Suuuper creamy, perfectly tangy and with killer fall flavors through and through, this no-churn gluten free and keto pumpkin cheesecake ice cream is an absolute must!
Keto Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream 🎃
Ridiiiculously Creamy & No-Churn (!!)
Season transitions can be a little tricky, so in comes our low carb pumpkin cheesecake ice cream to the rescue!
Craving pumpkin already? Check!
Too hot still to turn on the oven? Check!
And so this keto pumpkin cheesecake ice cream is one for the books. For real. And if you take into account that we whip up a weekly ice cream batch, that’s saying a lot. So if you make one thing pumpkin from us this fall, this no-churn ice cream ought to be it.
And let’s not forget a topping of our keto graham crackers. Absolutely optional, but also highly suggested.
Alternatively, you can whip up a batch of lazy (i.e. no-bake!) graham cracker crumbs. You’ve already encountered these throughout our no-bake cheesecakes, and they’re such an awesome and quick sub!
The Method 
Making this no-churn keto chocolate ice cream is a breeze. Think cooking up the pumpkin with the spices, melting the sweetener into coconut milk (xylitol and allulose work as inverted sugars of sorts!) whisking in a tad of xanthan gum or arrowroot flour if paleo (which act as a stabilizers here), and incorporating the cooled mixture into whipped cream.
You see, by whipping up the heavy (or coconut) 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. 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 is, without a doubt, the best sweetener for keto ice cream. It helps to retain the creamy texture (i.e. just like the alcohol, it prevents it from freezing rock solid), and allows you to skip the churning if need be in many recipes.
Note: I’ve been testing different brands of xylitol and have noticed Health Garden and XyloSweet are two solid ones (particularly if you tend to get occasional tummy pangs with the NOW brand).
And I’ve recently found out that allulose has the same properties in ice cream as xylitol. So feel free to use it too for ultra-scoopable ice cream, 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 no-churn vanilla 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 30 minutes to scoop it out.
And if using xylitol, make sure to be careful if you have a pup (or cat) around the house, as it’s highly toxic to the little guys! 
No-Churn Gluten Free & Keto Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream
Ingredients
For the keto pumpkin cheesecake ice cream:
- 225 g pumpkin puree *
- 1 1/2 teaspoons homemade pumpkin pie spice
- 1 13.5-ounce can full fat coconut milk **
- 135-150 g xylitol ***
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 225 g cream cheese softened
- 240 g sour cream whipped
For the keto graham cracker topping (optional)
- 1/2 batch keto graham crackers optional
For the lazy (no-bake!) graham cracker crumbs (optional)
- 96 g almond flour or meal
- 2-4 tablespoons powdered xylitol or sweetener of choice, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 28 g unsalted grass-fed butter
Instructions
For the pumpkin cheesecake ice cream
- Add pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice to a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3-5 minutes until cooked, fragrant, and deeper orange in color (but not brown!).
- Pour in coconut milk, xylitol, salt, and mix thoroughly. Cook until the xylitol dissolves and everything is well incorporated.
- Sprinkle xanthan gum little by little and whisk (or blend with an immersion blender) 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, stir in vanilla extract, 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!).
- Place cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and pour in the pumpkin mixture. Whisk until the cream cheese is (absolutely!) fully blended. This is faster with an electric whisk (or mixer/immersion blender), but also doable by hand.
- Fold in whipped sour and transfer to a sealable container. Freeze for 5-6 hours (or overnight). Take out your ice cream 10-15 minutes prior to serving (depending on your room temp!) and scoop away.
- Or churn in an ice cream maker following manufacture's instructions (about 15 minutes). If you like your ice cream firmer, freeze in the covered container for one to two hours.
- If you're adding in graham crackers or crumbs, fold them in once the ice cream is semi-hard (either right after churning or about 2-3 hours after freezing).
For the graham cracker crumbs (optional)
- Lightly toast almond flour in a skillet or pan over medium heat, until fully golden and fragrant (2-4 minutes). This is very important taste-wise, so don't skip!
- Transfer toasted almond flour to a medium bowl, and mix in sweetener, cinnamon and salt. Add in butter and mix until thoroughly combined. Form into clumps using your fingertips, transfer to a plate and allow to come to room temperature and freeze for 15-20 minutes before folding into the ice cream.
Wondering if this makes enough to fill an 8″ pie shell?
What is a scoop? Why not list the size of the scoop? Or better yet, tell us how many grams per serving. I use that information to decide if I will make a recipe, or download a book or app from a website or follow a site on Facebook. . . I do not follow apps or buy books that don’t list serving size and macros—-I do not want to go to the effort of putting a recipe into my CarbManager app to only find it is not low enough carb for my diet. . .
