Last updated on July 23, 2024
Gianni, what do I replace sugar with to make low-calorie ice cream? I often get this question: it is certainly possible, but there are a few things you need to take into account. On this page we explain all the ways to make tasty but light gelato
In the ice cream recipes that we publish on All Italian we always pay extra attention to the ingredients. As we often write: we like ice cream because it is a refreshing dessert, but we don't always like a high-calorie one.
But ice cream must by definition contain a certain amount of sugars and fats: otherwise it will not be soft and creamy, but a hard ice cube.
Of course, alternatives are possible. On this page we provide a simple and practical overview of sugar-free, fat-free and dairy-free ice cream.
To become gelato, the mixture we pour into the ice cream maker must contain enough sugars and fats.
Otherwise the mixture will remain liquid or freeze in the ice cream maker before it becomes a soft ice cream.
The Italian ice-cream basic recipe, which we call 🔊 fiordilatte in Italy, contains three ingredients: milk, whipping cream and sugar.
| Fiordilatte ice cream (milk, cream, sugar) | 3.5 oz / 100 g | 198 Calories |
Even if milk and whipping cream are fresh ingredients, without food preservatives, ice cream is still a rather caloric dessert.
Sugar is an important ingredient in ice cream, on a chemical level. Due to its properties, the mixture in the ice cream maker turns from liquid to gelato.
Sugar therefore plays a double role: it serves to make the "structure" of the ice cream, and not just to make it sweet.
If you add too little sugar, you will get ice cream as hard as a popsicle.
Traditionally, the most suitable sugar in ice cream is ordinary granulated sugar. Yet if you want to replace it, there are a number of options.
Many replace sugar with erythritol or maltitol. Both contain fewer calories than sugar, and if you use them in our recipes you can definitely get creamy gelato.
But let's make a big disclaimer: there's a reason we never mention these. In addition to the benefits, these sweeteners also have contraindications: for example, the long-term health effects are unclear and scientific research is often published about it.
👉 Our advice is therefore to first consult with your dietitian or doctor before using these sweeteners.
That said, if you want to use them in our ice cream recipes:
maltitol replaces sugar, in the same amount.
less erythritol is needed: 30% less than the amount of sugar. Erythritol is less sweet than maltitol, so to increase the sweetness you can add stevia to taste.
Stevia is often found in the supermarket mixed with maltodextrin or other sweeteners. Since it is in powder form, it can be used as an alternative to sugar.
However, we do not recommend using stevia powder exclusively as a sweetener for ice cream; especially because stevia has a very strong bitter aftertaste that not everyone likes. You can experiment and combine it with other sugars, for example honey.
Fructose is the sugar found in fruit, and is also ideal for use in fruit ice creams and sorbets. In our opinion it is not ideal for other flavors as it changes their original taste.
It is also sweeter than sucrose, and therefore needs to be added in smaller quantities.
There really isn't much difference between brown sugar and traditional sugar, as far as we know. What changes is the taste; you can use it according to the ice cream flavor you are making.
Honey is mainly composed of glucose and fructose, a percentage of water, plus the aromas that give it its special taste, which is especially felt in ice cream. We often use it as an alternative to sugar, but it is not suitable for all types of ice cream. You can use about half the amount of sugar recommended in the recipe, and you can also try mixing it with other sweeteners like stevia.
We do it routinely and we get really good ice creams.
Maple syrup comes from maple trees and is composed of glucose, fructose and about 30% water. Like honey, it has a strong flavor that changes the flavor of the ice cream. It is therefore suitable for use with certain types of ice cream, such as yogurt gelato, hazelnuts and chocolate ice cream.
At the suggestion of our readers, we also tried to make an ice cream with coconut sugar, which is commonly used in vegan desserts and resembles cane sugar in appearance.
And that worked out very well: but in this case the taste is no longer neutral and the ice cream tastes like toffee candy. So it is a sugar that you can use in certain ice cream flavors.
👉 If you taste the ice cream mixture before pouring it into the ice cream maker, it will seem sweeter than the ice cream you get. This is because our palate perceives sweetness differently depending on the temperature.
Traditional Italian gelato contains fat, in percentages between 6% and 12%. In combination with sugar, it gives the smooth and soft texture.
There is a type of ice cream though that contains no fat, but still has a creamy texture: the sorbet, which you can easily make with fruit, water and... sugar.
The caveat is this: if we want a cold dessert with a creamy texture but no fat, we need to add more sugar.
| Strawberry sorbet (strawberries, water, sugar) | 3.5 oz / 100 g | 96 Calories |
An ice cream made only from fruit and water, and no sugar, would be bitter and not very creamy.
