Ninja Creami Caramel Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Protein Ice Cream

Caramel, cheesecake, and chocolate chips all in one ice cream? Yes please!!! This Ninja Creami caramel chocolate chip cheesecake protein ice cream is thick, creamy, and has so much real caramel flavor with bits of Werther’s Original candies and chopped chocolate chips throughout every single bite.

This recipe comes in at 315 calories, 30 grams of protein, 1 gram of sugar, 9.5 grams of fat, and 37 carbs for the ENTIRE pint.

This recipe is for anyone who loves caramel as much as I do. The caramel protein shake makes the base of the ice cream taste like real caramel without having to add a ton of caramel sauce. Then with the cheesecake pudding mix, sugar-free caramel syrup, and pieces of Werther’s Original candies thrown in, you end up with a really rich, creamy caramel cheesecake ice cream with 30 grams of protein for the entire pint.

The sugar-free cheesecake instant pudding mix is doing two big jobs in this recipe. It adds that classic cheesecake flavor without having to use actual cheesecake, and it acts as a thickener that gives the ice cream a thick, creamy texture instead of an icy one. Be sure to use INSTANT pudding mix and not cook-and-serve, since cook-and-serve won’t thicken in the base without being heated first.

Let’s talk about those Werther’s Original candies because they are honestly what makes this recipe stand out. Breaking them into small pieces before adding them as mix-ins gives you these little pockets of real caramel candy flavor in every bite. The Ninja Creami machine breaks them down just enough on the mix-in cycle so they aren’t too hard to bite into, but you still get that classic Werther’s caramel taste throughout the ice cream.

The chocolate chips have to be CHOPPED before you add them as mix-ins. Whole chocolate chips come out really hard and are tough to bite into, so I chop them down with a knife (or you can pulse them in a food processor) before adding them down the center of the ice cream. The same goes for the Werther’s candies, breaking them into small pieces ahead of time makes sure they spread evenly throughout the pint instead of getting stuck in one big chunk.

The combination of caramel, cheesecake, and chocolate is really hard to beat. You get the rich caramel flavor from the protein shake and Werther’s, the tangy cheesecake notes from the pudding mix, and the chocolate from the chopped chocolate chips in every bite.

Ingredient tips and substitutions

The full ingredient list is at the bottom of this post in the recipe card.

• Caramel Protein Shake: Any of your favorite caramel protein shakes will work in this recipe, and if you don’t have one, use the same volume of your milk of choice mixed with vanilla protein powder plus a little extra caramel syrup, adjusting the flavor and sweetness based on what you use (a splash of vanilla extract can help round out the flavor too).
• Sugar-Free Cheesecake Instant Pudding Mix: Make sure to use INSTANT pudding mix only, not cook-and-serve or premade pudding, and regular pudding mix with sugar in it works fine if that’s what you have.
• Sugar-Free Caramel Syrup: This is the thin coffee syrup that you add to drinks, not the thick caramel topping, and any brand of sugar-free or regular caramel coffee syrup works as a substitute (you could also use 1 teaspoon of maple syrup or honey if you’d rather, but the flavor will be a little different).
• Zero-Sugar Chocolate Chips: Regular chocolate chips work fine too, just make sure to chop them up with a knife or in a food processor before adding them as a mix-in since whole chips come out very hard.
• Sugar-Free Werther’s Original: Regular Werther’s Originals will work in place of the sugar-free version, just break them into small pieces with a spoon or in a food processor before adding them down the center of the pint.
• Unsweetened Almond Milk (Optional): This only gets used if the ice cream looks like sand after the first spin, and any dairy or non-dairy milk works in its place like whole milk, 2% milk, coconut milk, oat milk, cashew milk, or Fairlife milk (the higher the fat content, the better the creaminess).

Directions for Making the Ice Cream Mixture

1. Pour the protein shake, pudding mix, and caramel syrup into a small blender and blend together until the pudding mix is completely combined with the liquids. Pour the mixture into the Ninja Creami pint container.
2. Freeze on a level surface for 24 hours. Your freezer should be between 9 and -7 degrees Fahrenheit. To avoid getting a bump on the top of the frozen mixture, freeze with the lid off of the container.

Directions for Processing the Ice Cream Mixture

1. After 24 hours, remove the pint container from the freezer.
2. Place the pint container into the outer bowl of the Ninja Creami and then process on “LITE ICE CREAM.”
3. If the ice cream is dry or crumbly looking (like sand), pour in a tablespoon or two of unsweetened almond milk and then re-spin. If the ice cream looks like little balls of ice cream, respin without adding liquid. You may have to repeat this process a couple of times.
4. Pour the pieces of Werther’s Original and chocolate chips down the center of the ice cream and then process on mix-ins.
5. Remove the pint from the machine and enjoy!

