I love ice cream. I especially love creamy and delicious probiotic ice cream. This recipe is my FAVORITE because it is so easy to make, and it is a great base recipe for all sorts of flavors.
How to make probiotic ice cream
To make probiotic ice cream all you need to do is make no-cook ice cream with cultured dairy. It’s really that simple!
Most ice cream recipes are made with a cooked, custard base. This helps give the ice cream a creamy texture and prevents ice crystals from forming. However, using honey instead of sugar also helps to keep ice cream soft and creamy. So this no-cook recipe is honey-sweetened for a deliciously creamy and probiotic dessert.
Options for cultured dairy
While I usually make probiotic ice cream with milk kefir, this recipe will work with all different sorts of dairy cultures. Here are a few different options:
- Milk kefir grains can be used to culture both the milk and whipping cream.
- Cultured buttermilk and yogurt are both options for cultured milk.
- Sour cream and creme fraiche are options for cultured whipping cream.
Flavor Options
This is a great vanilla ice cream base that can be turned into all sorts of different flavors. Flavors added during the initial mixing stage of the recipe result in full-flavored ice cream. Adding flavors during the last 2 minutes of churning provides a swirl effect.
Either way, I don’t recommend adding fruit to this recipe as it will change the volume and consistency. Here’s my recipe for a probiotic fruit ice cream with lots of fruit flavor options. And if you are looking for a low-fat frozen treat, try making frozen yogurt.
Here are some flavors that can be added to this ice cream. Feel free to mix and match adding a few different flavors to a batch of ice cream! I like chocolate with hazelnuts; lemon with mint and pumpkin pie spice with walnuts.
Added to the initial recipe mix
- Chocolate: 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- Peanut butter: 1 cup peanut butter
- Herbs: Use up to 1-2 cups of finely chopped fresh herbs. I recommend trying mint, rosemary, basil, or lavender.
- Spices: Add 1 Tbsp of ground spices to this ice cream. Chai spice, pumpkin pie spice, or green cardamom are all delicious.
- Lemon, lime, or orange: 2 Tbsp of zest to a batch of ice cream.
Added during the last 2 minutes of churning
- Roasted nuts: 1 cup of roasted and chopped nuts.
- Swirled sauce: 1/2 cup of chocolate, caramel, or strawberry sauce for a pretty, swirled ice cream.
- Cookies and cream: Add up to 1 cup of your favorite cookies chopped up.
- Candy: Use up to 1 cup of chopped candy.
- Chocolate chip: Either use 1 cup of mini chocolate chips or chop up a bar of dark chocolate (my favorite).
Probiotic Ice Cream
This simple, no-cook, vanilla ice cream is a perfect basic recipe for all your favorite flavors. It uses cultured dairy (for a probiotic kick) and honey for a creamy and delicious treat. See the section above for 10 flavor additions.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 cups 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Frozen
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk (milk kefir or yogurt)
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup honey (depending on taste)
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch of salt
- Added flavors (see section above)
Instructions
- For a dose of probiotics use cultured milk and whipping cream. See the section above for suggestions, including milk kefir, yogurt, buttermilk, and more!
- Mix all the ingredients together. The honey needs to be really runny to mix properly into the cold milk, so warm it slightly, if necessary.
- Cool the ice cream mixture in the fridge for up to 3 hours before putting it in the ice cream maker.
- Follow the instructions on your ice cream maker to churn the ice cream.
- Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
- I typically use milk kefir and kefir cultured whipping cream in this recipe. It adds both flavor and probiotics! See the section above for other options.
- Don’t replace the honey with sugar, or you will end up with ice crystals and hard ice cream. Honey helps keep this recipe creamy!
- This recipe is designed for a 1.4L ice cream machine. I have this ice cream maker
, and I love it!
, and I love it!Keywords: gluten free, probiotic, milk kefir, buttermilk, sour cream, cultured, summer, hot, refined sugar free, vanilla, no-cook, simple, easy
Hi! Do you think kefir cheese could be used in place of the cultured whipped cream?
Yes, but I wouldn’t drain the kefir too much, you want it slightly thick, but not super thick. Hum… an inspiring idea! I might try it out myself this summer. 🙂
Thanks for your reply, Emillie! So I made it for Easter yesterday and it was a hit. Really nice ‘tangy’ taste to it, everyone said it reminded them of frozen yogurt. I used about 2 cups of the kefir cheese in place of the whipping cream and thinned it a little with more kefir. Used organic cream in place of the milk, 1/2 cup raw sugar instead of honey (I was out of honey), added the salt, and also scraped 1/2 vanilla bean into the mixture. I heated slightly the cream with sugar to dissolve it then put everything into the blender, cooled it, then into the ice cream maker. YUM. Thanks so much for your eggless recipe. I can’t quite do raw eggs yet!
Great! I will definitely try that this summer! I am too lazy to make a cooked custard ice cream myself. 🙂
I’ve made this several times, with lots of success.
★★★★★