RECIPE MAKEOVERS

Healthy Homemade Ice Cream

Featured Recipe: Strawberry-Chocolate Ice Cream

3 secrets for success, 6 delicious recipes

By Jessie Price, Food Editor, EatingWell

The heat of summer always inspires me to get out the ice cream maker. (I use an affordable Cuisinart model that’s great. Check out our ice cream maker review if you’re considering buying one.)

Even though I love ice cream, I still want to keep it reasonable and healthy, so at EatingWell we created lower-fat (but still rich-tasting) Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream and Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream recipes this year.

Our version has all the richness you’ll need but about 90 fewer calories than store-bought premium ice cream and a whopping 15 grams less total fat and 10 grams less saturated fat per serving.

How we made it healthy:

Used nonfat sweetened condensed milk and low-fat milk in place of heavy cream and whole milk
Eliminated 2 egg yolks
Added gelatin to keep it rich and creamy without adding extra fat

Stir it Up!

I like to jazz up homemade ice cream with “stir-ins” like crumbled cookies, toasted nuts or chopped fruit. In Vermont the strawberries are gigantic and juicy, raspberries are just ripe and sour cherries are ready—perfect in this homemade dessert. We developed some easy recipes for stir-ins like Blueberry-Cinnamon Swirl Ice Cream, Chocolate Cookie & Walnut Crunch Ice Cream, Toasted Coconut & Almond Ice Cream and Cherry and White Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream. (Be sure to check out our stir-in tips before you get started.)

Even if you don’t have an ice cream maker, use these stir-in ideas as toppings with your favorite store-bought vanilla or chocolate ice cream. Measurements are for 1 quart of ice cream:

Cherry & White Chocolate Chunk
1⁄2 cup fresh or frozen chopped cherries & 1⁄2 cup white chocolate chunks

Toasted Coconut & Almond
1⁄2 cup toasted coconut flakes & 1⁄2 cup chopped toasted almonds (see Tip)

Strawberry-Chocolate
3⁄4 cup fresh or frozen chopped strawberries & 1⁄4 cup cocoa nibs or mini chocolate chips

Chocolate Cookie & Walnut Crunch
3⁄4 cup chopped chocolate sandwich (or wafer) cookies & 1⁄4 cup chopped toasted walnuts (see Tip)

Tip: Toasting chopped nuts: Cook in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Cool toasted nuts completely before adding them to the ice cream maker.