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Recipe

Ninja Creami Caramel Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Protein Ice Cream

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Servings: 1 Pint

Calories: 315kcal

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Freeze Time: 1 day day

Total Time: 1 day day 5 minutes minutes

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Equipment

• 1 Ninja Creami
• 1 Ninja Creami Pint Container
• 1 Small Blender

Add Food Grade Vegetable Glycerin To Make Leftover Ice Cream Scoopable Right Out of the Freezer

Per 16 ounce pint: *Add 1 Teaspoon to full fat/full sugar bases *Add 1.5 teaspoon to high protein bases *Add 2 teaspoons to low sugar/low fat lite bases. Freeze and process per the recipe. Take the leftovers out of the freezer and scoop without having to reprocess. ***This is a guideline and adjustments may be needed based on your recipe.

(Click here) This is the food grade vegetable glycerin that I experimented with.

Original, Breeze, Swirl, and Deluxe Ingredient Measurements

Use the multiplier below to adjust quantities based on the machine that you own. ***If you have the Original, Breeze, or Swirl machine, which use 16 ounce containers, choose the 1X option. ***If you have the Deluxe or XL machine, which use 24 ounce containers, choose the 1.5X option.

Ingredients

 

1x1.5x2x3x

Ice Cream Base

• ▢ 11.5 Fluid Ounces (340 ml) Caramel Protein Shake
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons (2 Tablespoons) Sugar-Free Cheesecake Instant Pudding Mix
• ▢ 1 Teaspoon (1 Teaspoon) Sugar-Free Caramel Syrup

Mix-Ins

• ▢ 1 Tablespoon (1 Tablespoon) Zero-Sugar Chocolate Chips (Chopped)
• ▢ 5 (5) Sugar-Free Werther's Original (Broken into small pieces)

Optional

• ▢ 1-2 Tablespoons (1 Tablespoons) Unsweetened Almond Milk

Instructions

Make the Ice Cream Mixture

• Pour the protein shake, pudding mix, and caramel syrup into a small blender and blend together until the pudding mix is completely combined with the liquids. Pour the mixture into the Ninja Creami pint container.
• Freeze on a level surface for 24 hours. Your freezer should be between 9 and -7 degrees Fahrenheit. To avoid getting a bump on the top of the frozen mixture, freeze with the lid off of the container.

Process the Ice Cream

• After 24 hours, remove the pint container from the freezer.
• Place the pint container into the outer bowl of the Ninja Creami and then process on "LITE ICE CREAM."
• If the ice cream is dry or crumbly looking (like sand), pour in a tablespoon or two of unsweetened almond milk and then re-spin. If the ice cream looks like little balls of ice cream, respin without adding liquid. You may have to repeat this process a couple of times.
• Pour the pieces of Werther's Original and chocolate chips down the center of the ice cream and then process on mix-ins.
• Remove the pint from the machine and enjoy!

Notes

Do I have to use almond milk to make this recipe?

No. You can use any milk or non-dairy milk that you would like. The nutritional information will change based on the milk that you use. Some milks will provide a less creamy ice cream.

When choosing a non-dairy milk, I chose almond milk because it has a very mild flavor. You can use coconut milk, oat milk, cashew milk, skim, 2% or whole milk instead.

Is there cheesecake in cheesecake ice cream?

While you can add pieces of cheesecake to your ice cream, I chose to use cheesecake INSTANT pudding that is sugar-free. Not only does it help create the flavor of cheesecake in the ice cream, but it also helps to create a wonderful, thick, and creamy texture. Be sure to use instant pudding and not cook and serve. If you prefer, you can use instant pudding that has sugar in it instead of the sugar-free that was used in this recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 315kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 9.5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 965.83mg | Potassium: 249mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 652mg | Iron: 3.3mg

Nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. Optional ingredients are not included in the nutrition information.

Recipes that use allulose:

Allulose is a low calorie sweetener that your body doesn't fully digest, so it provides only 0.4 calories per gram instead of 4. That's why the calorie total doesn't match what you'd expect from the carb count. Calories from allulose are calculated based on metabolized carbohydrates. Allulose contributes fewer calories than standard carbohydrates.

Have you tried this recipe? Let us know how it turned out in a comment below!

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