Keto Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream (Bacio Gelato) is my sugar-free, very low-carb version of the most popular ice cream flavour in Italy. 3g net carbs.
I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that it tastes EXACTLY the same as any high sugar Bacio original from the best Italian gelaterie. So luxurious, velvety, creamy and dreamy that you’ll seriously need huge self-restraint to not devour ALL OF IT in one go.
Whether you serve it as a scoop on its own, over some waffle cups or cones, or with a biscuit or pastry on the side, is totally up to you. And as always with ice cream, you don’t have to use an ice cream churning machine. Although I totally recommend owning one, as it makes life A LOT easier.
How To Make Keto Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream (Bacio Gelato)
You’ll need a saucepan, weighing scales, a spouted glass jug or similar, and preferably an ice cream machine. Once you’ve beaten the eggs directly inside the pan, you simply add all but two ingredients and bring the mix to just below simmering point. Chocolate goes in, then, after cooling and chilling, it’s ready for the ice cream maker. Let it churn for 10-20 minutes, scoop it all into a freezer-proof container, stir in the whole hazelnuts, and freeze until it reaches your desired consistency.
Even if you buy pre-roasted hazelnut, I highly recommend roasting/toasting them again for a few minutes until fragrant. And if at all possible, find Italian Piedmont (Tonda Gentile) hazelnuts. They are the best in the world and will make your ice cream superior.
As for milk and cream choices, I tested coconut milk, almond milk, hemp milk, whole dairy milk, double cream and whipping cream to see which would be better. By far the best flavour and correct balance of creamy-richness has consistently been whipping cream (35% fat) + dairy whole milk. For more info on fat content of various cream ‘types’, click HERE.
Arla Lactose-Free Whole Milk (from any UK supermarket) is my favourite. It has the same carbohydrate content as whipping cream. But only a fraction of the calories. Perfect.
Allulose is quite difficult to find in the UK. And quite expensive. In the UK, you can buy it from iHerb. It has no after-taste, doesn’t crystallise, and works really well in creamy/spoon desserts. Not so great in baked goods – it seems to burn and impart an unpleasant flavour even at low oven temperatures. For ice cream, however, it’s pure heaven. If it’s not fo you, swap it for powdered erythritol.
Gelatine is a must. I’ve been using it in my ice cream recipes for several years. It adds creaminess and helps prevent ice crystals much more effectively than LBG or alcohol. You definitely don’t want to leave it out.
My ice-cream machine is the cheap and simple type. The one that has a removable compartment that you freeze for at least 24 hours. Not fancy at all, but it works really well. If you don’t have an ice-cream machine and don’t want one, you can still make ice cream. But you must take it out of the freezer, whip it and put it back, every 30 minutes, for the next 6 hours. This process breaks up any ice crystals and injects air, just like the churning of the ice cream machine does. Except it requires more faffing and hands-on work.
The recipe gets you 800-820g ice cream. One scoop = 100g. So you’ll have 8 servings.
If you’re making Keto Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream (Bacio Gelato) ahead, before serving you can either leave it at room temperature for a while, or in the fridge for a bit longer. I prefer the fridge thawing method, because the ice cream softens more consistently. Up to you.
Enjoy!
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- Yield: 800-820g (8 servings)
- Serving: 100g (1 scoop)
- Calories: 276
- Fat: 25g
- Net Carbs: 3g
- Protein: 7g
- 2 large eggs (110g without shell)
- 350g Arla lactose-free whole milk (or sub for plant milk if you must)
- 150g whipping cream (35% fat)
- 60g hazelnut paste (U.S. option HERE)
- 80g allulose (or powdered erythritol - U.S. option HERE)
- 1 tsp pure stevia powder (U.S. option HERE)
- ½ tsp gelatine powder (U.S. option HERE)
- 80g Callebaut 100% cocoa buttons (U.S. option HERE)
- 60g blanched roasted hazelnuts (U.S. option HERE)
- if you see a top layer of oil in your hazelnut paste jar, make sure to stir it really well, scooping up the dense sediments from the bottom and mixing them with the oil that settled on top.
- place a medium non-stick saucepan (preferably a heavy-base one) over your scales, crack eggs into it, beat them using a silicone hand whisk, then pour in all other ingredients except chocolate and hazelnuts, weighing each one as you zero (tare) in between.
- transfer to the hob over medium-high heat and use the whisk to stir more or less constantly, so that heat distributes in a uniform manner.
- keep whisking until a white-ish, thin layer of froth appears and tiny air bubbles start to rise when you lift the whisk.
- immediately remove from heat source at this point - if you have a thermometer and prefer to be sure, it should read no more than 85°C when inserted with the needle just above the pan base - a higher temperature will cause your eggs to scramble.
- add chocolate and stir with the manual whisk, until it has melted and the mixture has thickened.
- pour it into a spouted jug (I use a 1L Pyrex jug - U.S. option HERE), cover with cling film and leave it to reach room temperature (a cool fan helps to hurry this up).
- transfer to the coldest part of the fridge and let chill for at least 2 hours, or to your freezer for 20 minutes (checking often to ensure it doesn’t actually freeze at this stage).
- turn on your your ice-cream maker (U.S. option HERE), whisk the cold ice-cream mixture and then pour it in.
- let the machine work its magic for 15-20 mins, add whole hazelnuts and scoop it all into a suitable freezer container.
- once set, serve on its own, or on ice cream cones.
If you sub whole dairy milk for a plant milk, you will change both flavour and consistency.
For absolute best flavour, THIS is the Italian hazelnut paste you want.
The only way to ensure accurate measurement of ingredients is with Metric Kitchen Scales (U.S. option HERE).
Can you sub the Arla milk for heavy cream?
You can, but it will be a heavier ice cream. Might be better to use 2 parts cream + 1 part water.
Ok I made this. It is sooooo good. Re-roasting the hazelnuts was great advice. Getting that chocolate to incorporate was hard it probably wasn’t the best cholocate %. I’ll try to buy something that melts a bit easier next time. We don’t have any Arla near me so I opted for Fairlife Whole Milk. My Macros were extraordinarily close to yours.
Also, my apologies on the nutrition, you are right it is at the bottom! Regarding the photo, I have other keto recipe creators who I follow who have a button at the top where you can opt to print the photo or not. Makes it real convenient.
And thank you for always answering my questions. I really appreciate it!
You’re very welcome! So pleased you like it. And sorry about no option for photo on printout, I will eventually move my recipes to a better recipe plugin that allows that option.
Also regarding the cocoa buttons, is there any substitute? Would I just use unsweetened dark chocolate?
Thank you,
Hi Carol, yes, just use the lowest carbs/highest cocoa % you can find.
Hi there. I love your recipes. But the way they format for printing is not good at all. There’s no picture and no nutrition. Is there a way to fix that?
Thanks!
Thank you! The print facility intentionally leaves out images to avoid expensive colour cartridge use. You can see the macros at the bottom of the print page – just not in a box.