A scoop is an actual measurement Jo, which is equal to 1/2 cup.
p.s. this is free content, no one is trying to sell you an app or a book 😉
This recipe along with gluten free graham crakers looks amazing and I want to try this recipe for thanksgiving. Can you provide the recipes with all US measurements?
Thank you Cheryl! You can just click on US Cups below the ingredients 😉
Turned out good but sour cream masks the pumpkin flavor more than I like. Can I skip the sour cream or put in more pumpkin flavor next time?
Why don’t you use heavy whipping cream instead next time Cindy? Also keep in mind that sour cream can vary a lot in flavor (so if you got a super sour one I can totally see your issue 😉 ) xo!!
Hi Paola, I am dying to try this pumpkin ice cream but I was wondering if there was a way to do it with out the sour cream or cream cheese (cheesecake) portion? Can I substitute more pumpkin or cream in it’s place? What would you suggest?
Paola, you have the best recipes.
I made this exactly according to the recipe.
The mouth feel, texture and taste of this icecream is fabulous.
Thank you for sharing your delicious recipes.
It’s fantastic! I’ve made it twice already 🙂 I also added toasted pecans the last 5 minutes of churning.
Oooh pecans sound AWESOME!!
Hi, I made this and love it! But when I added it fi feat secret the carbs ate over 20 grams per 1/2 cup serving. (10 servings) any idea why? I followed to the letter.
Hi Val! I’m thinking you’re counting in the sugar alcohols as regular carbs (keep in mind that it’s common practice to subtract them as you do fiber 😉 xo!
Hello, in the preliminary description you mention “adding in coffee” but I don’t see coffee as an ingredient.
Thanks for the heads up Kathy (I’ve been a little distracted ;)! xo!
Is this to be 1 measured cup of sour cream (and THEN whipped to where it’s closer to 2 cups now?), or is it 1 measured cup of post-whipped sour cream? Thank you!
Hi Christy! Measure it by volume pre-whip xo!
Can I omit the xanthan? It’s the only thing I don’t have on hand.
Yup (cream cheese already has a bit)- just keep in mind your mixture will be more liquid xo!
Hi – this looks fantastic. Think this will work if I use dairy-free cream cheese and sour cream?
Hi Kristin! In all honesty I’ve never worked with DF cream cheese, but I have made the base with whipped coconut cream rather than sour cream and it does work just fine. So as long as all the ingredients are blended well I don’t see why it shouldn’t work? xo!
What is the serving size for the nutrition facts?
To make whipped sour cream, do I use an electric whisk? When do I know if it is whipped enough? Also, do you know how many quarts of ice cream this makes without the graham crackers? Thanks!
Hi Rayan! Sorry I missed this comment :-S!! You wan’t to beat the cream until stiff peaks begin to form xo!
Does the recipe use whipped sour cream or whipped heavy cream? The listed recipe ingredients say sour cream and the directions say heavy cream. Thanks! Can’t wait to try this!
Hi Angeline! My bad! Should read sour cream (to add more tanginess to the cheesecake flavor). Though technically heavy whipping cream would work too! xo!
If you make this with Xylitol – DO NOT let the dog lick the ice cream bowl. Xylitol is deadly to dogs!
Hi Shelley! YES! That’s why we put TWO warnings about it 😉 THANK YOU, you can never have enough warnings about this!
I think there should be a warning that when you take the ice cream out of the freezer, at least if you didn’t do a churn, that it will be hard as a rock! I was so disappointed at first, but went back and reread about waiting a few minutes… And guess what? One of the CREAMIEST ice creams EVER! WOW!
But warn people please because I was really very disappointed lol! But the ice cream really is delicious! I skipped the graham cracker stuff couldn’t be bothered, but the ice cream itself is out of this world
Oh man! I’m sorry you had a momentary scare! Yeah, if you do a straight freeze and leave it overnight it will be hard right out of the freezer. But this one becomes very creamy very fast!
Thanks for the warning though, will add a note to not get discouraged hahaha 😉
And glad you loved it though! xo Paola
You weren’t lying! This got to be one of the best ice creams I’ve ever had! I got some xylitol and boy you were right! It tasted JUST like sugar wow!
Whole family enjoyed it a bunch thank you!
OH nice!! So glad you guys enjoyed it so much Annaise!
Yup, xylitol is awesome!
And thanks for getting back! xo Paola!
I agree – simply awesome. Do you have a recipe for thecwafers to make an ice cream sandwich?
Hi Deborah! So happy you enjoyed! Search for our keto graham crackers, they’re awesome with the ice cream! xo and thank for reporting back!