Extra creamy and no-churn, this keto salted caramel ice cream is bound to become a favorite summer treat! Its flavor is truly spot on (!!) and it won’t freeze rock solid, like your usual homemade ice cream.
Keto (Salted!) Caramel Ice Cream
No-Churn & Easy-Peasy Stuff!
This sugar free (salted!) caramel ice cream cream is a cross between two of our most famous keto recipes on the site: our (15 min!) caramel sauce and no-churn ice cream.
Seriously easy peasy to whip up, and shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes of your time! As with a few simple tricks, you’ll get ridiculously creamy results- no churning required!
And feel free to whip up a batch of our keto ice cream cones! Pick a classic ‘sugar’ cone or go extra with the chocolate variety (my personal favorite!).
The Method
Whipping up the base for our no-churn keto ice cream is a breeze, but we’ll be incorporating some butter here too and essentially following our caramel methodology (with slightly different ratios).
You’ll also be whisking in a tad of xanthan gum (which acts as a stabilizer here), and folding the cooled mixture into whipped cream.
Because neither sugar alcohols nor allulose burn the same way as sugar, I took the dulce the leche route to bring you this sugar free caramel. This simply means simmering the ingredients together (and cheating a bit here and there).
Now, while dulce de leche requires roughly a 2 hours simmer to reduce and brown the sugar, neither sugar alcohols nor allulose are reducing sugars so that wouldn’t quite do it either. Rather, I opted for a browned-butter base and adding a teaspoon of blackstrap molasses for that burnt sugar kick (and needless to say, a tonne of umami).
Keep in mind that blackstrap molasses is considered a low glycemic sugar. One teaspoon (7g) adds 5g net carbs, so just 0.9g net carbs a serving (i.e. the sugar in a strawberry!). But carbs aside, it’s also known to be a nutritional powerhouse rich in vital vitamins and minerals; such as iron, calcium, magnesium, vitamin B6, and selenium.
Fun fact: Molasses contain high amounts of chromium, which has been studied to increase glucose tolerance levels.
But if it’s still not your thing, read on to the section below for possible subs.
The Sweetener
Xylitol (not corn-derived to avoid tummy problems!) and allulose are, without a doubt, the best sweeteners for keto ice cream and caramel. 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).
I’m also going to advice against using erythritol here, as it’ll most likely result in your caramel (and subsequent ice cream) to be full of crunchy crystals.
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! 
Looking for more keto icy treats?! Our (no-churn!) keto ice cream master recipe is the place to start!
No-Churn Keto (Salted!) Caramel Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 112 g grass-fed butter salted or unsalted*
- 3/4-1 cup allulose or 2/3-3/4 cup xylitol or erythitrol**
- 400 ml full fat coconut milk or heavy whipping cream
- 1/4-3/4 teaspoon kosher salt to taste
- 2 teaspoons blackstrap molasses optional**
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum or 3/4 teaspoon arrowroot flour if paleo
- 470 ml heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Add butter to a small saucepan over medium/low heat and simmer, stirring every so often, until fully browned (about 5 minutes). Add in the sweetener, coconut milk (or heavy cream) and salt (lower amount, see notes), stirring until fully combined. Add in the molasses (optional), and stir briefly until just combined.
- Simmer over very low heat for 15 minutes (don't stir at all!) and taste for seasoning. And if by any chance your caramel splits (too high heat), whisking in a tablespoon of cold water generally saves it! Also note that this caramel will feel more diluted than our classic keto caramel sauce (as it has double the added cream!).
- Sprinkle xanthan gum little by little and whisk (or use an immersion blender) until fully combined. If paleo and using arrowroot, dissolve it first in a tablespoon of cold water (i.e. make a slurry). 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, and allow to cool completely. The texture will be thicken as it cools.
- Add heavy whipping cream to a large chilled bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Mix in the cooled caramel. 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.
Wowsch! This ice cream is divine, swoon worthy even! Just fantastic flavour! Unfortunately, my digestive system did not react well to the Allulose (first time I’ve ever had it and I bought it specifically for this recipe and the salted caramel recipe). I’m going to try eating the ice cream in very small increments building up to a full scoop…in the hopes that my system will adjust to tolerating it. I did need to simmer the ice cream base and the caramel longer, but it is totally worth it!
Thank you for a fantastic recipe!
I think the quantity of allulose in the US Cups version is wrong, should be 3/4 to 1 cup.
Wondering how to make this in an ice cream machine instead? Do I still whip the cream? Or just mix the ingredients and let the machine churn in the air?
