Suuuper luscious and a total flavor bomb, this (no-churn!) paleo and keto coffee ice cream is one heck of a summer treat. Plus, count on it to not freeze rock solid, like your usual homemade ice cream. 💅
p.s. it pairs unbelievably well with two things: my keto ice cream cones (particularly the chocolate version) and bakery-style chocolate chip cookies(yup, ice cream sandwiches!)
No-Churn Paleo & Keto Coffee Ice Cream ☕
Suuuper Luscious!
A keto coffee ice cream has been one of the (if not *the*) most requested flavor by you’all. It’s modeled around our no-churn vanilla and chocolate ice creams, some of the most highly rated recipes on the site. 🙂
Extra creamy, no-churn, and easy peasy (i.e. no egg custard required!).
And yes, you absolutely still can use your ice cream maker too. It will cut freezing time and, obviously, lead to an even airier texture.
The Method
Whipping up the base for my no-churn keto ice cream is a breeze. Think melting the sweetener into (full fat!) coconut milk, whisking in a tad of xanthan gum (which acts as a stabilizer here), and incorporating the cooled mixture into whipped cream.
You see, by whipping up the heavy cream you’re incorporating quite a bit of air. And the addition of xanthan gum helps keep your ice cream creamy smooth.
And if you plan on making a larger batch and letting it hang in your freezer, it’s generally a good idea to incorporate a couple of tablespoons of booze into your ice cream (particularly if you use erythritol, see below!). Remember that high alcoholic beverages do not freeze, so they will help your ice cream stay creamy smooth rather than rock-solid. Just don’t overdo it, or you’ll end up with a slushy.
The Sweetener
Xylitol (not corn-derived to avoid tummy problems!) and allulose are, without a doubt, the best sweeteners for keto ice cream. They help to retain the creamy texture (they work pretty much like inverted sugars!), and allow you to skip the churning if need be in many recipes.
And if using allulose, just keep in mind that it’s about 70% the sweetness of sugar and xylitol (i.e. you’ll have to add 30% more).
Having said that, this ice cream is sooo luscious, that you can get away with using erythritol with relatively good results too. Though it most likely will freeze rock-solid, and you’ll have to let it hang out for about 15-30 minutes to scoop it out.
And if using xylitol, make sure to be careful if you have a pup (or pet) around the house, as it’s highly toxic to the little guys! 
The Coffee
I like to use espresso powder for baking/cooking applications (King Arthur makes a solid one).
Otherwise you can use instant coffee, or even infuse your coconut milk with regular espresso coffee and then sieve it out.
(No-Churn!) Paleo & Keto Coffee Ice Cream
Ingredients
For the keto coffee ice cream
- 1 13.5-ounce can full fat coconut milk *
- 135-150 g xylitol or allulose (use higher amount), to taste
- 3-4 tablespoons espresso powder or instant coffee, to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum ***
- 480 g heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons vodka, brandy or booze of choice ****optional, if using erythritol
Instructions
- See chocolate ice cream video for methodology reference (you'll be subbing espresso powder for cocoa!).
- Add coconut milk, sweetener, espresso powder (start at 3 TBS) and salt to a saucepan over medium heat. Mix using an immersion blender or whisk until all the solids from the coconut milk have the dissolved and the mixture is fully blended.
- Sprinkle xanthan gum little by little and blend until fully combined. You will likely have some air bubbles, but be sure to check there are no lumps. Any lumps will be resolved by mixing with an immersion blender (or in an actual blender). Sieve the mixture to a bowl, cover with a layer of cling film (saran wrap) laid directly over the mixture (to avoid a 'skin' forming), and allow the mixture to cool completely. The texture will be thick and jelly-like (don't worry, your ice cream won't have this texture!).
- Add heavy whipping cream to a large chilled bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Mix in the vanilla extract and fold in the cooled coffee mixture. (Optional): add in more coffee, to taste, for a more intense version (I wouldn't go past 4 TBS though).
- (Optional): add in your booze of choice (not necessary if you're using xylitol or allulose).
- Transfer ice cream to a sealable container and place in the freezer until frozen (4-6 hours to overnight). And note that you can still use your ice cream machine if you wish (roughly 15 minutes to churn).
- If freezing overnight: take out your ice cream 10-20 minutes prior to serving (depending on your room temp!) and scoop away.
Here in Canada we cannot get heavy whipping cream…just plain whipping cream. How do we compensate for that?
This looks soooooo yummy and we are going to try it. However I don’t see any recipe for the cones, which look great as well. Did I miss it somehow?
Thanks!
Is it possible to use this recipe to make chocolate ice cream? I was thinking of adding cocoa powder instead of espresso powder. My husband is shocked at how delish this is.
