Sugar-free and lower-sugar ice cream
Ice cream recipes with no added sugar or less of it — and what taking the sugar out does to how hard the ice cream sets.
Sugar in ice cream is not only a sweetener. It lowers the freezing point (the PAC value) and keeps part of the water unfrozen — that is what lets you scoop ice cream straight from the freezer. Simply leaving it out gives you a solid block.
So sugar gets replaced rather than removed: erythritol and xylitol lower the freezing point differently from sucrose, fruit can carry part of the sweetness, and a stabiliser or extra solids make up the missing body. Every recipe shows how much sugar it really contains and how its PAC compares with the target range for the type.
Recipes (7)
Fruit ice lolly for kids, no added sugar
Four ingredients, no added sugar and the taste of a mango and banana smoothie on a stick.
Banana nice cream
A creamy “ice cream” dessert made from nothing but frozen overripe bananas and two dates — no added sugar, no milk and no ice cream maker.
Chocolate banana nice cream
Chocolate nice cream made from frozen bananas, cocoa and dates. It tastes like chocolate ice cream but has a fraction of the fat.
Protein ice cream with quark and skyr
A fitness favourite for the Ninja CREAMi: quark, skyr and erythritol. Over 8 g of protein and about 65 kcal per 100 g.
Reduced-sugar vanilla ice cream
Vanilla cream ice cream in which erythritol replaces some of the sugar. A third less sugar, still creamy and scoopable.
Mango sorbet with no added sugar
A sorbet made only from fruit: ripe mango, overripe banana, dates and lime. The fruit itself provides the sweetness and smoothness.
Fruity frozen yogurt for children
Mild strawberry and banana frozen yogurt with half the sugar, no honey and no alcohol. It can also be made as ice lollies.
Related articles
Less sugar in ice cream: what works and what’s a compromise
Sugar in ice cream doesn’t just sweeten – it keeps it soft. How to cut it down without ending up with hard, icy ice cream.
Sweeteners in ice cream: erythritol, xylitol, stevia and co.
Which sugar substitutes are permitted in the EU, how they behave in ice cream and what to watch out for — from the laxative effect to dogs.
PAC and POD: why ice cream is soft and how sweet it tastes
The anti-freezing power and sweetness of sugars compared with sucrose. How to soften ice cream with dextrose, invert sugar, alcohol or salt, and where the limits are.
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