Meet Joanna

I have loved cooking and been interested in nutrition for my entire life, but my professional background is in literature, communications, and technical writing. Although I’m not a trained chef or dietician, I’m in the process of completing a culinary degree. And I’m no stranger to the food-writing world – I have several wine certifications and used to blog about wine at ClearLakeWineTasting@blogspot.com.

I’ve been making ice cream at home for over 15 years. I started making ice cream for 3 reasons:

• It’s one of my favorite things to eat.
• I love creative, unusual flavors.
• I’m (mostly) lactose intolerant and try to eat as healthy as I can, I wanted to create lactose-free and dairy-free ice creams with less sugar and fat.

I’m passionate about food, flavors, and nutrition. I want to eat exciting, yummy food, I want it to be as healthy as possible without sacrificing taste, and I want everyone to get to eat it, regardless of dietary restrictions. This blog is the product of everything I’ve learned during my years of ice cream research, trial and error, disappointing batches, crazy experiments, and delicious outcomes.

Read on to learn more about the process of making ice cream and how my recipes work, or just skip ahead to the recipes.

The elements of ice cream (the problem!)

Obviously, ice cream contains a lot of fat, sugar, and dairy products, which is a problem for many people. Many “healthy” or dairy-free ice cream recipes don’t produce good results, or they contain even more fat and sugar than the traditional dairy-based recipes. To understand the problem of creating lower sugar, lower fat, or dairy-free recipes, you need to understand the elements that make up ice cream.

Ice cream is highly technical. This video from America’s Test Kitchen is the best brief (less than 7-minute) explanation I’ve seen:

How to Make the Best Homemade Ice Cream and The Science Behind It

Traditional, dairy-based ice cream contains primarily water, fat, sugar, and milk solids. The milk solids include protein, lactose (a not-very-sweet sugar), and various minerals. Each element plays an important role in flavor and texture. Reducing or eliminating any of those 4 elements will have a major impact on the final product.

Let’s look more closely at each element.

Water

Ice cream is mostly water. But as the video above explains, the water has to be controlled properly to avoid hard, icy ice cream. Too little fat, too little sugar, poor emulsification, or poor temperature control can all wreck the proportion and behavior of water, creating an unpleasant ice cream texture.

Fat

Fat provides richness and creaminess. It also reduces the proportion of water in the mix, helping to prevent iciness. Too little or too much can negatively affect texture. It has other functions too, but for our purposes, texture is the big one.

Sugar

Here’s where things get complicated! Sugar reduces the freezing point of the ice cream mix, which ultimately results in smaller ice crystals and a less icy ice cream. This is why reducing the sugar often ruins an ice cream’s texture.

Milk Solids

Now it gets interesting! To oversimplify a bit, the milk solids in dairy-based ice cream are basically taking up space. They’re not exactly fat or sugar, but they are displacing water. Remove them, and you have too much water in the mix. Then you’ll have to add more fat or sugar or both to bring the water back into proportion. Dairy-based ice cream recipes often add non-fat dry milk powder to increase the proportion of milk solids, because they work so well to improve texture without adding ridiculously high amounts of fat or sugar.

But what if you’re making dairy-free ice cream? You just lost your milk solids. The easiest option is to increase the fat and sugar to compensate (as most recipes do). But maybe you’d rather not increase the amount of fat and sugar in an already fat-and-sugar laden dessert?

ENTER PROTEIN POWDER!

Protein powder can replace those milk solids, so you can keep your fat and sugar at more reasonable levels.

Here’s how you make gourmet protein ice cream…

How my recipes work (the solution!)

Many dairy-free or vegan ice cream recipes have just as much or more sugar and fat as their dairy-based counterparts. On the other hand, recipes focusing primarily on reducing fat or sugar usually produce an icy result that doesn’t eat like ice cream. Some health-conscious recipes use protein powder, but choose the type with artificial flavorings and sweeteners, which I think taste awful.

I want improved nutrition and dairy-free options in an ice cream that’s good enough to buy at an ice cream shop. We can do both!

