I don’t have an ice cream maker, and I just can’t squeeze ONE…MORE…APPLIANCE in my cabinets. Lucky for me (and you!), the no churn method makes the creamiest, dreamiest ice cream at home. So today I’ll show you step-by-step how to make No Churn Chocolate Ice Cream 3 Ways, spicy chocolate, traditional chocolate, and rocky road ice cream!
Cream Cheese in No Churn Ice Cream
There are plenty of recipes for no churn ice cream on the internet, but they lack one key ingredient that really sets this recipe apart from all others. And that little miracle ingredient is…CREAM CHEESE! I came up with this idea while reading through one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream at Home. If you don’t know who this ice cream goddess is, you should take a trip to Nashville just to visit her ice cream shop…I’m dead serious!
Jeni doesn’t use eggs in her ice cream base, but rather cream cheese. However, her recipes are centered around using an ice cream maker.
What’s in the ice cream base?
The base is simple: sweetened condensed milk, freshly whipped cream, and cream cheese, powdered sugar, dark chocolate and cocoa powder. Powdered sugar is perfect for ice cream because it melts beautifully into the mixture, and it contains cornstarch which helps to reduce ice crystals in ice cream.
Make the chocolate sauce
For the chocolate syrup, I melted a bar of dark chocolate on its own, then I whisked together the cocoa powder, powdered sugar, vanilla, (cayenne pepper if you’re making it spicy) and hot water.
Then whisk together the melted chocolate and chocolate sauce mixture and let cool a bit before folding it into the ice cream base.
Making the ice cream base
- With a hand mixer or stand mixer, blend the sweetened condensed milk and cream cheese together
- In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream until it forms firm peaks, but don’t over-whip
- Whisk the chocolate mixture into the sweetened condensed milk mixture
- Fold in the whipped cream into the bowl
You can see how fluffy this ice cream base is…mmmm.
Pour the mixture into a 8-9 inch long loaf pan, glass dish, plastic container, or a pie pan. Cover with parchment or wax paper to prevent ice formation and cover completely with plastic wrap or a tight-fitting lid.
How long does this need to freeze before serving?
Freeze for at least 4-6 hours in the coldest part of your freezer. It’s even better if you can freeze it for 12-24 hours before scooping. When you’re ready to serve, let it sit for a few minutes on the counter so it can scoop easily.
Making the Rocky Road ice cream base
To make rocky road ice cream, simply pour in half of the ice cream base into a container, then add half the almonds and marshmallows. and swirl them in. Then add the rest of the ice cream base and top with the remaining marshmallows and almonds and gently swirl in.
Cover, then freeze.
As you can see, there isn’t an ice crystal in sight!
I really hope you try making ice cream at home using this no churn method. Please comment below if you’ve made this recipe!
Bon Appetit Ya’ll,
Leslie O.
No Churn Chocolate Ice Cream 3 Ways
Ingredients
For the ice cream base:
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 14 oz Can sweetened condensed milk most cans are 14 oz
- 3 Tbsp Cream cheese
- 3 Tbsp Powdered sugar
For the chocolate syrup:
- 3.5 oz Dark chocolate about 1 bar
- 1/4 cup Cocoa powder
- 2 Tbsp Powdered sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1/4 cup Hot water
Rocky Road ingredients
- ⅓ cup Toasted sliced almonds slivered or chopped almonds work too
- ¾ cup Marshmallows
Spicy Chocolate ingredient
- 1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper powder
Instructions
- Place the loaf pan or glass dish in the freezer.
For the ice cream base:
- Whisk together the softened cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and 3 Tbsp powdered sugar in a large bowl.
For the chocolate syrup:
- Melt the dark chocolate bar in the microwave for ten second intervals, stirring each time until just melted. In another bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. Whisk in hot water and vanilla until nice and smooth. Whisk in the melted chocolate bar. Let the chocolate syrup cool a bit if it's hot.FOR THE SPICY CHOCOLATE ice cream add the cayenne pepper to the bowl with the cocoa powder and whisk.
- In a separate bowl with an electric beater or standing mixer, whip the heavy whipping cream until it reaches firm peaks. DO NOT OVER-WHIP!
- Fold in the chocolate syrup into the ice cream base until combined.
- Gently fold in the whipped cream in until combined.
For the Rocky Road
- Add half of the ice cream base to the container and add half of the almonds and marshmallows. Add the rest of the ice cream base and add the rest of the almonds and marshmallows and gently swirl in. Cover with parchment or wax paper. Cover with a tight-fitting lid or with plastic wrap all around the pan.
- For the traditional chocolate or spicy chocolate, pour the ice cream base into the loaf pan and cover with parchment or wax paper. Cover with a tight-fitting lid or with plastic wrap all around the pan.
- Let ice cream freeze in the coldest part of your freezer for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- When you are ready to serve, let the ice cream sit at room temp for a few minutes so that it's easy to scoop.
This looks absolutely divine!! I love the addition of cream cheese!! I am totally gonna try that with goat cheese asap!!
Thanks so much for sharing your recipe!!
It’s funny that you mention goat cheese, because I actually intended on using goat cheese as a swirl but it sank to the bottom because it wasn’t creamy enough so you can’t see it in the photo. I didn’t have time to redo the photos so I left it out. Goat cheese would be wonderful!
Oh man- this is PERFECT!! I love spicy chocolate, I love Jeni’s ice cream.. And I don’t have an ice cream machine! Whoop!
Thanks Sarah! I love the flavor combo so I just had to make ice cream since it’s 100 degrees outside in my area:)
So your picture says sweetened condensed milk and you even start one of your paragraphs with, “The base is simple: sweetened condensed milk, freshly whipped cream, and cream cheese.” However, the ingredients list itself lists evaporated milk, meanwhile the direction revert back to sweetened condensed milk.
Just thought you’d like to know 🙂 Great recipe. Can’t wait to try it – with SCM 😉 and cream cheese!
Oh my goodness Monika! Yes I accidentally wrote evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed milk. I kept doing that it in the post and would catch it, but I didn’t notice it in the recipe. THANK YOU for catching it and letting me know!! Have a great day:)