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The best low carb butter pecan ice cream recipe ever! It’s smooth and creamy and scoops well after frozen. You’d never know it’s sugar free!
Nothing helps beat the heat better than ice cream! Don’t you agree?
My family loves to go out for ice cream in the summer. And, we have one of the best store made ice cream shops right down the road from us.
Unfortunately, there are only three ice cream flavors that have no sugar added. All of them contain maltitol and none of them are store made.
The three no sugar added flavors offered at this premium ice cream shop are pecan caramel, raspberry cheesecake, and moose tracks. I’ve tried them all and the pecan caramel is my favorite.
I don’t think there is a lot of maltitol in the ice cream because I’m usually okay after eating it. It also doesn’t seem to affect my weight so I don’t mind treating myself with the no sugar pecan caramel ice cream when the family goes out for a summer treat. However, the ice cream is really expensive so I wanted to try and make a similar flavor at home.
The thought of making a homemade caramel sauce wasn’t really appealing to me. I didn’t want to have to take that extra step. So, I chose to make a low carb butter pecan ice cream recipe. The recipe was inspired by a recipe I found over at Epicurious.com.
I find the texture of low carb ice cream is best when made with a fiber sweetener. For this recipe, I used LC Foods white inulin sweetener which combines chicory root, stevia, and monk fruit. And, there’s only 2.5 grams of fiber carbs in each teaspoon. You can find this sweetener on the LC Foods website or at Amazon.
Another way to ensure a nice texture is to use egg yolks. One could argue that this makes it a frozen custard rather than ice cream, but it’s really hard to tell the difference. That’s why I’m calling it a low carb butter pecan ice cream recipe rather than a frozen custard recipe.
Like all homemade ice creams. You’ll need to let this sit out for a good 5-10 minutes before scooping. But, after that, it scoops really well.
The pecans are roasted for a few minutes before using, then are topped with salt and butter. The flavoring soaks into the nuts as they cool giving them a buttery flavor.
I prefer the pecan nuts to be chopped. This not only allows more of the butter flavor to soak in, but they also blend in better throughout the ice cream.
The resulting low carb butter pecan ice cream is as good or better than any premium ice cream I’ve ever tasted In fact, I doubt anyone would guess that it has no sugar added.
In addition to the fiber sweetener, the low carb brown sugar alternative Sukrin Gold was used. This enhances the flavor of the buttered pecans.
If you love butter pecan ice cream as much as I do, you’ll give this recipe a try. It may sound like a lot to use the specialty sweeteners, but these are ingredients I always keep stocked in my kitchen.
Of all the inulin based sweeteners out there, the LC Foods white inulin is my favorite. It has the lowest carb count I’ve found and tastes great.
Sukrin Gold is the only low carb brown sugar substitute that I use now. In the past, I used to add a little blackstrap molasses to regular granular sweeteners. But, molasses does contain natural sugar so many would rather not use it.
Looking for another delicious ice cream recipe to try? Check out my peanut butter low carb ice cream recipe here.
Low Carb Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe – No Sugar Added
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Low Carb Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe
Recipe Video (Click on Image to Play)
Ingredients
- ½ cup pecans finely chopped (about 4 ounces)
- 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup Sukrin Gold
- ½ cup LC Foods White sweetener – Inulin
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk (in carton)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Toast pecans in baking pan with lip until fragrant (about 7-8 minutes at 350°F).
- Add butter and salt to hot pecans, tossing until butter is melted. Set aside to cool completely.
- Whisk together the Sukrin Gold, inulin sweetener, and xanthan gum.
- Add in egg yolks whisking until combined into the sweeteners.
- Bring cream and low carb milk just to a boil over moderately high heat.
- Add hot cream mix to egg mixture in a slow stream whisking constantly.
- Cook combined mixture over low heat, stirring constantly with wooden spoon until thick enough to coat back of the spoon and temperature is 170-175°F. Stir in vanilla after removing from heat.
- Pour into heat safe bowl then cover surface with wax paper.
- Chill for at least 3 hours.
- Freeze custard in ice cream maker until almost firm.
- Stir together ice cream and pecans then transfer to an airtight container and freeze until hardened.
Notes
Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart
Nutrition
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Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
Unauthorized use of this material without written permission from Lisa MarcAurele is strictly prohibited unless for personal offline purposes.
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Susan D
Can you use regular erythritol sweetener instead of the one with inulin? Will it make a difference? Will this recipe work in an ice cream freezer instead of freezing it in a dish?
Lisa MarcAurele
You can use erythritol sweetener, but it will result in much harder ice cream that will need to thaw for a bit before scooping. Therefore, you may want to freeze in single servings. Either an ice cream freezer or freezing dish is fine to use.
Kari
I have sweetener and inulin separately. How much of each would I use for this recipe?
