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While it is still the most wonderful time of the year, I wanted to share one of my favorite holiday recipes: Gingerbread Ice Cream! This ice cream combines every spice (and everything nice) for the perfect treat to enjoy while watching a Christmas movie or admiring the holiday lights!
One of my favorite traditions every holiday season is to build a gingerbread house. I used to do it frequently growing up, and now I always make a point to do it every Christmas season!
I think building a cookie house and decorating it with candy and icing is one of the greatest ideas anyone has ever had.
Now I’m not adventurous enough to bake my own gingerbread cookies, although that would probably taste amazing. I usually go to Target or Walmart and see which gingerbread house looks the coolest.
I’ve done Target’s Santa village, the classic house, and this year I did Santa’s workshop (although it looked just like the classic gingerbread house).
Turning on some good Christmas music and making gingerbread houses with friends is one of my favorite holiday traditions, so Alex and I thought we should turn it into ice cream!
A few years ago, Starbucks had a gingerbread latte that was to die for. It was my absolute favorite holiday drink flavor, and it tasted just like gingerbread mixed with coffee. Sadly, they took the flavor away and have yet to bring it back (I still check every year and have yet to see it return).
When Alex and I were thinking of different spices and flavors we wanted to bring to the ice cream, I used the gingerbread latte (and other things) as inspiration! Once we grabbed all the spices and mixed them with our usual ingredients in the Ninja Creami, the gingerbread ice cream was born!
So turn on some Christmas tunes, grab your spices, and make yourself some delicious holiday Ninja Creami ice cream!
To Make Dairy-Free Gingerbread Ice Cream, Use the Following:
- 1 tbsp vegan cream cheese for 1 tbsp cream cheese
- 1 cup oat milk for 1 cup whole milk
- 3/4 cup cream of coconut for 3/4 cup heavy cream
First Time Using the Ninja Creami or Looking for Tips?
While the Ninja Creami is a machine with only 7 (or 11) buttons, it can still be intimidating! Here are a few tips and tricks Alex and I have picked up since beginning our ice cream journey with the Ninja Creami!
- Can I mix-in my gingerbread house that I built? You know, I asked myself the same question. The answer is definitely yes, as long as you break it into small chunks first! What better way to use some of the yummy gingerbread cookie flavor than putting it into your ice cream!
- If I put the pint back into the freezer, do I need to spin the ice cream again before enjoying? Surprisingly, no! When using the typical base ingredients (whole milk, heavy cream), re-spinning is probably best to get the ice cream back to its original creamy consistency after freezing. However, we have found when using oat milk and cream of coconut, our first spin leaves the ice cream very creamy (almost like a soft-serve texture). After putting it in the freezer for 24 hours after this original spin, the ice cream is the perfect texture to enjoy without re-spinning! My suggestion is see how the texture is without a re-spin, and re-spin only as necessary!
- What button should I use to spin my ice cream? This all depends on the consistency you’re going for! Each button operates the machine at varying speeds. For thicker concoctions (like ice cream), the ice cream button is best. However, if using eggs in the recipe (like a gelato), use the gelato button! The sorbet button is best used with fruit mixtures. For example, if mixing a can of pineapples in heavy syrup, use the sorbet button to make a delicious fruity creation! Overall, it’s something you can experiment with to find your personal preference for your ice cream consistency!
Looking for More Ninja Creami Recipes?
If you’re on the hunt for more Ninja Creami recipes, be sure to grab one of our recipe e-books, Top 25 Ninja Creami Recipes ($2.99), or the great value of over 50 recipes in Ninja Creami Cookbook: Ice Cream & Gelato Edition! Each includes favorites such as cake batter gelato, red velvet ice cream, Shirley Temple ice cream, and many more!
If you’re like us and are running out of ice cream storage containers, grab a two-pack of Ninja Creami pints to keep your freezer full with all of your ice cream creations!
Or if you don’t have a Ninja Creami and are on the fence about getting one, check out my honest review!
Do You Want to Make Your Own Ninja Creami Cookbook?
If you want to make your own version of a Ninja Creami cookbook, check out our Ninja Creami Recipe Page Template! Besides the fun design, it has space to write the spin setting, number of servings, ingredients, directions, and notes (everything a Creami recipe needs)!
Ninja Creami Gingerbread Ice Cream
Description
Gingerbread ice cream combines delicious spices with the creaminess of ice cream to bring the gingerbread house right to your ice cream bowl! You may have to raid the spice aisle at your local grocery store, but trust us, it's worth it!
To make this recipe in the Ninja Creami Deluxe, multiply all ingredients by 1.5
Note: 1 serving = 1 pint
Ingredients
Instructions
Place 1 tbsp cream cheese in a medium bowl and microwave for 5-10 seconds. If the cream cheese was in the fridge, these 5-10 seconds in the microwave will help soften it up to mix well with the other ingredients.
Combine cream cheese with 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1/3 cup granulated sugar. Whisk until the ingredients are mixed together.
Whisk in 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, and 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg.
Slowly whisk in 1 cup whole milk and 3/4 cup heavy cream.
Pour the mixture into a Ninja Creami pint container, ensuring it does not go over the max fill line.
Freeze the pint for 24 hours, making sure it is placed on a flat surface in the freezer.
After 24 hours, remove the pint from the freezer, and plug in your Ninja Creami machine! Time for the magic.
Remove the lid from the pint and grab the Ninja Creami outer bowl. Place the pint securely into the outer bowl and cover with the lid. Once the lid is on, place the outer bowl into the machine, twisting to the right until it locks into place. Press the "Ice Cream" button and (try to) wait patiently for the creamy treat coming your way.
Once the process is finished, press and hold the button on the left side of the Creami to twist the bowl to the left and remove it from the machine. Twist the lid off of the outer bowl and remove the pint.
Now your gingerbread ice cream is ready to enjoy!
Note
If you don't like following recipes, don't worry - you can customize it however you want! We personally use oat milk and coconut cream to avoid most of the dairy, and it's some of the best ice cream we've ever had.
If you liked this recipe, check out our other holiday recipe for white chocolate peppermint ice cream here.
Thank you for sharing how to make the ice cream dairy free. I usually have dairy free ice cream. I would love to try this out.