Whether you call it low carb hot fudge sauce or low carb chocolate sauce, this easy sugar-free ice cream topping is insanely delicious! And it only takes 4 ingredients to make. Pour it over your favourite keto ice cream recipe. Updated with a how-to video.
Here we are in the dead of winter and I am craving ice cream. Granted, it’s not as cold in Portland as it was in Boston; it typically stays well above freezing and is often in the mid-40s by the middle of the day. But it’s still not exactly ice cream weather. It’s often rainy and windy and that damp chill gets into your bones and makes you wish you were home by the fire sipping a hot drink. So that doesn’t account for my strange cravings for the creamy cold stuff. And no, I am not pregnant. I’ve got my three and am thoroughly overwhelmed as it is, so don’t even go there! So what the heck is up with me?
Best Low Carb Chocolate Sauce Recipe
Well, the way I see it, the source of my sudden passion for ice cream is two-fold. First of all, I came across a larger ice cream maker at a second-hand store the other day for a fraction of the normal cost. It looked virtually brand new and I made sure the store had tested it to see if it worked. I snapped it up and brought it home and now the freezer canister is in the freezer, waiting for me to really give it a test drive. Thrift store and second hand store shopping is big in Portland and I love it. I usually pop in to look for interesting props for my food photography, but when I come across a find like that, I just have to jump at it. I may give away my old, smaller ice cream maker…or I may keep them both, who knows? (My husband is NOT a fan of that idea, but we shall see).
The other, more significant factor in my desire for ice cream is that I have developed a gorgeous recipe for low carb hot fudge sauce. It really is gorgeous…thick and velvety and chocolatey, and it pours over that ice cream, melting it just slightly as it goes, making delicious creamy, chocolatey puddles in the bottom of your bowl. Have I convinced you yet that you need to make this? You really, really do. And the best part is that you can adapt it in so many ways for interesting flavors. Consider mint extract instead of vanilla. Or orange extract! Or coffee, or raspberry, or caramel, or…oh, oh, the possibilities are endless. Can you see why I am craving ice cream?
I also wanted to give a little shout-out to a new low carb ice cream I recently discovered called Halo Top. Although I prefer to make my own ice cream most of the time, it’s something that requires a little forethought. You have to make the custard and cool the custard and make sure your ice cream canister is frozen and ready to go. But when those ice cream cravings hit, you aren’t always prepared that way. Halo Top is a nice change from most low carb ice cream products because it’s mostly sweetened with erythritol, not sucralose (it does have a little cane sugar too). A serving is 12 g of carbs, 4 of which are fiber and 4 of which are erythritol, so the net carb count comes in at a nice 4 g. That’s definitely doable for me in a pinch! And with a good dollop of my low carb chocolate sauce, it’s pure low carb dessert heaven.
The Best Low Carb Hot Fudge Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup whipping cream
- ⅓ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 2 ½ ounces unsweetened chocolate finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together whipping cream and sweetener until combined. Bring to a simmer and remove from heat.
- Add chopped chocolate and let sit 5 minutes, until chocolate is completely melted. Add vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
- Drizzle over your favorite low carb ice cream or use as chocolate fondue.
Notes
RELATED POSTS
Best Low Carb Ice Cream Recipes
Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Vicky says
I’ve made this with great success several times and enjoyed it YUM. This time however, the oil separated out and while it was still tasty, it was oily and goopy. Any ideas on what went wrong?
Carolyn says
Did you use the same brand of chocolate? Lower quality chocolate can do that. Also too much heat can cause that issue as well.
ilyse says
THIS IS SO GOOD! Seriously easy and unbelievably delicious! I have already had it on low carb ice cream, on strawberries, and with your cream cheese pancakes…yummm and thank you!
ilyse says
oh, and yes, off the spoon too…
Adele says
Best dark chocolate I have found is Lindt 90%. In Portland it is available at Fred’s, also Target, and most other markets.
Annette says
Carolyn could use use raw cacao powder or a mix of both. I have the unsweetened chocolate and also some totally awesome cacao powder fro tru vibe. Thanks in advance.
Carolyn says
I am not sure about the cacao powder but I’d say it’s worth a try.