Lisa MarcAurele
I’d say about 2/3 cup inulin and 1/2 cup sweetener.
Michelle
Do you have to use the almond milk or could add extra heavy cream?
Lisa MarcAurele
You can add in extra heavy cream. It’s just a lot of calories and fat with heavy cream versus almond milk. I’d rather dilute the cream with water before using.
Christina
Can you add inllulin powder to your sweetener?
Lisa MarcAurele
You can if you’d like. Fiber sweeteners seem to work best in ice cream.
Rachel Duke
I’m fairly new to low carb cooking. I like the looks of the butter pecan ice cream recipe. I already have Swerve Granular Sugar Replacement and Swerve Confectioners Sugar Replacement in my pantry. I really don’t want to buy another sugar replacement since I already have two. Would either of those work as a substitute for the LC Foods White Sweetner? If so, would I replace it in a 1 to 1 ratio?
Thanks so much,
Rachel
Lisa
Either of those will be fine. The ice cream may just freeze harder. Others have told me that adding a 1/2 cup of alcohol like vodka or other tasteless liquor helps to keep the sugar free ice cream from freezing too hard.
GL
Do you measure out and bring all ingredients to room temperature before you start?
Lisa
I don’t as it’s not necessary.
Terry
I don’t have an ice cream maker. If I buy one, which one would you recommend and how long do you leave it in the ice cream maker? Is there an alternative to getting the ice cream maker?
Thanks, your recipes area WONDERFUL!
Lisa
Hi Terry! I’ve had success using the freezer method where you put the mix in the freezer and stir every 20 minutes or so until the ice cream is soft serve consistency. I like the Cuisinart machines which is what I own.
darlene hegyi
right now i dont have any of these sweeteners, i have powder and liquid stevia and splendid. do you have to use 3 different sweeteners and what is the difference in the 3 if you know
Lisa
There’s 2 sweeteners used. For this recipe, you’ll want a brown sugar taste so if you don’t have Sukrin Gold or similar, it’s best to add a touch of blackstrap molasses (a small amount won’t add much in way of carbs). And, when it comes to ice cream, I find fiber sweeteners like those with inulin work best or the ice cream won’t be easy to scoop once frozen.
Lauren
I don’t have an ice cream maker. Is that a necessary step?
Lisa
You can try putting in your freezer and stirring every 20 minutes as it’s freezing.
Jennifer
Do you know the model of the ice cream maker in the video?
Lisa
I believe it’s a Cuisinart ICE-30
Shayla
What other alternative can you use instead of the Sukrin Gold?
Lisa
You can use a white granular sweetener with a touch of blackstrap molasses mixed in. It does add more carbs, but you’ll get that brown sugar taste.
WallinFam
been collecting sugar-free ice cream recipes, have made 9 so far this summer. I am new to this, don’t hv Sukrin. I used Swerve confection, Blackstrap Molasses, & some addt’l flavor extracts by Frontier: Butterscotch, Walnut, Vanilla. I also added 4Tblsps of “browned butter” and additional cream to doubled ingredients to make a 2 quart in our ice cream maker.
Everyone LOVES it! The best texture & flavor of all other flavors unanimously! Thx for the recipe.
Lisa
Thanks for sharing! Good to know a blend of Swerve and Blackstrap Molasses works. Blackstrap is the only kind of molasses I will use and a little bit doesn’t add much for carbs.
Lorri S
I’m wondering how many servings does this make? Sounds fabulous by the way!
Lisa
I got about 8 large scoops.
Christine Facchina
So can I guess that this recipe makes 1 quart of ice cream? Or 4 cups? Thanks 🙂
Lisa MarcAurele
Yes. The recipe makes about a quart.
Gail
Hi Lisa! Can you make this ice cream in an ice cream machine (I have a Kitchen Aid attachment) and if so, would you make the ice cream in the machine first, then add the pecans and transfer to a dish for the freezer? Thank you! LOVE your recipes! ?
Lisa
At step 10, you put the mixture into an ice cream maker.
Jennifer
Could another sweetener be used, like Swerve, instead of the inulin? I hate to buy something else just for one recipe.
Lisa
Swerve can be used. The ice cream will just freeze a bit harder that’s all.
Deb
Do you think this could be made in the vitamix…. after cooking?
Lisa
I think you’d be better off keeping it in the freezer and stirring it up by hand every 20 minutes or so until the desired consistency is reached.
Lydia
I made this for my family who doesn’t generally eat low carb/sugar free and they loved it! So good!!
Lisa
So glad the non low carb eaters enjoyed it!
Heidi
I wonder if you could use black walnuts instead of pecans? How do you think that would taste? Thank you!
Lisa
I don’t see why not. However, pecans are the nut typically used.