On my Twitter account on Friday I asked my followers to request healthy recipes for their favourite unhealthy foods. I got many responses, including chocolate ice cream, pizza, cookies, custard slices, and tiramisu. I gave them all some thought over the weekend (and will continue to do so), but the first one I have had some success with is the ice cream.
There is still room for improvement here, and I just need some time (and possibly some new tools) to get it perfect, but it’s definitely a good start (I devoured the whole tub on Saturday afternoon and didn’t feel in the slightest bit guilty about it!).
Let me first start by giving you a list of things that I won’t include in my recipes (you’ll find that many “healthy” recipes on other sites will include one or more of these):
- Sugar
- Dairy (though I’m ok with a little unsalted butter)
- Wheat
- Flour
- Alcohol
- Chocolate (unless its at least 80% Dark Chocolate – I try to use 90%).
When you rule those things out, it can make recipe creation a little more difficult. But where there’s a will, there’s a way! So here’s my first attempt at chocolate ice cream. There are improvements which I will talk about after the recipe, and I’d love to get your thoughts/feedback, to help make this truly perfect!
Recipe: Healthy Mint Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 Egg Whites
- 80ml Coconut Cream
- 2.5 Sccops PHD Mint Chocolate Protein Powder
- 100ml Water
- 0.5tsp Stevia (optional)
- 50g 90% Dark Chocolate (optional)
Instructions
- Beat egg whites into stiff peaks. Gradually add the stevia as you blend.
- Separately mix together the water and protein powder, and then mix that into the coconut cream. You may need to whisk the mixture so its nice and smooth (but it’s ok if its quite thick).
- Gently, and gradually, fold the eggs whites into the protein mixture.
- This step is optional but you can smash up some of the dark chocolate into small pieces and mix that into the mixture. I quite like dark chocolate and recommend 90% because of low sugar content (its also high in anti-oxidants), and it can be nice to get the occasional chocolate piece with a mouthful of the ice cream (it reminds me of eating Ben and Jerrys which I love!)
- Put in the freezer for minimum 3 hours. You’ll probably need to allow it to defrost a little once you take it out the freezer – it doesn’t come out soft scoop like the commercial (unhealthy) varieties.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 2
Thoughts/Improvements
- First thing I want to try is putting this mixture through an Ice Cream Maker
- The mixture will need to defrost for a while once you get it out the freezer – which is annoying as I don’t want to wait to eat it. I want to try and make it like the soft scoop ice creams you get in the shops. It would seem that adding more sugar is generally the trick, which obviously we don’t want to do. I’m going to try Xanthan Gum, and maybe Guar Guar to see if that helps. I believe the ice cream maker may help a little but won’t solve the problem completely. Any other suggestions are welcomed!
- I use PHD Mint Chocolate protein powder. This is the protein powder I use after my workouts, and is honestly the best tasting powder I’ve ever used (I’m not sponsored by them so this is something I genuinely believe). I’m not one of these people that try to find recipes that I can use protein powder with. I get my protein from my main meals, and don’t think it necessary to get from desserts as well. Ill generally only use powder after a workout. Having said that, a little extra protein generally doesn’t hurt, and I’m really only using it here because of the amazing taste it gives without adding loads of sugar to the recipe. I understand that you wont all have this particular brand at home so I’d suggest you just use whatever powder you have at first and see how it tastes.
- I use Stevia in the recipe, just to add a little sweetness. I don’t think this is essential. Again, I know you won’t all have this at home so just go without (I do recommend you buy some though it as its a great alternative to sugar – if you do buy it, make sure you buy pure Stevia, and not some Stevia/sugar/Candarel mixture).
- I understand that the 90% chocolate pieces may not be to everyone’s liking (I’d personally prefer milk chocolate pieces but they are nowhere near as good for you). So I’m going to try and think of something more tasty here. At the moment, I’m wondering about melting down the 90% chocolate, mixing it with unsweetened almond milk and a little Stevia, and then allowing the mixture to harden. Then, as I done before, smash it up and add to the ice cream. Again, any other suggestions are welcomed.
So there you go. A work in progress but a good enough start, as I honestly really enjoyed what I made, and is perfect for satisfying those sweet cravings.
Appreciate your comments below, and please please share with anyone you may think will be interested in this recipe – I really want to spread the word about my blog. Also, if you have any unhealthy foods you want me to try and make healthy, then let me know in the comments or on Twitter.
Tags: ice cream
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