The Ninja CREAMi Thread

[Chris_Shugart]

I put this on my cooking thread, but thought it would cool as a stand-alone topic given how popular these ice cream machines are.

I’m hesitant to buy new kitchen gadgets, but the Ninja Creami has been fun. It’s one of those things where you definitely need to read the direction book before using. Lots of rules and lots of little buttons to hit in the right order. Once you get it down though, it’s simple to use.

The only drawback? You have to freeze your “base” for 24 hours before you actually use the machine. I think it’s more like 18-20 or so with my freezer. So, if you want ice cream tomorrow, you get it ready to go today. I bought two extra pint containers so that’s no big deal now.

I’ve made six different kinds so far, experimenting with different liquids (nonfat milk, 1% milk, almond milk, coconut milk etc.), flavors, and mix-ins.

Here’s a good one:

Triple Chocolate Ice Cream

12 oz 1% milk
2 scoops MD Protein, chocolate
1 tablespoon cacao powder (100% pure)
2 squares 90% dark chocolate (chopped and mixed in)

So that’s over 50 grams of protein for one pint, or over 25 grams a serving if you can stop yourself from eating the whole thing. Technically, the serving size is half a pint, which is cute.

Anyone else taking up counter space with the Creami? Got any healthy or high-protein recipes to share?

[Chris_Shugart]

Here’s another one:

Coffee Ice Cream

My goal with all of these is to use better ingredients, cut out the added sugar, and lower the calories if possible, or at least have most of those calories coming from protein.

Ingredients

10 ounces of milk (I used organic 1%)

2 tablespoons of organic instant decaf coffee (You might want to start with one. It was very strongly coffee flavored. I used decaf since I’ll be eating this after dinner.)

2 scoops of vanilla MD Protein

Freeze that base overnight, then run it on the “Lite Ice Cream” setting.

If it looks powdery, add a tablespoon or two of milk or half-n-half and hit the “Re-Spin” button.

This one has 50+ grams of protein for the whole pint, too.

[s.gentz]

They both look fantastic. I’ve been toying around with getting one but haven’t pulled the trigger yet.

[blshaw]

Just bought one “for my wife” for her birthday. I’ll tell you how I like it after she opens it. Err… umm… I mean I’ll report how much she likes it

[OTay]

How does it do with non-dairy variations?

[Chris_Shugart]

It’s a bit trickier. I’ve made on batch with unsweetened almond milk and a tablespoon of coconut cream (because the Creami likes fat). It seems a little icy and not so creamy, even with added coconut cream.

Don’t get me wrong, it was good and I ate all of it, but it’s better with at least 1% milk. I’m going to try a pure “lite” canned coconut milk version soon and see how that works. A lot of people use oat milk, but I’m not a fan of oat milk in general.

Here’s my “coconut cream ice cream” made with almond milk:

Coconut Cream Ice Cream

12 oz unsweetened almond milk
2 scoops MD Protein
1 tablespoon coconut cream (canned)
1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut flakes as the mix-in*

*For those who haven’t used a Ninja Creami, the mix-in button is used after you freeze the base and hit the main ice cream or lite cream button. You make a hole through the center, fill it with your additions, put it back in the machine, and hit the mix-in button.

[cyclonengineer]

Whole milk works the best in the creami for me.

I make a vanilla dragonfruit one that’s pretty good.
MD Vanilla Protein Scoop
Good amount of frozen dragonfruit chunks
1 TBSP vanilla or cheescake sugar free pudding powder
1-2 TBSP monkfruit sweetner
Fill with whole milk to the line.
Use Lite or regular ice cream setting after freezing. Add milk and re-spin if chalky.

For my kids I make a Sorbet with cocunut water, frozen strawberries and bananas and the sugar free vanilla pudding powder.

[Matthew_Weeldreyer]

Similar boat. I’m likely going to buy one for my kid. Because summer or something.

[Chris_Shugart]

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

12 oz 1% milk
2 scoops MD Protein, vanilla
2 tablespoons PB2 powdered peanut butter
1-2 tablespoons of chopped nuts (as the mix-in)

[s.gentz]

@Chris_Shugart

Your lucky i’m not dieting!! We would have words RE: this thread!!!

[ajb5478]

Yep, been using it a lot lately since the weather has been very summer-like . . cheaper than taking the kids out for ice cream, they said the ice cream itself is so much better and we use way less sugar than commercial ice creams

[Chris_Shugart]

Ha! I’ll run some macros later today and see what we’re looking at. I bet we can fit some of these recipes in even when it’s “abs o’ clock.”

[s.gentz]

@Chris_Shugart

Ha! I’ll run some macros later today and see what we’re looking at.

It’s not the macros. I can def find a way to make things work for whatever my plan is. It’s the fact that i’m gonna have to buy one now!!!

[Chris_Shugart]

Macros for the PB ice cream — whole pint using 1% milk:

Calories 480
Protein 64g
Carbs 32g
Fat 9g

Now technically a serving is half a pint, but let’s be real.

You could use an unsweetened almond milk and drop 110 calories and quite a few carbs from that.

[Chris_Shugart]

Strawberry & Strawberry Cream

I made this one two different ways, both with 2 scoops of vanilla MD Protein. This one below uses 1% milk and I mixed a couple of strawberries in after. I also added a few drops of a natural strawberry extract. Only issue, it kind of separated so all the strawberry goodness was on top:

And for this one below, I used lite coconut milk (canned) instead of moo milk, more strawberries, and no extract. Instead of mixing in the berries, I pre-blended them into the base. It’s not as pretty, but it didn’t separate. I could’ve added some red food coloring, but why bother?

I’m betting that full-fat coconut milk would be even better, but you’d add about 210 calories per pint. Both have 45 or so grams of protein though.

[Chris_Shugart]

FYI, looks like Ninja came out with a model that makes bigger portions, but that might be trouble. It’s called the Deluxe Ninja CREAMi.

[Chris_Shugart]

Soft-Serve-Style Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Same as above, except after the standard procedure, add 1 tablespoon of milk and hit the re-spin button. Then add mix-ins if you want.

[Feeble_Knievel]

The best way I have found to make it lower calorie and actually like ice cream is to use milk powder, skimmed in the uk. If you use a higher milk powder to water ratio than the packet directs then it makes a thicker base with the same calories. Granted the volume is lower, but by making be base like a VERY thick milkshake it comes out more like ice cream.

[Chris_Shugart]

Pistachio

This was a winner, probably the best one I’ve made using almond milk.

12 oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 scoops MD Protein, vanilla
2 tablespoons pistachio pudding mix, sugar free
2 tablespoons pistachios (mix-in)

Use the “lite ice cream” button on your Ninja machine and add the pistachios using the mix-in button after the initial spin.

Using sugar-free pudding mix opens up the flavor options and improves the texture in low/no-fat recipes.

[Chris_Shugart]

Tip: If you get the extra pint containers for your CREAMi so you can make several at once, label them. I experiment so much that I forget what I have in the freezer and how I made it. So now I label them and keep a notebook of recipes and results.

Here’s the big consideration: the liquid you use makes the biggest difference. I’ve tried 1% cow’s milk, almond milk, full-fat coconut milk, and “lite” coconut milk. High fat content = better ice cream, but higher calories. So, choose what best fits your goals.

Tonight I’ll spin this batch below: fat-free organic milk, MD Protein, almond extract, and cinnamon. The mix-in will be 1/4th cup of Nu Trail no-added-sugar granola. We’ll see how it turns out. First time using fat-free milk.