Alli says
I made this tonight with raw cacao powder and cacao butter (1:1)- it was SPECTACULAR! I melted the cacao butter, whisked in the sweetener and cacao, and then whisked in the cream. Heaven. I froze the leftovers in muffin papers- I am hoping in the morning I will have milk chocolate cups!
Donna says
Do you ever make this ahead and store it in the fridge like Hershey’s topping? I am a big make-ahead cook! 🙂
Carolyn says
YES! But you do have to reheat it gently.
Lynn says
Reheat it in a double boiler? Could it be reheated in the microwave?
Carolyn says
It does not do that well in the microwave, it seizes easily. If you choose to do that, do it VERY gently, 10 seconds at a time, stirring in between.
Lori in PDX says
I came for the hot fudge sauce, but now I’m going to race off to New Seasons to find the Halo Top low carb ice cream!!! 😀
Karis says
Freddy’s has it too!
Donna says
Has anyone used this to make chocolate milk? Along that same line, has anyone made a lower carb “milk” by mixing half and half with some water? I saw this suggested on a FB page.
jacque says
I used the fudge sauce to make hot chocolate, added it to non-dairy milk and probably a splash of heavy cream and some strong instant coffee. I don’t know how much I used–started small and stopped when the taste was right. It didn’t take much, and it was sooo good. I don’t buy half & half, but I’ve combined heavy cream and water before–you might experiment with that.
Btw, the sauce is terrific with peanut butter swirled in for a super-quick Reese’s cup!!
Heidi says
I can’t wait to make this sauce. Your Low carb caramel sauce was a hit at my house this year over the holidays and it freezes well. I need a good low carb recipe for ice cream. I have tired several and my husband doesn’t mind the ice cream the first time (if it doesn’t have the cooling effect) but after it completely freezes it is normally so hard and icy when we want another scoop, another day. Any thoughts? I haven’t made any now for awhile becuase I feel like it just waste ingredients i.e. MONEY in the end for a product he won’t eat. The pictures always look amazing but they never seem to turn out quite the same as the pictures look.
Jill says
Heidi – this is my recipe and it stays scoopable for several days in my freezer. If it gets too hard 30 seconds on medium in the microwave will soften it just a bit. Hope this helps.
Soft Scoop Vanilla Ice Cream.
500 ml double cream (heavy cream)
4 large egg yolks
5 tablespoons Sukrin (erythritol)
1 tsp vanilla paste + 1tbsp vanilla essence
Whisk all together and bring to preboil in saucepan stirring all the time. As soon as it begins to thicken, remove from heat and plunge saucepan into 2″ cold water in sink. Stir as mix cools to prevent skinning. Whisk in 1/8 tsp Xanthan gum, 2 tbs Vodka and 1 tbs Glycerin.
Churn and Freeze.
Jen and Emily @ Layers of Happiness says
You are not alone – I have been craving ice cream lately too! Not just any ice cream – homemade ice cream! But I don’t have an ice cream maker. 🙁 I guess I’ll just have to go hunt around to score a deal like you did! This chocolate sauce looks delish! Pinned 🙂
Vicky says
Delucious! I made a half recipe last night, followed the recipe exactly (rather an achievement for me) and it came out perfectly. I certainly could not stop at just one serving! The Swerve cooling didn’t even bother me on this recipe. Love it! Oh, now that I think of it, I did add a few drops of chocolate extract in addition to the vanilla extract for fun. This could easily be flavored with any other extract– orange, hazelnut, mint… How I wish I could just eat all day long 🙂
Carolyn says
I know, it could be rather dangerous!
Melissa B says
Made this tonight – DELICIOUS! I only used a little on some SF icecream to test it out, so I’m trying to figure out what to make w the rest. Thank you for a great recipe!
Carolyn says
I’m so happy to hear that!
Donna says
Looks amazing! Love your blogs, and I share your recipes all the time! 🙂
1. How does that ice cream compare to Breyer’s Carb whatever….in taste? How about compared to Edy’s sugar free?
2. Do you think this will work with half and half? I have lots of extra half and half left from holiday baking! 🙂
Thanks!
Carolyn says
I’v only ever had Breyer’s Carb Smart and I personally could taste the sucralose. I am just not a fan of that.
I think half and half might make it to thin, but you could try it and maybe add 3 ounces chopped chocolate to help thicken.
Jan says
First of all, welcome to the NW, Carolyn! I have followed your blog for months now and thought it was so cool when you said you were moving this way. Hope you are adjusting well.
