’t have any decaf, I subbed almond milk and it was still AHMAZINGGG!!! Especially since I topped it with a nice serving of your Low Carb Salted caramel sauce (which is the best thing EVER!!!).
Next time I might try to make it vanilla so the focus is on the Salted Caramel Sauce – what’s not to love? I really do love the ease of this recipe because when I want ice cream it hits hard and fast and I don’t have time to make custard (or let me rephrase—my mind makes me think I don’t have time to make custard first! ;-)!
Thanks for all your recipes and all your time creating and cooking!!