Lower sugar + higher protein + amazing flavors 
=
Gourmet Protein Ice Cream

Standard bases

My basic approach is to add unflavored, unsweetened protein powder to my ice cream recipes to improve the texture of the ice cream, while reducing the sugar and fat. For the most part, my recipes are based on non-dairy milks and/or silken tofu. My 2 favorite ice cream bases are:

Coconut milk base:

• Coconut milk (full fat, unsweetened)
• Sugar (for example: plain sugar, agave, maple syrup, etc.)
• Protein powder of your choice (unflavored, unsweetened)
• Salt (a pinch of salt is key for flavor and texture)
• Xanthan gum (optional, usually 1/8 tsp, improves texture)

Coconut milk and tofu base:

• Coconut milk (full fat, unsweetened)
• Silken tofu (firm or extra firm)
• Sugar (for example: plain sugar, agave, maple syrup, etc.)
• Protein powder of your choice (unflavored, unsweetened)
• Salt (a pinch of salt is key for flavor and texture)
• Xanthan gum (optional, usually 1/8 tsp, improves texture)

(Xanthan gum is a common food additive often used in ice cream because it acts as a thickener, emulsifier, and stabilizer. It will help prevent your ice cream from becoming icier over time in the freezer. It is vegan and gluten free. Here’s where to get some [affiliate link].)

Sometimes no protein powder is needed to create amazing dairy-free ice creams. For instance, ice creams based on nut butters often don’t need it. But most of the recipes on this site will call for protein powder of some sort.

I will never post a recipe I have not thoroughly tested!

Ingredients and nutrition

While I strive to reduce sugar and fat wherever possible, this is still ice cream. When I find the magic lamp with the genie inside, I’ll wish for ice cream to have no calories! Meanwhile, it has to taste amazing, or what’s the point?

Most of my ice cream recipes are dairy-free and vegan
until you add the protein powder. At that point you can
customize the recipe to fit your needs.

Protein powder: Most of my recipes call for unflavored/unsweetened protein powder. My personal favorites are whey protein and collagen, but I’ve tested several plant-based options too. Here’s what I’ve learned:

• Whey protein – Makes excellent ice cream. Does not contribute any significant flavors. Usually lactose free, but still contains dairy protein. Suitable if you are lactose intolerant, but not for vegans or those with a dairy allergy. My favorite is this grass-fed whey [affiliate link].
• Collagen powder – Makes excellent ice cream. Does not contribute any noticeable flavors. Lactose and dairy free. Suitable for those avoiding dairy, but not for vegans or vegetarians. I use these collagen powders from Orgain and Vital Proteins [affiliate links]. I buy whichever is cheaper at Costco.
• Egg white protein – Makes excellent ice cream. Does not contribute any significant flavors. Lactose and dairy free. Suitable for those avoiding dairy and for vegetarians, but not for vegans. This is the egg white protein I’ve used to test recipes [affiliate link].
• Soy protein – Makes pretty good ice cream. Contributes a slight soy flavor, but I don’t find it objectionable. Also creates a slight chalkiness as the ice cream melts in your mouth, which bothered some tasters and didn’t bother others. Suitable for everyone – vegans, vegetarians, those avoiding dairy, etc. This is the soy protein powder I’ve tested [affiliate link].
• Pea protein – Makes okay ice cream. Contributes a noticeable “beany” flavor and a somewhat chalky mouthfeel as the ice cream melts, both moreso than the soy protein. However, if you’re making an ice cream with a strong flavor or one that already has texture to it (like peanut butter or oatmeal raisin) this can be fine. Suitable for everyone – vegans, vegetarians, those avoiding dairy, etc.
• Brown rice protein – I haven’t tested this yet. Please let me know if you use it in a recipe and how it turns out!
• Coconut milk powder – Not protein! However, this is a vegan option that also works well. It adds fat as well as a noticeable coconut flavor, but it’s something I use on occasion. This is the brand I’ve tested [affiliate link].

Lactose free/dairy free/vegan etc.: Most recipes are lactose free or dairy free, with a vegan option. Many are fully vegan. This depends a lot on your choice of protein powder. All recipes on the site will be labeled and tagged based on how I’ve designed the recipe, but keep in mind you can adjust recipes to fit your needs.

Sugar content: In my unscientific survey of dairy-based and vegan recipes from highly respected sources, and using this invaluable ice cream calculator to figure out the percentages, I found the proportion of sugar in most homemade ice cream recipes ranges from 19 – 25%. That’s very high, even for ice cream! The majority of my recipes fall into the 14 – 16% range.

Saturated vs. unsaturated fat: My unscientific survey also showed me that fat content in most homemade ice cream recipes is in the 19 – 21% range. Mine are mostly in the 15 – 19% range. Additionally, you might be limiting your saturated fat if, like so many of us, you have high cholesterol or blood pressure. While the fat in my coconut milk-based recipes is saturated, my coconut-tofu based ice creams lower the overall fat and swap some of the saturated fats for healthier unsaturated options.

