My daughter kept putting on and taking off a Ninja Creami from her wish list. I had to see what the fuss was about. I kept seeing post after post of what looked like the stuff gym-lovers’ dreams were made of, protein shakes in ice cream form. I didn’t have a Ninja Creami, but I did have a killer ice cream maker. Yeah, I make some amazing gelato and ice cream.
I pulled out my ice cream maker and tried a few recipes I found. Intriguing, but not great. My ice cream maker is the absolute best for gorgeously fatty concoctions, but an uneven hot mess for much lower fat and higher protein formulas. The mixtures would freeze hard like cement at the very outer edges and then it would want to stop turning to finish the center. I was having a hard time scraping it out of there and making a ridiculous mess of myself and the kitchen.
And the recipes I was finding weren’t thrilling me. Pudding’s great, but I don’t want my ice cream to taste like pudding. I want it to taste like ice cream!
So, I bought the machine and started in with my kitchen lab. I am first and foremost a foodie, but also a health enthusiast, so I decided to give all my attention to creating protein-filled ice cream that tastes decadent and delicious. Boom. The flavors and textures are perfect. These would make any foodie smile. I am obsessed! I’m super excited to share them with all of you!
Ingredients? I’m using low-fat cottage cheese, protein powders, unsweetened cocoa, lots of fruit, almond milk, nuts, a little sweetener where necessary, extracts, one spoonful of sugar free jello (with substitutions to skip that it you want!), and small additions of cookies or whatever here and there, etc….. A little food coloring on some, totally optional. I will post links to my fave protein powders and extracts below.
I’ve included the nutritional information (protein, fat, carbs, and calories), by ingredient, so that you can make decisions and substitutions to make everything exactly perfect for you! There are a million sweetener choices out there and my fave might not be your fave! I got the numbers directly off the ingredient labels, where applicable, and used the app My Fitness Pal for things without labels. I have left extracts and spices blank. They have no labels and the websites either say no significant nutritional value or there are really small conflicting numbers. For my nutrition-obsessed friends, I’m including grams of protein, fat, carbs, and calories next to the names on the table of contents, so you can see which will best fit into your macros on a given day. This isn’t just for gym-heads, though! Think of it as delicious, convenient ice cream that happens to be feel-good food, too! I’m intentionally avoiding the word “healthy”. “Healthy” means something different to everyone. I’m an energy-obsessed foodie, runner, weightlifter, mom, and dog mom, and these all leave me feeling terrific!
First up! My book! Jen’s Protein Nice Creams: Unofficial guide to high-protein ice creams in the Ninja Creami™ Deluxe Hope you love it!!! Here’s a peek at the flavors inside.
Need anything? If you’re going to buy anything from Amazon, please use my links! I’m an Amazon affiliate. Amazon gives me a tiny commission, and it costs you nothing!
Next! You need a machine!
I have the Ninja Creami Deluxe 11-in-1. The containers hold 24 oz and it has the most settings. All of my recipes are made for these 24 ounce containers. Those 24 oz containers are perfect for the hub and I to split. This machine is amazing!
The Ninja Creami 7-in-1 is also highly rated. It has a few fewer functions and the containers are 16 oz. If you’re going this route, just make 2/3 of each of my recipes and modify the nutritional info to 2/3!
An immersion (stick) blender.
Cuisinart Smart Stick Blender. This fits right into the container, so you can mix your base without having any extra dishes. It makes it all streamlined. You could do it in a food processor, but that’s a lot of cleaning after each flavor. The immersion blender makes it so easy and tidy that you’ll use it all the time! (And not ice cream related, but combining a stick blender and a mason jar, sauces and dips are a breeze!)
Extra containers!
The Ninja Creami Deluxe comes with 2 containers. After you blend your base, you have to stick it in the freezer for 24 hours before it goes in the Creami. I bought two extra sets of 4 containers so that I’d have a total of 10 to work with. I went with generic. They are cheap and work just as well! BE SURE TO GET THE RIGHT CONTAINERS FOR YOUR MACHINE!!!! THEY ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE!
4 pack of the 24 oz Deluxe size 4 pack of the 16 oz 7-in-1 size
Wine glass covers.
10 Silicone Mug Cup Covers. Huh???? Yeah. Things expand when they freeze. The top of your concoction is perfectly level when you put it in your freezer. You pull it out and some weird frozen sculpture is trying to emerge from the surface. We don’t want to break our Creami blade! What to do? Some people put their mixtures in the freezer with the lids off until they freeze. Others shave down the icy protrusion. I just pop a wine glass cover right on the mixture’s surface and pop my lid on. Solved!
Protein powders
The first two are the main two I use for everything! (I’m putting links for the 2 lb containers, but the 5 lb are more economical!) The next three are fabulous, one recipe powders to add to your collection after the main two!
Vanilla ice cream whey Extreme milk chocolate whey Girl Scout Thin Mint Girl Scout Coconut Caramel S’mores whey (Amazon only has the 5 lb right now. I’ll update the link when the put the 2 pound back up.)
Sweeteners
The first two are my main. I just use the confectioner’s version for red velvet, but you could totally use plain. Absolutely sub in whatever your favorite sweetener is!
Regular Swerve, Brown Sugar Swerve, Confectioner’s Swerve – There’s an Amazon pack with all 3!
Extracts
Sometimes, even with 1 ½ to 2 cups of fabulous fruit in the concoctions, the flavor just wants a little boost to push it from yummy to fabulous! I love extracts.
Vanilla extract Almond Extract Rum extract Butter extract Strawberry extract Raspberry extract
Peach flavor Buttery sweet dough emulsion Boiled cider
Other Stuff
PB Fit (low fat peanut butter powder)
Max Mallows (zero sugar marshmallows) Only a 6-pack is available now. I’ll update this link when 1 or 3 are back up.
Jordan’s Skinny Sauces Salted Caramel Fun addition, BUT!!!! It’s like a jack in the box. You lightly squeeze and nothing. A tiny bit more pressure and a violent stream rockets out! I look like Will Ferrell in Elf squeezing it in the most tentative manner. I just increased the size of the hole and it’s less dramatic. lol!
