Apple Pie Ice Cream (low carb)

For a healthy and delicious low carb dessert, try this apple pie ice cream that is not only low in sugar but high protein too! Using a vanilla protein ice cream base and tender pieces of cinnamon cooked apples and pie crust crumbles you can create all the flavor of apple pie a la mode. One serving has just 8.3 grams net carbs and and 14.6 grams of protein.

You might also like these keto pecan pie balls.

Something about fall makes me think of all things apples and I’ve been craving a piece of good homemade apple pie. So I came up with a way to create the same flavors in a protein ice cream with cooked apples and pieces of crust.

The healthy apple pie ice cream is the perfect healthy dessert for fall. It’s high in protein and low in sugar and carbs. I’ve even use store bought pie crust and while this dessert is not gluten free, when used in these amounts you don’t have too high of a carb count.

Recipe ingredients and substitutions.

The simple ingredients I used for the protein ice cream were – unsweetened almond milk, heavy whipping cream, cream cheese, Isopure Zero carb vanilla protein powder, salt, vanilla extract and Swerve sweetener.

IMPORTANT! I made the base in a Ninja Creami ice cream machine because I wanted it to be low carb and high protein. If you want to just buy a low carb vanilla ice cream I recommend Breyers CarbSmart brand as it tastes good and has a decent carb count.

For the apple pie flavors I used an apple, ground cinnamon, Swerve Brown Sweetener and a store bought pie crust.

• Almond Milk, Cream Cheese and Heavy Whipping Cream – This is the base of the ice cream and these ingredients lend to the creaminess and without adding too many carbs. You can use other kinds of nondairy milk and substitute coconut milk for the heavy cream. However this will change the carb count and the flavor. I find coconut milk or coconut cream will almond always add that coconut flavor, which you might not mind but that is up to you.
• Isopure Zero Carb Vanilla Protein Powder – You can use any brand of protein powder you want but I find this particular one to have good flavor and I like the zero carbs.
• Vanilla Extract and Swerve Sweetener – You can use whatever your favorite sweetener is that you want. Swerve has a 1:1 ratio with regular white sugar so just make sure your sweetener is the same. You can skip the vanilla extract if you don’t have it but it does add a bit of flavor so use it if you have it.
• Pie Crust – I just used store bought pie crust because I don’t bake much and wanted to keep this simple. You can make it from scratch if you prefer or eliminate it if you are gluten free or don’t want the extra carbs. If you have a low carb or gluten free pie crust recipe you can use that too.
• Apple Topping – I used a SMIC-crisp apple that I had on hand and you can use whatever kind of apple you want. You are only using a bit of the apple so it won’t matter about the carbs too much. Granny Smith apples have the lowest carbs if you want to use those. I also used Swerve Brown Sweetener which is my favorite. You can use whatever brown sugar sweetener you want and if you don’t have any you can use a white sweetener. I also use cinnamon on both the crust and apples.

How to make apple pie ice cream.

NOTE: You can make all three components the night before and them put them together the next day when you run the frozen base through the Ninja Creami machine. Store both the berry sauce and pie crust in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If you are using store bought ice cream you can skip to Step 2:

1. The night before place all the ice cream ingredients into a high speed blender, food processor or electric mixer and blend. Then pour into the Ninja Creami freezer-safe container to make the vanilla ice cream base. Place the storage lid on top and freeze overnight.
2. To make the pie crust bites, preheat the oven according to the directions on the box. Place a piece of parchment paper or silicone mat on a baking sheet and lay the crust on. I flattened some of the creases with my fingers to make them smooth. Spray with nonstick cooking spray and then sprinkle some cinnamon over top. If you want the crust to be a bit sweet you can also sprinkle some sweetener.
3. Use a pizza cutter and cut the crust into small pieces like that pictured below. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake. I baked mine at 350°F for 12 minutes. Take out and let cool. Then crumble to make the pie crust bites and place in an a ziplock bag in the refrigerator until ready to eat. I measured my crust to make about 28 tablespoons of crumbles.
4. Now make your apple filling or topping by chopping the apples into bite sized pieces. I cored the apple and then cut it into rings first and the diced them up. I like keeping the skins on but if you don’t like them you can peel it.
5. Place into a microwave safe bowl along with 3 tablespoons of brown sugar sweetener and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix and then microwave for 3 minutes or until soft and has your desired texture.  You can also do this in a saucepan on the stove if you want.
6. When done let cool the cinnamon apple bits completely before using. Mine made about 7 tablespoons of the mixture. Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
7. When you are ready to eat the final recipe, make the ice cream according to the instructions of the Ninja Creami. Use the LITE ICE CREAM setting. When it’s done check the texture and if it’s to your liking then scoop into a bowl. If not run it through the RESPIN setting and check again. You might have to do this 1-2 extra spins until you get the consistency and texture you like. Below is what mine looked like.

Putting it all together.

If you are not making the protein ice cream you can make crust and topping and just let cool before assembly. Scoop the store bought ice cream in a bowl and layer the pie crust bites and apple filling anyway your want.

If you are using the Ninja Creami protein ice cream you can make everything the day before and store in the refrigerator until ready to run the ice cream base through the machine.

I used half of the container of ice cream for this. Note that there are 2 servings per container. First I added a bit to the bottom of the bowl or dessert cup, then half a tablespoon of pie crust bites and apple filling each. Then added the rest of the ice cream and another ½ tablespoon of each on top. 

With this combination one serving has just 8.3 grams net carbs and and 14.6 grams of protein. Below you is how mine looked and the nutritional information for all 3 components are below.

How to store the extra crust and apple topping.

What I do is take the crust crumbles and store in an airtight container or ziplock bag and store in the freezer. That way you can use it for more recipes like this. You can use it in place of the crumble in this berry pie protein ice cream. Or you can use it in any kind of pie flavored ice cream like banana, coconut, pumpkin, etc.

For the apples you have to store them in the refrigerator and they will keep for a few days. You can also use leftovers in these apple wontons too. They can also be used as a topping for yogurt or cottage cheese.

So that my friends is my apple pie ice cream which is high protein and low sugar. I really, really liked this recipe and I hope you do too. It might seem like a bit of work but you will have extra pie crumbles in the freezer for more patches and the apple topping is easily made in the microwave.

And check out this keto berry crumble Ninja recipe that is just like this one. Or for more low carb pie options you might like these low carb mini crustless pumpkin pies. Enjoy!

The nutritional information for the Ninja Creami protein ice cream is 213 calories / 15.4g fat / 2.7g carbs / 0.6g fiber / 14.2g protein = 2.1g net carbs

The nutritional information for the 1 tablespoon apples is 15 calories / 0g fat / 3.7g carbs / 0.7g fiber / 0.1g protein = 3g net carbs

The nutritional information for the 1 tablespoon of the crust is 31 calories / 1.7g fat / 3.2g carbs / 0.3g protein = 3.2g net carbs