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My Nice Cream Recipe Is Smooth, Creamy, And Totally Dairy Free
This nice cream reminds me of a truffle, ice cream, and peanut butter cup, all rolled into one irresistible frozen treat that you’d never guess is secretly a healthy dessert. Here’s why it’s different from any other nice cream recipe you might have tried before:
- Decadent chocolate peanut butter flavor – Most nice cream recipes are made with frozen bananas or other frozen fruit. I love banana ice cream and frozen yogurt, but this one is different. It’s rich, chocolaty, and actually satisfies that ice cream craving.
- Rich, creamy, and satisfying – It’s definitely richer than any other dairy-free ice cream I’ve tried. It scoops like a dream.
- Easy to make – Just toss 6 ingredients in a blender and churn (or use my no-churn alternative below).
- Better for you – This nice cream is of course dairy-free, but it’s also gluten-free, has no refined sugar, and even sneaks in 6 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber.
If you need a “nicer” way to enjoy ice cream this summer without dairy, make a batch of this one with me, and you’ll see why I keep coming back to it!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my nice cream recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Full-Fat Coconut Milk – This is the base of the nice cream and gives it that creamy texture. I grabbed organic from my local Sprouts because it also carries my Besti sweeteners (listed below — find your closest store here), but this brand is also great if you want one without gums. I don’t recommend lighter milks, like almond milk, that watery coconut milk in the dairy case, or regular dairy milk, because they make the nice cream too icy.
- Peanut Butter – For flavor and texture. This is my favorite brand with no added sugar because it’s spreadable and not runny, but for this particular recipe, runny natural peanut butter will work, too. You can also use almond butter, any other nut butter, or even sunflower seed butter for a nut-free option.
- Coconut Oil – Makes the nice cream easier to scoop and not harden as much. I used this one.
- Cocoa Powder – For the chocolate flavor. I recommend Dutch processed cocoa powder because it’s less bitter.
- Besti Powdered Monk Fruit Allulose Blend – This sweetener makes a huge difference in the end result! Not only does it dissolve easily for a smooth texture, it also lowers the freezing point of the nice cream, making it harden less and stay scoopable. The only other sweetener that will work the same way is plain powdered allulose, but you’ll need an extra 1/4 cup to get the same sweetness. Conventional sugar, erythritol, and other brands of monk fruit or stevia will make your ice cream turn out much harder and likely grainy.
- Vanilla Extract
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How To Make Nice Cream
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Blend it up. Toss all the ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend until super smooth and creamy.
- Freeze or churn. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker (this is the one I use — but see my tips below if you don’t have one) and churn until it reaches a soft-serve consistency. Transfer to a glass container and freeze until solid.
- Scoop and serve. I drizzled my nice cream with extra peanut butter and sprinkled with sugar-free chocolate chips. You can also top it with my sugar-free chocolate syrup, chopped nuts, sprinkles, fresh berries (I’m partial to strawberries or raspberries), whipped cream, or even crushed peanut butter cookies.
My Recipe Tips
- Powdered Besti is key for keeping this nice cream smooth and scoopable. I can’t emphasize it enough — other sweeteners make it gritty and icy.
- Freeze your ice cream maker bowl for at least 24 hours. If you do it for less, it often warms up before the churning process is finished and the nice cream doesn’t get thick enough.
- A high-powered blender like this will get you the best texture. A food processor works too, just not quite as silky.
- Once you’re done churning, get the mixture into the freezer right away. If it starts melting before you freeze it, the texture gets harder later on.
- For the best creamy texture, try to eat this nice cream 3-4 hours after freezing. It’s fine past that point, you’ll just need to let it sit out for about 10 minutes before scooping.
- Don’t have an ice cream maker? You can freeze the blended liquid in a pre-frozen glass container without churning, but you’ll need to stir every 30 minutes for the first 3-4 hours. Alternatively, you can shake it in a jar to skip the stirring part — like my mason jar ice cream.