This was FANTASTIC! I halved the recipe (foolish me, I know) and used all double cream instead of coconut milk and heavy cream, to keep the carbs lower, and because I love the taste of double cream! I also skipped the molasses, which I didn’t have and it still tasted delicious, so I don’t regret it. This is perfectly scoopable straight out of the freezer (I used allulose), which is such a rarity for keto ice creams! Just one question, though – is the xantham gum (or arrowroot) essential? I don’t mind the texture of xanthan gum in most things, but in this it felt ever so slightly slimy. Not that it stopped me from enjoying this immensely, but I am just wondering if this ice cream will work without it. Thanks!
What is double cream?
It’s an English type of heavy whipping cream!
Hi Paola, I love your recipes and thanks for all you do for us! I made this caramel ice cream, but when it froze, the butter seemed to congeal back into little butter balls in the ice cream. Did I not simmer long enough? Can you figure out what went wrong? I used salted butter, no molasses, sweeeners 1/2 Bocca Sweet and 1/2 Powdered Swerve. Have used this combination of sweeteners in other ice creams, so I’m thinking the problem must have been the simmering. Thanks.
Hi Mary! I’m sorry to hear! Perhaps using swerve (or bocce sweet) had something to do with this, as they’re not sweeteners I experiment with frequently xo!
Hi Paolo
I’ve been making your ice cream with success (and love it! 😻) and am thinking of the Salted Caramel ice cream. I have sugarcane molasses, can I use that instead of Blackstrap molasses?
Thanks.
Sorry, auto correct, Paola I mean.
I have just used the mixed and managed to save it! I used xylitol! Thank you for answering me!
Hi Paola! Made the caramel a few hours ago and it is cooling, however I noticed the butter is at the top, a layer of oil at the top of the caramel itself. What did I do wrong? I added the spoon of cold water, but the oil still separates…I lowered the heat the the minimum…it there a way to save it? would it be ok to go ahead and make the ice cream anyway? Thanks in advance!
Hi Fernanda! It sounds like your caramel split…. Sometimes a drastic change in temperature can do it too? What sweetener did you use?
I would whisk in one tablespoon of cold water and reheat it, whisking gently and see if it comes together again (most of the time it works!) xo!
The recipe sounds delicious! If I do want to use an ice cream machine, should I still whip the whipping cream? In other words, are there different steps to follow?
Would probably have been great BUT I am too old to do metrics
Just click on uS Cups below the ingredients! 😉
I made both of your salted caramel recipes today. The No Churn keto salted caramel ice cream and the Salted caramel sauce. Both turned out exactly as the recipes stated. The taste has an overpowering burnt sugar taste. Reminds me of the Old Fashioned Burnt Sugar Ice Cream that was from my mothers time. Next time I make this I think I will cut back on the molasses a tad. Maybe add some caramel extract to bring out the caramel taste more. Otherwise it was good.
Interesting Terry, thanks for sharing! This could also be a brand thing, as your caramel def shouldn’t taste like burnt sugar (which is fine too, but the caramel taste really is what should sine through!) xo!!
I can not have dairy. Would coconut cream work in place of the whipping cream like it does in your vanilla ice cream recipe? And what about coconut oil for the butter? If so, I am thinking I could add some butter extract to get the butter flavor. I appreciate your thoughts! Thanks,
Margaret
You know it works in my master ice cream recipe quite well (a bit less smooth result)… but I feel like in this one the difference will be quite noticeable.
Margaret, have you tried a butter extract or oil? You can get the flavor without the dairy components.
Hi Paola! Absolutely love all your recipes!
Now I am allergic to dairy but have reintroduced ghee in my diet in small quantity and it seems to be ok. So I thought- great I’ll try this recipe but the ghee never simmered and went to burn instead and also it stayed separated…. now I am definitely not the best cook in the world and I understand that I probably should lower the heat which it was at first but after half an hour of nothing I put it up a bit…. so can this be done with ghee? Or only with full butter? Thanks amazing woman!
Can monkfruit be used at all?
I would like to know if we can sub for Monk Fruit as well!
Right on time! Friday I purchased some Keto Pint salted caramel ice cream from my local Wegmans. It was just alright. I had to doctor it a little to make it palatable. I kept thinking, “My Gnom-Gnom ice creams are way better. Why do I keep wasting my money on these keto convenience foods even though I’d like to support these companies?”
Now I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this right here… I will love. Thanks Paola 🤗