This chocolate sauce looks AHmazing! Anything chocolate and I’m all over it. I will make some soon when I have something yummy to pour it on!
Or maybe I should just make a hot chocolate from it? Now there’s a thought…
Amanda says
I could just drink this! Amazing!!!
Judith says
Hi Carolyn. Nice, simple recipe. Just what I like. I will be interested to hear about the ice cream maker….Several years ago, I found two new Krups machines in a thrift store..bigger than my current Cuisinart. I froze the canister in our deep freezer for days but it never really completely made ice cream but milk shake consistency. I had friends that had a small farm who had a Kitchen Aid canister who had the same problem. They left the canister in the freezer (I do that, as well), so lack of freezer time was not the issue.
I donated the machine back to the thrift store.
It seems that this problem has been solved since my IC21 makes perfect ice cream so it may depend on when your machine was made.
Keep us posted.
Pamela says
I made this tonight and followed the recipe exactly. My sauce is not nearly as dark or as thick as yours. It’s the color of milk chocolate and is thin enough to drizzle through a bottle with a small hole. I used Scharffen Berger 70% dark chunks. Any ideas why mine is not thick and dark like yours?
Carolyn says
Well, given that 70% chocolate is not the same as 100% unsweetened chocolate, I’d say that’s probably the culprit. Remember that anything that is not 100% cacao is going to have fillers and other things that change its consistency and its behaviour when melted.
Pamela says
Ah, Carolyn, thank you! I did not see that you used unsweetened chocolate. How dumb of me! So, I did not follow the recipe exactly, after all! I think I will melt some unsweetened chocolate and add it to it and I think I’ll like the taste better, too, as it’s a little too sweet for me, as it is, also. Thank you for kindly pointing out my mistake, Carolyn. Once again, I appreciate you so much!
Carolyn says
You can always add some cocoa powder to thicken it, that might offset the runniness and lightness. Make sure to sift your cocoa powder first, so it doesn’t clump in the sauce.
Steph says
Im having the same issue with runniness but i used 100% unsweetened chocoalte. Ideas?
Carolyn says
I guess the brand could be an issue but I’ve made this with a few different brands and it always thickens up. What sweetener are you using?
Arleen says
I had the same issue. I used 90% lindt chocolate. Mine was runny like milk and grey….
Carolyn says
Right, and that’s because you did not use unsweetened chocolate, as directed in the recipe.
Arleen Skidmore says
Ty Carolyn. For some reason I thought I could use it. Normally I use unsweetened baking chocolate. Not sure where this lindt came from…
Carolyn says
The best way I can explain it is…unsweetened chocolate, being pure cacao, has more fiber and so makes a thicker (and more chocolatey) sauce.
Zlatka says
What a simple and excellent recipe! Does it taste like milk or dark chocolate? Thanks!
Carolyn says
More like dark chocolate. Truly like hot fudge sauce.
Margeaux Vittoria says
I have some whipping cream that I need to use up – perfect!
Lynda says
What brand of unsweetened chocolate do you normally use?
Carolyn says
Ghirardelli.
Jan says
Ghiradelli is the best!! Amazing chocolate taste !! I make a chocolate ganache with bittersweet Ghiradelli and cream that is amazing.
jacque says
This recipe couldn’t be any simpler–makes me wonder why I couldn’t have thought of it! You constantly amaze me. I can’t wait to make this and spoon it over my plain Fage tonight.
I have semi-sweet choc chips left over from Christmas baking for my non-carb husband. I’m guessing I can make him some fudge sauce for his ice cream by using those and reducing the added sweetener/sugar. He’ll love it.
Carolyn says
I am sure the semi sweet chocolate will work, since I developed this recipe based off of some regular carb recipes!
KalynsKitchen says
Great photos, and this sounds amazing.
Carolyn says
Thanks, Kalyn!
Richard says
Please put more advertising on your site it’s almost too easy to scroll through.
Carolyn says
Please understand that this is my livelihood and as such, I am entitled to make a living. Thanks!
Kristi says
Hi Carolyn, What is the best way to store leftovers? (Assuming there are any!) Thanks for all you do!
Carolyn says
The fridge is best but warm it REALLLY gently up again as it has a tendency to seize.