- Run your ice cream scoop under warm water. It makes scooping easier and melts the edges slightly, which I think makes it even better. This is my favorite ice cream scoop!
Nice Cream (Chocolate Peanut Butter)
By
My chocolate peanut butter nice cream recipe is rich, creamy, and dairy free, with 6 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber. So easy to make!
Instructions
[ See step photos See my tips ]Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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Combine all the ingredients in a powerful blender. Blend until smooth and creamy.
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Pour the mixture into a frozen ice cream maker bowl and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. The texture won't be like typical soft-serve, but should be very thick, like pudding.
Alternatively, if you don't have an ice cream maker, you can pour the mixture directly into a pre-frozen glass container and freeze, but you'll need to stir every 30 minutes until solid.
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Pour the mixture into a glass freezer safe container. Cover and freeze for at least 4 hours, until firm.
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Chocolate peanut butter nice cream gets harder in the freezer after 4 hours, so if you're serving it later than that, let it thaw on the counter for 10-15 minutes to soften.
Did you make it? Leave a review or tag me @wholesomeyum on Instagram!
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1/2 cup
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above to help you get the creamiest texture, smooth consistent results, and easy scooping.
- Storage: You can keep it in the freezer for up to 3-6 months. Don’t forget to let it soften a bit before serving!
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead.
Nice Cream
142 Comments
Roxie Fiste
0Hi Maya – this recipe is very appealing but I’m allergic to coconut. Please tell me I can substitute almond milk or other to make this delicious nice cream?
Thank you,
Roxie
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Roxie, I’m sorry, I don’t recommend almond milk for this recipe because it would be too icy. Try my almond milk ice cream instead if you can’t have coconut.
RoxieF
0Would swapping out the coconut milk for almond or cashew milk work in this recipe? I have a coconut allergy. My family has enjoyed many of your recipes – thank you for posting them!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Roxie, Sorry, I don’t recommend those because they’d make the nice cream too icy. Heavy cream would work if you don’t need it to be dairy-free. I’m so happy your family has enjoyed my recipes!
Beth
0Hi. I am going to try this recipe. Unfortunately I could only get unsweetened coconut milk. Will this work?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Beth, Yes, unsweetened coconut milk is what you want for this recipe.
Kayla
0This recipe was really easy. We had an ice cream maker. It worked really well and didn’t take a full 30 minutes to turn you just have to watch it to see when I gets hard. We Use pistachio butter instead of peanut butter.
Robin
0Can’t wait to try in my ice cream maker! Did you pre mix the ingredients or just mix in the ice cream maker?
Karissa
0Your recipes look amazing! But it would be helpful if maybe you could post the written recipe in here somewhere, where it’s clear to see ? I tap jump to recipes and it only tells me to pin it . I can’t find the actual written recipe
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Karissa, The recipe card is right below the pin box you’re referring to.
Vicki Violette
0Can this recipe also be made with unsweetened almond milk?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Vicki, No, sorry, almond milk is too watery for this recipe.
Harmony
0I made this once before as described and it was awesome! It turned out really grainy this time. I was mixing it with an immersion blender, I think I used my Magic Bullet initially last time since I needed to powder my granulated Swerve, and it seemed almost like I blended for a few seconds too long or something, it was normal and then bam, grainy. I didn’t follow the recipe exactly this time though. I made it without peanut butter because I didn’t have any on hand and my coconut oil was in between solid and melted due to temp inside, so that measurement could have been off too. Any idea which may have caused the problem and do you think I could thaw and add anything to fix it? It tastes ok, not as good as before, but the texture is way wrong.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Harmony, The grainy texture is because you used Swerve, which dissolves inconsistently and can crystallize. I recommend powdered Besti for this recipe (and really for all ice cream recipes) to avoid these issues. Hope this helps for next time!
Cindy Erickson
0I love your recipes! Could this be made with coconut cream. I have not been able to find coconut milk in the can.
Wholesome Yum
0Hi Cindy, coconut cream might be too thick. Heavy whipping cream might work, but I haven’t tested it myself.
