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Light Limoncello Ice Cream

Ninja Creami Recipe

Inspired by my childs current obsession with lemon, this light version of a limoncello highlights creamy vanilla and bright lemon flavors. Truly refreshing and extremely simply to whip up.

Limoncello Origins

Limoncello is a traditional Italian liqueur made from the zest of lemons, typically produced in Southern Italy.

While our recipe is alcohol-free it takes inspiration from the use of lemon zest to create a bright and creamy treat.
To make limoncello, lemon zest is steeped in a neutral spirit, such as vodka or grain alcohol, and then mixed with simple syrup to sweeten it. The result is a refreshing, citrusy liqueur often served chilled.

Lemon zest is very bright and powerful. It shines through on most every dish we have used it in. This recipe is no exception.

 

Simple household ingredients come together to make a tasty, creamy treat

Ninja Creami

This recipe was made using a Ninja Creami ice cream and cold drink appliance. We highly recommend this product. It helps to secure the proper texture of your dessert and ice drinks. 
If you have a food processor it can be used to as well, but your results for the final texture may vary.
Our child is currently unable to eat dairy and wheat. They love ice cream and we were looking for something that we could use to make sweet treat without breaking the bank on specialty pints.  We are now able to prepare ice treats for them using soy milk, coconut milk and other non-dairy add-ins.  It has been a great way to help them not feel like they are missing out due to their current diet restrictions.
This recipe was made using dairy, but we have made this with soy milk and it was just as good!  Our next adventure will use coconut milk for the half and half part of the recipe.  

Cream Cheese Is Key

The cream cheese acts as a thickener to give your ice cream body and also as a binder so you don’t get ice crystals when the base freezes. It doesn’t add much for flavor, but does make a world of difference in the end product.
We had a whipped cream cheese available at the time of making this, but it doesn’t matter if its traditional or whipped. Whipped had air introduced into it, so its easier to work with and mix in, however the air takes of space so you may want to add a 1 and half tablespoons if your using a whipped variety.
Break the cream cheese up into chunks and distribute it around the mixture. If you want you can also blend all ingredients together and then pour into your freeze container.

Bright and refreshing lemon zest
Combine all ingredients in a freeze safe container
24 hours of freeze time

Milkshake vs Scoopable

Depending on what you are craving, we have some option on how we present and enjoy this dessert. If you want this the same day and are content with a limoncello milkshake you can freeze for about 6 hours and then blend.  

We used Light Ice Cream setting on the Ninja Creami and the consistency was a thick milkshake. See below –

6 hours in freezer spun 1 time on Light Ice Cream

For the more patient, we have a more scoopable result.  After 24 hours of freeze time we can spin/blend the frozen mix until we arrive a light, creamy, bright scoop of lemon-y refreshment.

Frozen for 24 hours, Spun 1 time on Light Ice Cream and 2 re-spins

Choice of Milk and Sweetness

While we were looking for a light, guilt free summer treat, there are some ways you could amp this up with some additional calories and get an even richer results. Some ideas below:

    •  Replace the skim milk with whole milk or heavy whipping cream – This will make the final mix less “icy texture” and more creamy.
    •  If you do not have a vanilla coffee creamer you can substitute 1/2 cup of any milk with 1 tsp vanilla extract and 2-3 tbsp of sugar
    • Add some additional cream cheese

Light Limoncello Ice Cream (Creami)

Bright lemon and cool vanilla ice cream using the ninja creami. This recipe can also be made using a food processor with a similar finished texture.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Course Dessert
Servings 2 people

Equipment

  • 1 Ninja Creami - Food processor will also work for this with slightly different texture
  • 1 freezer container - Pyrex glass bowl will work if you do not have a Ninja creami container.
  • 1 zester grater

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup skim milk Skim to keep this light, but if you want to use a fatty milk or heavy cream you will get an even creamier end result.
  • 1/2 cup vanilla coffee creamer
  • 1/2 cup half and half
  • 1 tbsp cream cheese
  • 1/2 lemon Using only the zest from the peel, not the juice

Instructions
 

  • Combine milk, vanilla creamer, half and half in a bowl or container
  • Zest half of one lemon peel
  • Stir lemon zest into the mixture
  • 2 Options:
  • 1. Freeze for 6 hours for a thick milkshake consistency
  • 2. Freeze overnight (24 hours) for ice cream consistency
  • For Ninja Creami: Run a Full Light Ice Cream spin (4 min). Respin 2 times (2 min each)
  • For Food Processor: Let frozen result sit out for 10-15 min to soften and seperate from container. Place mixture in food processor and blend until desired consistency.
    Note: If the result seems too icy, let it sit for 5 min to continue to thaw and soften. Re-blend. Should result in more smooth consistency. Repeat until content.
  • Scoop and serve
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