The Scoop On Making Ice Cream And A Healthy Recipe To Try
There’s nothing wrong with indulging in a little treat from time to time, and whether you’re finishing off a hearty dinner or satisfying an afternoon sweet tooth, ice cream always hits the spot.
But here’s something that might surprise you: creating your own frozen dessert at home is way less complicated than most people realize.
When you control the ingredients, you can turn this classic treat into something that’s both delicious and nutritious.
1. The Sweet Truth About Making Ice Cream At Home
There’s nothing wrong with indulging in a little treat from time to time, and whether you’re finishing off a hearty dinner or satisfying an afternoon sweet tooth, ice cream always hits the spot.
But here’s something that might surprise you: creating your own frozen dessert at home is way less complicated than most people realize.
2. Why Homemade Wins Every Time
The real advantage of going the homemade route? You get to decide exactly what goes into your bowl, from the quality of ingredients to how much of each component you’re using.
When you swap out some traditional elements for more nutritious alternatives, you end up with a frozen treat that’s both delicious and better for you.
3. The Science Behind The Scoop
So what actually goes into making this beloved dessert? Traditional ice cream starts with a base of milk and heavy cream, combined with sugar and sometimes egg yolks.
Buying it from the store, you’ll notice the ingredient list gets a lot longer with various colorings and additives.
4. Understanding The Ingredients
Take xanthan gum, for instance, registered dietitian Mallory Brown, who runs the food blog mallorythedietitian.com, explains that this emulsifying agent helps create that smooth, creamy texture we all love.
The magic happens when all these ingredients get churned together at high speed until everything transforms into that perfectly smooth, scoopable consistency we recognize as ice cream.
5. The Daily Dessert Dilemma
Could you technically eat ice cream every single day? Sure. But should that be your approach? According to Brown, the key is looking at your overall eating habits rather than fixating on one food item.
6. Sugar By The Numbers
The official Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest that anyone over age two should keep their added sugar consumption under ten percent of their total daily calories. For someone eating two thousand calories a day, that translates to about two hundred calories worth of added sugar, or roughly twelve teaspoons.
7. Putting It Into Perspective
To put that in perspective, just two-thirds of a cup of Häagen-Dazs vanilla packs over eighteen grams of added sugar—that’s more than a third of what you should have all day. Brown’s advice? If you’re planning to enjoy dessert, be mindful of where else sugar might be sneaking into your m
adds nutritional value but also helps you feel fuller and more satisfied.
8. A Healthier Frozen Alternative
Brown’s approach to homemade frozen dessert is brilliantly simple, requiring just five ingredients and delivering way more nutritional punch than conventional ice cream. Her strawberry cottage cheese creation swaps out heavy cream for cottage cheese as the base, which dramatically reduces saturated fat while boosting protein, calcium, and vitamin D content.
9. The Simple Process
Instead of refined sugar, she uses honey for sweetness, and incorporates antioxidant-packed strawberries for natural flavor.
The process couldn’t be easier: toss two cups of whole milk cottage cheese into a food processor along with a cup of strawberries, twelve graham crackers, two tablespoons of honey, and two teaspoons of vanilla extract.
10. From Blender To Freezer
Blend everything until it’s completely smooth, then pour the mixture into a freezer-safe loaf pan or container. Finish by sprinkling some crushed graham crackers and chopped strawberries on top, then let it freeze for at least four hours.
Let it sit out for ten to fifteen minutes to soften up, and you’ve got a guilt-free frozen treat that serves three people.
