When you see zucchini, I’m pretty sure the last thing you think of making is ice cream, right? Not in a million years would I think of making ice cream with zucchini, nor would I have thought I’d like it. Well, when the recipe came up at a recent WW meeting (Weight Watchers Meeting for those that don’t know the insider term), I couldn’t resist volunteering to make it. Really, if someone thought it was a good idea, who was I to rain on their parade. Besides, I like a challenge, and my curiosity got the best of me. The original recipe called for maple syrup and while you can definitely use that, I went with a sugar-free option to save points and calories. The result is this chocolate “nice” cream recipe. You aren’t going to believe this, but it is pretty good. And for 1 point for a 3/4 cup serving, it is a bargain in the WW world. For everyone else, there is no added sugar, it’s dairy free and a great stand-in for regular chocolate ice cream.
Ingredients in my chocolate nice cream
There are only a handful of ingredients in this recipe and unsweetened cocoa powder is one of them. Use a good quality cocoa, Hershey’s can be found in every store’s baking aisle and I really like this rich, dark cocoa powder from Valrhona.
Zucchini should be fresh (simple enough).
Use pure vanilla extract (not the imitation, please).
I only had plain unsweetened almond milk on hand when I made this, but you could use the unsweetened vanilla almond milk too. Both work just fine.
As I mentioned, the recipe originally called for maple syrup and that is a great choice for sweetening this nice cream. Since I wanted to eliminate the sugar completely, I opted for a sugar-free maple syrup that I buy at my grocery store and use on my pancakes and in recipes when it calls for maple syrup. I think the taste is great and there are very few calories (5 per two tablespoons).
You’ll also add a little salt but that’s it. When this gets blended up, it turns into this creamy, sorbet like mixture that is chocolatey and pretty darn good. So easy.
How to make chocolate nice cream
Making this is a piece of cake (or should I say a scoop of ice cream?). You just have to prep your zucchini before pulling this together. You have options. You can cut the zucchini into small chunks, spiralize the zucchini with one of those spiralizers or shred it using a box grater or the attachment for your food processor (my choice since it took 30 seconds). Spread the cut or shredded zucchini on a baking sheet and put in the freezer for 2-3 hours to freeze. (You can do it overnight if you have the time.)
Once frozen, you are ready to make the nice cream. Put everything in the blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
The consistency is like a sorbet…a little icy. I really like that and when working with almond milk, that is the consistency I usually get. You can see my recipes for Almond Milk Pistachio Ice Cream and Nutella Peanut Butter Ice Cream recipes for other “nice” creams made using almond milk.
This dessert is best eaten as soon as it is made OR put into a freezer safe container and frozen no more than 2 hours. If you choose to freeze this longer, it gets rock hard and can take 30 minutes or more to thaw and it never really thaws evenly. It never becomes scoopable (is that a word?) after it has been frozen hard. So, I always make these almond milk nice creams and eat immediately or just semi-freeze for a couple of hours and then enjoy.
The flavor is a deep chocolate. Be sure you taste it and if needed, add more syrup to sweeten it further. This is just a taste preference. Serve in an ice cream bowl, dish or martini glass. Interesting in add-ins or toppings? Read on.
Chocolate nice cream add-ins
This nice cream welcomes add-ins like mini chocolate chips, nuts, sprinkles and/or fruit. Everyone loves a good chocolate chocolate chip ice cream, so throw in some chocolate chips (sugar-free or regular). Or serve this chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks. Want more? Drizzle with a sugar-free chocolate syrup (or the real thing – you decide). If you have people that crave chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, then this is the way to go.
Obviously, you can also sprinkle all of that on top of your bowl of nice cream too. Treat this like any other ice cream you make or enjoy.
The surprise here is that the texture is great for me, and you absolutely cannot taste zucchini. You’d never even know it was in this recipe. Can you imagine getting a serving of veggies from a dish of nice cream? Every kid in your life (young and old) will love this.
When I reported back to the WW group, it was with a positive review. I’ve already made this a couple of times and really like it. If you make it, tell me what you think. Did you use maple syrup or the sugar-free syrup? Let me know in the comments below.
Looking for other frozen dessert options? Try some of these:
Blood Orange Olive Oil on Ice Cream
Sugar Free Chocolate Protein Truffles
Raspberry and Pistachio Semifreddo
Chocolate Nice Cream
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 24 Oz. Zucchini, shredded, spiralized or cut into small chunks
- 1 Cup Unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- ½ Cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 6 Tbsp. Sugar-Free Maple syrup
- 2 Tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
- ½ Tsp. Kosher salt
- ¼ Cup Sugar-free mini chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Shred, spiralize or cut the zucchini into small chunks. Place on a baking sheet covered in foil or parchment paper and freeze for two hours.
- Once frozen, add the frozen zucchini and the rest of the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Mix in chocolate chips if using.
- Pour into a freeze safe container, smooth the top and cover. Freeze for at least 4 hours until scoopable. Alternatively, add to an ice cream machine and process until done. (Follow ice cream maker’s manufacturer’s instructions.)
- Scoop into two bowls and enjoy.
