I cannot begin to explain how excited I was when I just so happened to see “KETO” written in the corner of a container of ice cream in the frozen foods section of Whole Foods recently. Instead of lame low-carb ice cream, Mammoth Creameries is a frozen custard made from cream and eggs instead of something like almond milk. I’ve tried the other so-called “keto-friendly” brand before, but none of them seem worthy of my keto stamp of approval (as if that means anything to anyone).
The other brands of keto ice cream in grocery stores I’m talking about are Enlightened, So Delicious, and Enlightened. Each of the ones I’ve seen in any store is just a low carb ice cream made with a milk alternative. That means that they are all also low fat, high protein, and mostly devoid of flavor. Halo Top and Enlightened have announced actual keto ice cream made of cream, but they aren’t exactly widespread yet at the grocery stores.
So, I’m writing this post about Mammoth Creameries Keto Ice Cream as I’m about to take my first bite. The first note on this is that the ice cream is brick hard when it comes fresh out of the freezer, which explains the need for the wait.
This review is for the vanilla bean flavor. They also had a chocolate flavor in the store and list chocolate peanut butter and lemon buttercream on their site.
The Grand Reveal
I just opened the pint and noticed the top is crystallized a bit. It isn’t freezer burnt, but there is an ice layer instead of a creamy ice cream layer. I did dig in a bit just out of impatience, but more wait time is needed to thaw it a bit and hopefully get rid of these crystals.
My patience was really getting tested here so I gave it another five minutes. As you can see in the picture above, this was resembling Italian ices more than ice cream. Still, though, I was digging the flavor, so I dug in a little more. The crispy ice started to disappear about an inch and a half into the container where I was met with a creamy dessert reminiscent to actual ice cream.
Taste
My main complaint about those low-fat and milk alternative ice creams is that if they somehow manage to have some flavor, it seems to disappear pretty quickly. They are like a constant tease. This keto-friendly ice cream is not a tease.
The vanilla bean flavor reminds me a lot of homemade ice cream. I really like it. On a scale of 1-10, compared to other vanilla ice creams, I’d give this a 7. On a diet food, keto-specific food, I’d give it a 9.
This ice cream automatically makes me want to drop it onto a slice of steaming hot apple pie. But, I can’t since I have yet to find a good keto pie recipe!
Texture/Mouth Feel
I just wanted an excuse to say mouth feel.
Once you get by that crispy ice layer, you’re left with an ice cream that feels like ice cream. It definitely is not as creamy as gelato, but it reminds me more of Edy’s ice cream.
One interesting texture though is this almost syrupy bit you get in each bite. It feels like a lot of the flavor is in that as it kind of coats the roof of your mouth for a couple of seconds.
Speaking of coating your mouth, this is a VERY cream heavy ice cream. Your lips are going to feel like you just put some chapstick on after you take your first bite.
Ingredients
This is one of the things that sold me on this dessert and made me feel better about the high price tag. In general, ice cream isn’t supposed to have that many ingredients, yet look at almost any brand and you’ll see a running list. The vanilla bean flavor only has 7 ingredients:
- Cream
- Grass-fed butter
- Xylitol
- Egg Yolks
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Vanilla Bean Seeds
- Pink Himalayan Salt
I can pronounce all of those words! Which is something that is difficult on most store-bought ice cream brands.
In addition to having a simple set of ingredients, they also have quality ingredients! Grass-fed butter and cage-free eggs were 2 of the main ingredients in this. I do have to say that I feel better about indulging in a dessert like this when there are real ingredients that pack some nutritional value.
Keto Macros
Check out that beautiful label. This is the stuff I like to see in a keto product!
Each serving has only 1 net carb. 6 carbohydrates, minus 5 sugar alcohols, equals 1 net carb.
Then if you’re looking for that keto bomb caliber snack, there are 25 grams of fat. This is thanks to the cream, egg yolks, and grass-fed butter.
Protein is kind of low at just 2 grams, which I thought would be higher with the yolks, but I guess not.
Now if you’re going to be a glutton and lay in bed eating an entire pint of ice cream, it’s still only 4 net carbs in the entire container. But be warned, 100 grams of fat in one sitting is going to leave you with one serious tummy ache.
Love this ice cream and it’s clean ingredients.