Shawna
0Why do you add coconut oil to this ice cream recipe? What does it do?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Shawna, It’s for texture, good fats, and keeps it soft.
David Schwartz
0Hi Maya,
Would MCT oil powder help smooth out the consistency? How much would you suggest adding to this recipe?
Wholesome Yum
0Hi David, MCT oil (not powder) might help make it more scoopable if you plan on leaving it frozen for a while. Try 3-4 tablespoons. Let me know if it works for you!
LouAnn
0Can I use MCT Coconut oil for this recipe?
Wholesome Yum L
0Hi LouAnn, I would use regular coconut oil for the recipe and not MCT oil.
Kat
0Can you sub cacao powder for cocoa? I know cacao is stronger so you would need less. Just wondered if I could use that or make a trip to the store. Thanks!
Wholesome Yum
0Hi Kat, I haven’t tried that but it should work. Start with 1/8 cup and add another teaspoon at a time if it doesn’t seem chocolatey enough.
Denise
0Could you tell me if I did something wrong? I followed the recipe exactly except for the coconut milk and I used Heavy whipping cream. It’s very grainy. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you for all you do!
Wholesome Yum L
0Hi Denise. I haven’t made it with whipping cream so that could be the problem. I would make it with the coconut milk and watch the video to see how I made it.
Jacqueline
0I have tried many keto ice cream recipes and this is the best!!! It’s is so creamy and delicious. Perfect way to satisfy your sweet tooth without all of the carbs. I blended the ingredients and put it in my ice cream maker. Super simple!
Antoniette Mora
0Hello,
Not a huge fan of coconut flavor. Would I be able to use heavy whipping cream instead of the coconut milk? Or even half heavy whipping cream and half coconut milk?
Thanks!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Antoniette, You probably can, I just haven’t tried it to confirm. Let me know if it works out for you.
Mere
0So let me start by saying that I have used thousands of recipes online for years and I have never left a comment before. That being said, I had to comment on this. Oh. My goodness. This is EVERYTHING. I’m new to keto, two weeks in, and been dealing with all those food cravings coming off processed foods. This was creamier than regular ice cream, more luscious, filling, sweet, salty, comforting and all those other amazing adjectives that describe your dream food. And I’ve been having a hard time with a lot of keto recipes because I don’t like coconut. Coconut milk, cream, oil, etc. Just really don’t like it. Even though the taste of coconut in those products is so slight, it’s stull usually too much for me. And while this didn’t fully mask the taste of coconut, it turned it the little bit of coconut flavor into an accent and something I found actually completed the chocolate and peanut butter and made it enjoyable for me. For the first time ever. Lol. My kids, including a picky three year old, loved it. I’ve made it three times in a week because we’ve been having a bowl for dessert every night. I scooped out half cup servings and froze them individually in little mini pie tins I have and that worked out perfectly. I thank you sooooooo much for making this recipe. I’ve used several from your website so far (your bagel recipe, crackers, cauliflower Mac and cheese, chocolate peanut butter smoothie, etc) and all have been phenomenal. But this one really and truly blew my hair back in the most amazing way possible. I’m eating now as I’m writing this. Lol. Thank you again so much for this (and all your other) recipes!!!!!
Sue Johnson
0Hi! I just made this ice cream and it seems to have curdled. I used a peanut butter with coconut though. Could this be the reason? I’m trying to save it freezing and stirring to see if I can save it.
Wholesome Yum L
0Hi Sue, I would definitely try making the recipe as written. There is a video on the post you can watch as well to see how to make the recipe.
Chris
0I’m going to be trying this recipe, as this is my wife’s favorite combo, but if using an ice cream maker how long must it churn?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Chris, It will vary by ice cream maker, just churn until it’s thick.
Trisha
0Can I use unsweetened almond milk?!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Trisha, No, almond milk would not be thick enough.
Joni Moreno
0Your recipies sound so Delicious. I am not a dessert eater but if I ever have a craving I will make your desserts. Thank you and keep them coming.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Joni!