Low Calorie Ice Tray Ice Cream

No bananas, no heavy whipping cream, LOWER calorie condensed milk? Guys, we are defying all odds right now. We are doing this. WE ARE THE FUTURE!

So you guys might have noticed that lately, no churn ice cream recipes have popped their heads out and have become extremely popular. Why? Because they're awesomeeee and ice cream makers can be expensive and ain't nobody (meaning me the broke college student) got money for all of that. I mean these no churn recipes are truly great because they literally require less than 5 ingredients and a whisk to have a loaf pan full creamy, dreamy, cold, melt in your mouth ice cream that can be customized to just about any flavor.

Many of the basic no churn recipes use heavy whipping cream and sweetened condensed milk with a splash of vanilla as their base. Sounds easy, but woah buddy are those calories insane. One half cup serving (one scoop) is a whopping 337 calories. That....is....not.....cool. Considering if you're anything like me, one serving usually turns into 2...or 6.

Then there's another no churn "ice cream" recipe that has recently taken a stand which is super healthy, so delicious and insanely easy! That's because the base for this recipe is made from frozen bananas. Literally, that's it. Somehow somebody figured out that if you put frozen bananas into a blender, you get a creamy soft serve ice cream consistency, and whoever that person is, you my friend...are a genius. I use this recipe frequently whenever I want to whip up a quick healthy frozen treat to combat the Texas heat, like this Strawberry Mango Banana Swirl Ice Cream . It's so yummy and fruity and it has mangoes so you already know how I feel about it 😉

But the thing with this no churn ice cream is that it doesn't actually taste like ice cream. It tastes like.....wait for it....bananas! I'm not even going to lie to you and say "it tastes just like the real thing" or any of that mumbo jumbo. In fact, if anybody tries to convince you that it tastes anything remotely close to vanilla ice cream you need to run... those people cannot be trusted.

Now don't get me wrong, I loooooove the no churn banana ice cream recipes but sometimes I wanna switch out the fruity taste for a creamy vanilla-y taste and this is where things get weird. So, I'm not going to get into the science of it all because frankly, I'm no scientist but this awesome blogger from Serious Eats explains how complicated it is to really get a good no churn vanilla ice cream recipe without it crystallizing. Something about the continuous churning of the ice cream maker helps to avoid those crystals from forming....but we don't have one remember 😉

So behold, the greatest invention of all time....the amazing....the spectacular...

*cues dramatic music*

ICE. CUBE. TRAY.

I bet you weren't expecting that. Don't worry, neither was I but guys...it works. It seriously works! You mix a few simple ingredients together, pour them into an ice cube tray and then blend the frozen cubes in a food processor to get a creamy, soft serve LOW CALORIE VANILLA NO CHURN ICE CREAM! The best part (you knew it was coming), it's only 132 calories per half cup serving. Oh the joys I'm going to have with all of the different flavor combinations I can come up with, and I can't wait to share them with you!

Now I'm about to go and chow down a few scoops and pretend I didn't already have a bowl for breakfast *shimmies to the kitchen*

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Yield: 10 Servings

Low Calorie Ice Tray Ice Cream

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This deliciously creamy low calorie ice cream does not require an ice cream maker. All you need are a few basic ice trays and a food processor and you're good to go!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 64 oz Fat Free Half and Half
• 1 Cup Reduced Calorie Condensed Milk 
• 1 Tbs Vanilla Extract

Instructions

1. Combine half and half, condensed milk and vanilla extract with a mixer. Pour mixture into ice cube tray molds and place in the freezer to harden overnight.
2. Dumb ice cream cubes into a food processor and blend until mixture forms a creamy, soft serve consistency. Enjoy as is or pour into a loaf pan and freeze for a couple of hours to have a firmer scoop-able ice cream!

Notes

I ended up using 3 standard ice cube trays for the entire mixture. Depending on the size of your ice cube trays, you may need more or less.

I also found that putting trays on the top shelf of the freezer allows for a quicker, more even freezing time which reduces chances of crystal formation!

* For the optional yummy peanut butter maple drizzle, check out the recipe here

Nutrition Information

Yield

10

Serving Size

½ Cup
Amount Per Serving Calories 209Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 19mgSodium 220mgCarbohydrates 33gFiber 0gSugar 26gProtein 7g

Please note that nutrition values may differ slightly depending on brand of food items used.