My Black Coffee Ice Cream recipe is the real deal — no namby pamby coffee flavor here! This homemade coffee ice cream recipe will satisfy your wildest caffeine cravings.
I don’t know about you guys, but the flavor of coffee ice cream always disappoints me. It’s never bold enough. To me it always tastes like that cup of coffee I accidentally poured waaaay too much cream into. Yuck. So I set out to make myself some of the real deal. I call it Black Coffee. It’s about as black as you can get it without leaving out the cream altogether, in which case you wouldn’t have ice cream 🙂
This is a simple ice cream recipe, no eggs or custard to worry about. I don’t find the extra steps add all that much, especially if you eat your ice cream the same day it’s made. I use a base of half and half, which cuts down on the calories a little. Every bit helps!
How did I do it? How did I cram so much caffeinated flavor into this ice cream? There are two secrets…one is powdered (instant) espresso. I used a hefty 6 tablespoons of it. The second secret might be a little more controversial. I used 2 tablespoons of extra dark unsweetened cocoa powder. It add color, richness, and blends with the coffee to emphasize the flavor. Yes, technically I should have mentioned that in the title, but really I don’t think the ice cream ‘reads’ as chocolate, it just brings out the essence of the coffee.
Its very similar to the way many chocolate recipes include a bit of coffee or espresso to bring out the chocolate flavor, only this time, it’s all about the coffee!
Which ice cream machine do I recommend?
I get asked all the time about what machine I use. I use and recommend Cuisinart. I’ve had my machine for years without any issues, I think because there are no fussy electronic parts to break down ~ it’s a simple motor that turns the freezer bowl for churning the ice cream and it works quickly and perfectly every time.
- The machine I use, and it’s the base model. It works great for ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbets, and makes all of them in about 2o minutes. Click HERE or click on the image for more info.
Reader Rave ~
“This is sooooo delicious! Probably the best I’ve ever made. Such amazing flavors. Instead of half & half I used Heavy Cream. My husband and I couldn’t stop licking the bowl, spatula & churn even before it went into the freezer to finish. If I eat this late at night I may need some Irish whiskey with it to help me sleep!!” ~ Dina
Black Coffee Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups half and half
- 6 Tbsp espresso powder , or instant espresso
- 2 Tbsp dutch process cocoa powder, Hershey's Extra Dark Cocoa Powder
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Put one cup of the half and half in a saucepan over medium heat and stir in the espresso, cocoa powder, and sugar. Heat and stir just until everything gets dissolved.
- Remove from heat and let cool. Add remaining half and half and vanilla and refrigerate until cold.
- Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and process according to its instructions.
- Spoon the soft ice cream into a container and freeze.
- Homemade ice cream is best eaten the day it is made.
Nutrition
Need more caffeine? I’ve got you covered ~
- Irish Coffee Cheesecake Squares
- Turkish Coffee Shortbread
- Cardamom and Coffee Dirty Blondies
- Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
- The Hummer Cocktail
Thanks for pinning this Black Coffee Ice Cream!
WOW, I made this recipe now that I have instant espresso and my mind is blown!! It is coffee forward as advertised, and the chocolate emphasizes the coffee flavor perfectly, I will definitely make this again and again. Thanks, Sue!
I’m very excited about this coffee-heavy recipe! I don’t have instant, how would you recommend a substitute with regular coffee?
No, you can’t use liquid coffee in this recipe, the extra water will mess with the ice cream texture. I would wait until you can get the instant, sorry!
I’m sorry, I should have said regular coffee grounds not liquid.
I haven’t tried that Allyson, sorry. You’d have to grind them finely, for sure, and I’m not sure whether it would be too bitter. Instant coffee is actually dehydrated coffee, so it’s pretty different from coffee grounds.
Ah, I see. Thank you.
Your recipe sounds divine, so I will definitely add instant coffee to my next grocery list and try it soon!
I got impulsive last night (oh, the days when I would stop by the store for only one thing rather than every other week!) and tried a version of another recipe that suggested steeping fine grounds into heated milk for 30 minutes, which worked deliciously.
I just wanted to let you know I made this into Keto ice cream, swapping the sugar for swerve and half and half with heavy cream. It is amazing. I also added some roasted cashews and almonds (what I had on hand). Fabulous. Thank you for such an easy and delicious recipe.
Thanks for letting us know Cheri, sounds delish!
Thank you for posting this! I was wondering how it would work with sweetener! How much swerve did you use?