Process and equipment (blend, chill, churn!)

The process of making ice cream involves mixing the base ingredients, chilling the base, then churning it in an ice cream maker.

Heating: Traditional ice cream recipes often cook the base, either because it contains eggs, because an ingredient needs to be melted, or to infuse a flavor into the base. My recipes rarely contain raw eggs, but may involve melting and infusing, so cooking will sometimes be required. Protein powders never have to be cooked, but doing so can sometimes improve the texture of the final product. In general, I avoid cooking the base whenever possible, because it makes life easier.

Blending: Ice cream is an emulsion – a mix of fats and liquids that don’t want to stay mixed – and blending helps create that emulsion. Blending the base using a standard or immersion blender is often a good idea with traditional, dairy-based ice creams, both to emulsify the mixture and to fully incorporate powdered ingredients which might otherwise be lumpy, like cocoa powder or matcha. But blending is even more important for non-dairy recipes, since many non-dairy ice creams use ingredients like silken tofu and nut butters, which need more than just whisking to be broken up and incorporated into a smooth mixture.

Fancy equipment is not required. I use an old, cheap blender or a simple immersion blender [affiliate link]. They both work nicely.

Chilling: Unfortunately for impatient people like me, chilling the base mixture before churning really does impact the final texture of the ice cream. A colder base means your ice cream will freeze more quickly during churning, which means the ice crystals will be smaller, and the ice cream will have a smoother, creamier texture. Chilling the base mixture in the fridge overnight is the ideal approach (and improves the flavor too), but if you’re pressed for time, even a few hours in the fridge will help. An ice water bath (placing a bowl containing your ice cream mix in a larger bowl filled with ice water) can speed up the process. Ideally your base mixture will be no more than 40 degrees F (~4 C) when you churn it.

Churning: My recipes require an ice cream maker. I use the type with the canister you put in the freezer overnight, but other types of machines work well too. Mine is a 15-year-old 2-qt Cuisinart [affiliate link] that I’m amazed is still running. I purchased an extra canister that I keep in the freezer at all times, so that after I’ve made a batch, I don’t have to wait for the canister I’ve just used to freeze again before making more.

America’s Test Kitchen reviews ice cream makers here: For Good Homemade Ice Cream, You’ll Need a Good Ice Cream Maker

ATK recommends this 1.5-qt Cuisinart model [affiliate link]. If Old Faithful dies on me, I’ll probably either replace it with the same model I’ve been using (this 2-qt Cuisinart [affiliate link]) or try out Cuisinart’s newer version of my machine [affiliate link]. I guess Cuisinart makes good ice cream machines!

All my recipes make about 1 quart, which fits in any standard ice cream maker.

Storing: Your freshly churned ice cream will come out of the machine with a soft-serve consistency. You’ll want to get it into the freezer as quickly as possible to avoid melting. You can store your ice cream in any container you want, but here are 3 things to keep in mind:

• The faster it freezes, the smaller the ice crystals and the better the texture, so a container with more surface area is a good choice. Think long and narrow or short and wide, rather than a cube shape. My favorite container [affiliate link] is specially designed for ice cream and made by Sumo. It’s long and narrow so the ice cream freezes faster, it has a double layer of insulation so the ice cream doesn’t melt as quickly while you’re serving, and the long shape helps to make pretty scoops.
• Frost is your enemy. Placing a sheet of parchment paper between the container and lid will help, or you can press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream.
• Thawing then refreezing makes ice crystals grow, making your ice cream less smooth and creamy. Consider freezing your finished product in several small containers, so the entire batch doesn’t soften and refreeze every time you eat some.

Serving: I think we all know how to eat ice cream, but we’ve also all experienced the age-old problem – it comes out of the freezer as hard as a rock, and I want to eat it now! A great ice cream recipe will yield a result that is slightly softer right out of the freezer. Nevertheless, in a perfect world we would thaw it slightly in the refrigerator for around 15 minutes, or on the counter for 10, but who has that kind of patience? Just use the microwave at 50% power in 15-second increments until you can scoop it. I won’t tell anyone. (Storing your ice cream in several smaller containers is a big benefit if, like me, you’re the impatient microwaving type.)

Contact

Questions? Comments? Flavor requests?

Find me at: GourmetProteinIceCream@gmail.com

Instagram: @gourmetproteinicecream

I may use affiliate links and earn a very small commission on purchases. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.