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As a life-long ice cream lover, I've had ice cream in all of its forms. As a kid, my friends and I used to make ice cream using the old resealable bag technique- in which you shake a bag full of ice cream ingredients continuously until it hardens into the real thing. Because this is a labor-intensive process and I usually still ended up with something liquid and soupy, I always assumed that making ice cream was best left to the professionals.
However, I recently used a Ninja Ice Cream Maker for the first time, and my world was opened. Not only can you make store-quality ice cream with the push of a button, you can also make gelato, milkshakes, smoothie bowls, sorbet, and lite ice cream. The Ninja CREAMi Machine uses one-touch programs, giving you the opportunity to mix in any toppings you like and enjoy your favorite ice cream flavors from home.
Many people consider ice cream a go-to for comfort food or a refreshing treat, whether it's a steamy summer day or you're relaxing on the couch to watch your favorite chick flick, ice cream carton in hand. Sometimes you find yourself with no ice cream in your freezer and no motivation to head to the store. That's when having an ice cream maker comes in handy, especially when your can count on it making high-quality frozen treats that are as good as what you'd find at the store! For any ice cream lovers or home cooks and bakers, the Ninja Creami Machine is ideal to experiment with flavors and make your favorite sweet treat from home.
Ninja is kicking off the season early, and what better way to ring in summer than with homemade ice cream, sorbet or gelato? To celebrate the beginning of summer, you can now take 20% off the Ninja™ CREAMi when you use code TORANI at checkout.
The Best Ice Cream Maker for Summer
The Ninja CREAMi Machine - Ninja, $159.95 with code TORANI (originally 199.95)
The Ninja CREAMi Machine allows you to make your own frozen treats from your countertop, making your sweets low sugar, keto, low-calorie, dairy-free or vegan, and choosing whichever mix-ins you like. The 7 one-touch programs and creamify technology help you to choose the speed and pressure as the paddle churns, and you can re-spin it if you want an extra creamy texture.
This Ninja kitchen appliance features a creamerizer paddle, three CREAMi pint containers, and an outer bowl and lid. The multiple containers allow you to make a few batches at once to enjoy a variety of homemade flavors! (That's what I did because you never know which you'll be craving). Plus, it's dishwasher-safe and made for easy cleanup, and comes with its own recipe book with 30 recipes. Like many other Ninja Foodi appliances, the ice cream maker is versatile and easy to use, and it allows you to personalize your ice cream, using dairy-free ice cream if you're vegan or making sorbet with a sugar-free sweetener for the keto diet.
With my new Ninja CREAMi Ice Cream Maker, I made a few of their many delicious recipes for my own frozen treats. Ever since, I've been obsessed with this magical ice cream machine, looking for any opportunity to make more homemade ice cream. Here are the three ice cream recipes I made:
Blueberry Cheesecake Gelato
Lydia
I was definitely interested in the gelato feature, as gelato is my favorite kind of ice cream. Its creamy texture is so addictingly delicious, creamy like soft serve and so rich in flavor. The blueberry cheesecake gelato sounds fancy, but it's actually pretty simple, and the prep time is only about five minutes. The cream cheese, whole milk, and heavy cream provide the creamy gelato texture, while the blueberry preserves and vanilla extract add a delectable flavor.
To bring it over the edge, the graham crackers mixed in throughout add a satisfying crunch that goes along perfectly with the creamy blueberry ice cream. Even though I typically wouldn't eat a dessert without chocolate in it, I was very impressed.
Get the recipe at Ninja's Test Kitchen.
Death By Chocolate
Lydia
As someone who always chooses chocolate ice cream over vanilla ice cream, making the Death By Chocolate flavor was an obvious choice. This flavor lives up to its name, with cocoa powder bringing the chocolate flavor to the base, and chocolate chips and brownie chunks as yummy chocolatey mix-ins.
This ice cream recipe was also simple, but like the gelato, you need to freeze your ice cream overnight, so this is one to plan ahead for. To make it, freeze your ice cream overnight, then simply put your ingredients into the outer bowl of your Ninja CREAMi Machine, and press the ice cream button.
Get the recipe at Ninja's Test Kitchen!
Strawberry Shortcake Milkshake
Lydia Greene
With the goal of trying out as many functions of my Ice Cream Maker as possible, I made a milkshake as well. This is a great option for a quick fix since unlike the ice cream, you can make it and enjoy it in a matter of minutes! The ingredients of the Strawberry Shortcake Milkshake are strawberry ice cream, milk, pound cake, and strawberries.
Although the recipe calls for fresh strawberries, I feel that frozen fruit would work as well, and sometimes even has more flavor. I couldn't quite perfect the texture of my milkshake, and will probably use less milk or firmer ice cream next time. I'm already dreaming up the next ice cream flavors to come! Chocolate coconut? Strawberry basil sorbet? The world is my oyster, and my Ninja CREAMi is my new favorite thing.
Get the recipe at Ninja's Test Kitchen!
This post was originally published on August 11, 2021.