OMG, in ever knew I would ever be able enjoy a keto friendly ice cream, that is so delicious!!!im diabetic too so this is a doubly delish discovery. I believe its better than Hagen Daas Coffee. Ice cream! Yup, its that good.
Prior to starting the keto diet about 2 months ago, I had given up all desserts and hadn’t had ice cream for 4 years. Coffee ice cream has always been my very favorite. When I saw this recipe, I decided to take a chance and make it. I am totally blown away! It is the best coffee ice cream I have ever had!!!! I am struggling to stay out of the kitchen because I could easily eat the entire container. I used allulose and my ice cream is so creamy and scoopable right out of the freezer. I didn’t add any alcohol this time , but I have some double chocolate vodka that I might throw in next batch:) Thank you so much for this incredible recipe.
I have a question that I hope you answer right away. I followed the directions exactly as you have them and even watched the video. My mixture (before adding the whipped cream-haven’t done that yet) never got to that thick pudding like stage that they show in the video. Mine is like water even after it has cooled down. I added everything including the xanthum gum and now it’s cooled down and and thin. When I add the cooled down coffee mixture ouldn’t it be like adding water to the whipped cream and just making a soup? When I do that and I freeze it will it come out right?
I’m making it now and having the same issues with the liquid not getting thick. In the cooling stage now.
This ice cream is the bomb. I used some strong espresso coffee instead of coffee powder, churned it in an ice cream maker, totally amazing! My favourite. Tried the vanilla one too. Incredible!
This was the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted, Keto or not, and beets store bought, even the big brands, and I cant believe it made this.
I ended up using Nescafe Instant Coffee, Hazelnut flavour, and OMG, I can’t promise there will be anything left tomorrow.
I will definitely be doing this one for the rest of my life! Thank you Paola
Can you use almond milk instead of coconut? I prefer almond milk to coconut(although It is nice to find a recipe with coconut milk as my brother is allergic to almonds.)
Hi Paola! How could I substitute the HWC? With more coconut cream/milk?
Can I run this through an ice cream machine?
This is a winner.
🙂
Hola Paola 😊 This recipe is an instant favorite, I made it yesterday with the most incredible results! I have actually been craving coffee ice cream lately, and boom, your recipe appeared in my inbox. I used coconut cream as it was what I had on hand, 2/3 cup monkfruit/erythritol sweetener, and 4 T of Cafe Bustelo instant coffee granules. The coffee flavor was a bit strong, so next time (and there will be many “next times” for this ice cream), I’ll use only 3 T. My coffee mixture didn’t become very jelly-like as it cooled in the fridge, but I didn’t worry about it. Once I added it to the whipped heavy cream in a steady stream while the stand mixer was still on, the entire mixture became airy and voluminous. Oh, and I did add 1 T of vodka as well, to help keep the ice cream from getting rock hard. After 6 hours in the freezer, the ice cream was easily scoopable, rich, creamy, and insanely good! I wish I could post a photo as it is clearly evident that this ice cream is so rich and creamy. It’s been in the freezer now for a total of 16 hours and I just took it out again. It has become considerably more solid, and I’d need about 10 minutes for it to sit on the counter to be able to scoop it easily. I’m good with that because the flavor, texture, and richness of this ice cream is more than worth the little bit of wait time. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Paola, I just bought an ice cream maker and I am dying to use it but I’d love to use this recipe for my inaugural churn! Any suggestions on making this a churn-friendly recipe would be lovely. It needs to be dairy free so I unfortunately can’t use the cream. Many thanks for your well-written and exciting recipes xx
is there a link to the ‘chocolate cone’ recipe?
The cones are currently in the ecookbook xo!
How is this “paleo” and tagged dairy free when it has heavy whipping cream in it? Is there a non-dairy substitute to make a paleo option?
I bought your ecookbook on a whim after seeing your delicious pictures. All I could think of were ice cream cones!! We enjoyed your ice cream with the cones tonight and the whole fam declared it our new fav dessert 🙂 🙂 🙂 you may’ve just managed to do what I haven’t in months and convert the lot to the keto ways.
so THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! boy am I glad I clicked through on that pin!
What?!! Jess this is crazy awesome to hear! Love to hear when peeps get converted to our keto ways 😜 xo and thanks so much for your support with purchasing the book!
Stopped and purchased Espresso Powder tonight. I’m on for tomorrow—coffee ice cream or bust!!!
Have you ever tried using monk fruit sweetener….I tend to not like any of the other kinds. I love love love all of your recipes….thanks so much for sharing
Awesome to hear Stacey thank you!! By monk fruit do you mean the Lakanto blends of erythritol and monk fruit (I LOVE those too! And pure monk fruit for my matcha!).
