Ninja Creami Pumpkin Ice Cream

5 from 1 vote

Canned pumpkin puree blended with cottage cheese, half and half, and pumpkin spice, then frozen overnight and spun in the Ninja Creami. The cottage cheese adds protein and body without changing the flavor. Five minutes of work plus the freeze.

Prep Time10

Freezing18

Total Time18 10

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: people

Calories: 115kcal

Author: Rose Sioson

Equipment

1 Ninja Creami Ice Cream Maker
1 Blender
1 Pint container

Ingredients

½ cup Pumpkin Puree
1 cup Half and half or Heavy Cream
¾ cup Soy Milk or oat milk, or cow's milk, depending on your dietary preferences.
½ cup Cottage Cheese
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Spice
3 tablespoon Agave Syrup or honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, stevia, monk fruit or regular sugar.
2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Instructions

In a blender, combine pumpkin puree, half and half, soy milk, cottage cheese, soy milk, pumpkin spice, agave syrup and vanilla extract. Pour the blended ice cream mixture into a Ninja Creami pint container, making sure it does not exceed the max fill line.
½ cup Pumpkin Puree, 1 cup Half and half, ¾ cup Soy Milk, ½ cup Cottage Cheese, 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Spice, 3 tablespoon Agave Syrup, 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Place the pint container in the freezer and freeze for at least 18-24 hours.
After freezing, remove the pint container from the freezer and place it into the Ninja Creami ice cream machine. Attach the pint holder lid and lock it into place. Select the "Lite Ice Cream" setting and let the Ninja Creami process the mixture. *see notes
Scoop the Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream into bowls and top with your favorite toppings.

Notes

Use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. The cans sit next to each other and look similar. Pie filling is already sweetened and spiced, and it throws off both the sweetener and the spice measurements.

Don't swap in heavy cream. It seems like it should give a richer pint, but over-spun heavy cream separates and goes waxy, closer to butter than ice cream. Half and half has enough fat without that risk.

Taste the base before it goes in the freezer. Cold flattens sweetness. A base that tastes right at room temperature reads under-sweetened once frozen, so go slightly sweeter than feels correct.

Blend until completely smooth. Cottage cheese leaves lumps otherwise, and they don't disappear in the spin.

Freeze the pint level. An angled pint freezes unevenly, and the blade meets uneven ice.

Give it the full 24 hours. Eighteen sometimes works and sometimes gives a soft, patchy spin.

Let the pint sit out 5 to 10 minutes before it goes in the machine. This is the single thing that keeps it from coming out crumbly.

Use the Lite Ice Cream setting. This base is lighter than a heavy cream one, so Lite suits it better than the regular Ice Cream setting.

If it comes out crumbly, add a tablespoon of milk down the side and hit Re-spin. Crumbly on the first spin is normal.

Leftover puree. A 15-ounce can makes more than one batch. Freeze the rest in portions.

Storage. Keeps a couple of weeks in the pint with the lid on, though the texture is best in the first few days. Re-process on the Ice Cream setting when you go back to it rather than trying to scoop it straight from the freezer.

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