Creamy, Sugar-Free Mango Ice Cream Made Right in your Blender

Give in to your sweet tooth in a healthy way. Satisfy that need for something cold, creamy and decadent with ice cream made right in your blender. You’ll be using whole milk or cream and the natural sweetener stevia, so if you’re looking for a sugar-free dessert that doesn’t taste like a sugar-free dessert, this recipe is for you.

There’s no need to haul out the ice cream maker. Just throw everything together and whip at high speed. A Vitamix works great, or any other heavy-duty blender that can handle all the ice and the other frozen ingredients. Pour into small serving-size cups and freeze for about an hour or so, just until firm but not hard.

Mango makes for a nice mild tropical fruity flavor, but berries work too if you’d rather go for a dark-colored, rich and satisfying treat. Whichever you choose, the trick is to freeze cut-up pieces of mango ahead of time (or berries), use natural thickeners like a banana (use frozen and very ripe), a dollop of cream cheese and a handful of ice cubes--but go easy on the liquids, including the milk or cream. Half & Half is another option if you want to increase the creaminess but cut down on the fat content. Another secret to a seriously flavorful ice cream is ginger root. Just a pinch will do.

If you forget and let your ice cream freeze for more than a couple hours, you’ll be eating something that comes closer to an ice cube. It’s great in that form too, and if you’re wanting to go in that direction your last step should be to add Popsicle sticks or some other handles; otherwise you risk breaking your spoon when digging in.