I mean, technically you can use anything you want to sweeten it, but xylitol and allulose do act similar to inverse sugars to keep your ice cream scoopable even weeks after (with erythritol and pure monk fruit you’ll just have to thaw it out a bit before scooping).
Thanks for this question and response. With 2 food crazed dogs in the house, I don’t want any xylitol 🙂 I’ll make it and add some vodka to see if it helps the hardness in the freezer
The best coffee ice cream I have ever had!! Thank you!
Wow! Thank you Laura that’s awesome to hear!
Is glucomannan interchangeable for xanthan gum?
In all honesty I’m not sure if it’ll work here as a sub. Xanthan, konjac/glucomannan, arrowroot are interchangeable for thickening sauces (xanthan comes out too slimy in my opinion). For replacing gluten xanthan is the only one that does a good job (konjac and arrowroot only make the crumb more tender).
But for stabilizing ice cream I will need to experiment! Since both arrowroot and xanthan work maybe it’s worth a shot? xo!
Where can i find full fat coconut milk? I believe all the ones I’ve seen in Hawaii is diluted with water. What would the ingredients say. Is cocomut cream the same thing?
Hi Ellen! All coconut milk has some water added, otherwise you’re correct and it’s simply coconut cream. I’m not sure the brands available to you in Hawaii, but they generally say ‘classic’ or ‘full fat’ on the label rather than ‘light’. They also have the highest fat/calorie content. Hope this helped!
I got so excited seeing a coffee ice cream recipe, then got really bummed that it included coconut, as I’m allergic. Is there anything (more heavy cream, perhaps?) that I can use to replace the coconut cream? I’m dying for some coffee ice cream.
Hi Rebecca! I know some peeps have done it all HWC in the vanilla and chocolate versions, but tbh I’m not sure how it turns out (I actually can’t have too much dairy!). They did leave good reviews, and I don’t see why it would work relatively well? 😘!
I’m so glad you mentioned that xylitol is lethal to pets. Often people don’t know. I won’t keep it in the house because of that. Thanks for offering a swap and explaining the difference in the result!
I have a pup so it’s super important to keep them safe… and I’m always surprised by the tiny labels in the packages 😳 If you’re not comfortable though, you can try allulose and get the same results (it’s just a bit more expensive that xylitol). 😘!
Hi! Fabulous! My favourite ice cream in keto!! I was wondering if I could swap the coconut cream for heavy cream, since I don’t really like the coconuttish aftertaste. How much would I use?
Great work, Paola! Keep it up!
Suzanne
Ooo! Can’t wait to try these!
I don’t take alcohol, If I were to use Swerve for the sweetener, can I leave the booze out?
Thanks!
Hi Lee! You can definitely leave it out, just keep in mind that erythritol can crystalize and make your ice cream hard (just need to thaw it out a bit to scoop out). xo!
We’ve made the ice cream cones from your book at least 7 times this summer! You’re THE BEST!
Still waiting on this to freeze, but I can tell you I tried it before putting it in the freezer…and… AMAZING. I am never disappointed in your recipes. Thank you for giving me an ice cream on this 92 degree day that meets all criteria (sweet, cold, and delicious)! Only alcohol I had in the house was white rum, but seems to be working ok. I will know for sure in the morning.
Ellen so happy to hear form you again and that you’re still cooking up the recipes! You should have a very good Monday morning 😜
Your recipes are amazing!! Love all the breads and main courses. You have made my dinners special, and I thank you!
What I don’t understand how these artificial sweeteners are Keto. There are several videos on YouTube (2FitDocs, ketoconnect to name 2) where people eat these sweeteners, test their blood, and they get knocked out of ketosis plus their blood sugar goes up. Xylitol has the same effect on ketones and blood glucose as table sugar.
I love those sweeteners and could eat xylitol by the spoonful. But not if I want to stay in ketosis.
Hi Cristina! So awesome to hear! Remember that xylitol and erythritol (and allulose) are all natural sugar alcohols, NOT artificial sweeteners! And while xylitol does have a GI of 7, it is absolutely nothing compared to sugar at around 70!! Maliltol does kick people out of ketosis, but that’s a whole other story as it has a GI of 35 (even though it’s marketed as sugar free).
I measure my ketone levels and xylitol has never kicked me out of ketosis (obviously you don’t eat a cup in one go). xo and keep in mind the amount of misinformation out there is great- in the end your body knows best, and choose the ingredients that work for YOU
I want to add that my husband and I are both diabetics and use xylitol without a problem. We initially tried erythritol as it’s 0 GI, but the hubby had an allergic reaction so we tried xylitol and love it. We are careful though to not have too much, but a couple tablespoons or so is not a problem
Best,
Melissa Jones
LOL! I was one of the people who emailed you about it thank you your ice creams are the best!!