Traditional ice cream include milk, cream and eggs that provide fats and proteins. If we prefer to do without it, it is necessary to find fats and proteins of vegetable origin.
Many recipes you find online use vegetable cream, which can definitely add creaminess to your gelato.
However, vegetable cream is not our first choice. generally acknowledged that fats in vegetable cream are often of low quality; in our opinion these fats are not a very good alternative for normal whipping cream.
A popular alternative to whipping cream and milk is coconut milk, which we also use in vegan ice cream.
Ice cream made with coconut milk tastes a bit different than ice cream made with cow milk. That's why it goes best with some flavors of ice cream, such as yogurt or chocolate.
Coconut milk is made from coconut pulp and a variable percentage of water. The result is a high-fat liquid similar to whipping cream, suitable for making homemade gelato.
You can often buy coconut milk in the supermarket, in tetra pack or in cans, with different concentrations of fats. Pay attention to the fat percentage: we recommend taking the one with 17-18% fat.
Canned coconut milk doesn't work well because it has a lower fat percentage, around 6%.
In our vegan ice cream book we use many more ingredients that allow us to make soft ice cream thanks to the fat percentage.
🥑 Avocado, for example, is a good basis: but of course it does not go well with all flavors. We use it in combination with other typical ingredients of vegan ice cream: hazelnuts, almonds and pistachios, and vegetable oils such as rice oil and rapeseed oil.
👉 You can make our ice cream recipes with all types of ice cream machines: compressor, with freezer bowl, and with the Ninja Creami with the “gelato” program.
Let's make an example of white ice cream, with a low calorie intake.
We use coconut milk, which we simply dilute with water: like a coconut sorbet ice cream.
And we also use honey, but you can replace it with any other sweetener of your choice from the ones mentioned above.
This way we make a creamy ice cream with a delicious light taste and that contains about 1/4 fewer calories than a normal Italian ice cream.
| Low calorie gelato with coconut and honey | 3.5 oz / 100 g | 155 Calories |
If you don't like honey, you can of course substitute the same amount of sugar, white or brown sugar.
| Ingredient image | Ingredient name | Cups | Grams | Ounces |
|
Coconut milk | 1.4 cup | 11.3 oz | 320 g |
|
Water | 0.75 cup | 6 oz | 170 g |
|
Honey | 0.3 cup | 3.9 oz | 110 g |
For each ingredient we indicate both the volume in cups and the weight in ounces and grams.
In the US, most online ice cream recipes indicate the ingredients in cups: it's a very practical unit, in which each ingredient is already converted into volume, so you don't need a scale.
To be more accurate, however, we also write the weight of the ingredients. With a digital scale you can easily weigh each ingredient and then combine them all in a bowl or measuring cup.
👉 Especially if you're just starting out, don't fill the ice cream maker completely: making ice cream in small quantities is easier.
When making ice cream at home, it is important that both the ice cream maker and the ingredients are well cold.
First turn on the self-cooling ice maker. This way it has time to cool down while you prepare the ingredients. An ice maker usually takes 10 minutes to cool down.
If the ice cream maker has not cooled down, the stirring arm often freezes before the ice cream is ready. This is one of the little tricks good to know when you make gelato at home. 😊
Mix the ingredients with an immersion blender for 1-2 minutes while the ice cream maker cools down.
To make a proper ice cream, you need to pour a smooth mixture into the ice cream maker.
Before pouring the mixture into the ice cream maker, make sure the ice cream maker is already freezing, at about -7.6 °F (-22 °C).
👉 Use the opening on the lid of the machine to pour the ice cream. This way the cold in the inner bowl of the ice cream maker does not escape.
The mixing paddle should already be moving when you pour the ice.
The transparent lid allows you to check the status of the ice cream.
After 15-20 minutes, the mixture will increase in volume and gradually become a soft gelato.
Wait 30-40 minutes until the low-calorie ice cream is ready to enjoy.
Your Italian low calorie gelato is ready, light and creamy. 🔊 buon appetito 🍨
👉 Freshly homemade ice cream is
In the restaurant in Italy, when you finish eating, the waiter will ask: 🔊 andava tutto bene? (was everything fine?)
The Italian words of this page:
| 🔊 Gelato Italiano | Italian ice cream |
| 🔊 Senza zucchero | Sugar-free |
| 🔊 Gelato poco calorico | Low calorie ice cream |