Ninja Creami Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream
By Emily Carter ·
Published
Quick answer
Blend 1 1/4 cups milk with chocolate protein powder, cocoa, cream cheese, sweetener, vanilla and salt until glossy and smooth, freeze the pint for a full 24 hours, then spin on Ice Cream and re-spin once with a tablespoon of milk if it looks crumbly. The pint carries roughly 38 g of protein from label values, about 9 to 10 g per serving across 4 servings.
Ninja Creami Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream is the pint I make when I want chocolate to taste like chocolate, not like a diet version of it. It is just milk, chocolate protein powder, cocoa, cream cheese, sweetener, vanilla and salt, blended glossy, frozen solid and spun into deep, dark, spoonable scoops. No pudding mix, no ice cream maker churning for an hour, and no sad, icy protein pint.
Why you’ll love it
- Tastes like real fudge style chocolate ice cream, not like a protein shake that got frozen.
- About 9 to 10 g of protein per serving from label values, about 38 g per pint.
- Five minutes of hands-on work, then the freezer and the machine do the rest.
- Spins thick and spoonable, with one re-spin fixing the crumbly first spin.
- The bloomed cocoa trick gives double the chocolate flavor for no extra cost.
Ingredient notes
Cocoa powder: the flavor and the reason to bloom it. Whisking cocoa with 2 tablespoons of hot milk into a paste before blending roughly doubles the chocolate taste and removes dusty pockets. Dutch process cocoa gives a darker, smoother pint, while natural cocoa tastes a little brighter.
Milk: whole milk gives the creamiest pint, and 2% is a close second. The milk adds about 10 g of protein per 1 1/4 cups from standard labels and keeps the base from freezing rock hard. Skim milk is the one version I would skip, since it made the test pint icy.
Protein powder: chocolate is the best match here, since it builds the flavor instead of fighting it. One scoop adds about 20 g of protein on most brand labels, but check yours, since scoops vary.
Cream cheese: just one tablespoon, and it earns its place. It rounds the sharp cocoa edge and thickens the texture, so the pint spins creamy instead of icy.
Sweetener and salt: two tablespoons of sweetener is enough once the pint is frozen, and the small pinch of salt is what makes the chocolate taste deep instead of flat and sweet.
The freeze and spin rule that makes or breaks it
Two rules decide this pint, and both are about patience. First, freeze for a full 24 hours on a level surface, with the top smoothed flat. A pint frozen for only a few hours, or frozen at a slant, spins soft and uneven. Second, do not judge the first spin. Chocolate bases often look crumbly after the first cycle, and that crumbly look sends a lot of people to the conclusion that the recipe failed. It did not. One tablespoon of milk and one re-spin turns it thick, creamy and scoopable. A second re-spin takes it softer still, toward soft serve, so stop after the first re-spin if you want proper scoops.
Variations
- Fudge ripple: after the re-spin, drizzle 1 tablespoon of chocolate sauce over the top and fold twice with a spoon for a visible fudge ripple in every bowl.
- Peanut butter cup style: after the re-spin, make a small well in the center with a spoon, add a handful of chopped peanut butter cups and run the Mix-in cycle for a treat night pint.
- Mint chocolate: add 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract to the base before blending for a cool mint chocolate pint. Go easy, since peppermint gets stronger, not weaker, when frozen.
- Chocolate cherry: after the re-spin, fold in a handful of chopped dark chocolate and a few halved fresh cherries with a spoon for a black forest style bowl.
What we learned testing it
- Blooming the cocoa was the biggest single win. The bloomed pint tasted deep and dark, while the unbloomed pint tasted thin and a little dusty by comparison.
- Cream cheese earned its place. Without it the pint spun a little icy and sharp, but one tablespoon rounded the chocolate flavor and thickened the texture.
- Whole milk beat 2% for creaminess in the side by side test, but 2% still worked well. Skim milk made the pint noticeably icier, so I do not recommend it here.
Read how we test recipes.
Ninja Creami Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream
Makes 1 pint (about 4 servings) · 24 hr 10 min total · Easy
Ingredients
Equipment
Blender · Ninja Creami machine · Ninja Creami pint container with lid
Instructions
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Blend the base until glossy and smooth
Add the milk, chocolate protein powder, cocoa powder, cream cheese, sweetener, vanilla and salt to a blender. Blend for a full 45 seconds until glossy and smooth. Cocoa needs the full blend or it leaves dusty pockets in the finished pint, so do not cut this short.
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Pour into the pint and freeze for 24 hours
Pour the base into your Ninja Creami pint container, staying below the max fill line. Smooth the top with a spoon so it freezes level, which helps the machine spin evenly. Snap on the lid and freeze the pint on a level surface for a full 24 hours. A shorter freeze gives a soft, slushy spin.
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Spin on Ice Cream, then re-spin if crumbly
Take the pint straight from the freezer, remove the lid and load it into the machine. Select the Ice Cream setting and let it run the full cycle. If the pint looks powdery or crumbly after the first spin, add 1 tablespoon of milk and press Re-spin. That one re-spin is what turns this base from crumbly to creamy.
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Add a fudge ripple and serve right away
Scoop into bowls while the texture is at its best, in the first few minutes after spinning. For a fudge ripple, drizzle 1 tablespoon of chocolate sauce over the top and fold twice with a spoon, then serve immediately for the softest texture.
Notes
- Bloom the cocoa for double the chocolate flavor: whisk it with 2 tablespoons of hot milk into a paste before blending. This one step roughly doubles the chocolate taste in the finished pint.
- Blend the full 45 seconds. Cocoa that is not fully blended leaves dusty, bitter pockets that no amount of re-spinning fixes.
- Taste the base before freezing. A frozen pint always tastes a little less sweet than the liquid base, so the base should taste just slightly sweeter than you want the finished ice cream.
- If your freezer runs very cold and the pint is too firm to load, let it rest on the counter for 2 to 3 minutes before spinning, no longer.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition information is being calculated.
Substitutions
- Chocolate protein powder
- Use vanilla protein powder and raise the cocoa to 3 tablespoons. The pint will be a little less rich, but still properly chocolatey, and the blooming step matters even more.
- Granulated sweetener or sugar
- Use 2 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey instead. The base will be a touch softer after spinning, which suits this fudge style pint.
- Cream cheese
- Use 2 tablespoons of Greek yogurt instead. The pint will be a little tangier and slightly less rich, but it still spins thick.
Storage and make-ahead
The texture is at its best in the first few minutes after spinning. If you have leftovers, smooth the surface flat, put the lid back on and refreeze. Re-spin leftovers straight from the freezer on Ice Cream, adding a tablespoon of milk if they look crumbly. Eat refrozen leftovers within 3 days for the best texture.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make this ninja creami chocolate fudge ice cream without protein powder?
You can, but the pint changes. Without the powder you lose about 20 g of protein per pint and the base spins a little thinner. If you want a no-powder pint with more protein, the related cottage cheese ice cream post is the better starting point.
Why is my chocolate pint crumbly after the first spin?
That is normal, not a failure. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and press Re-spin once. One re-spin fixes almost every pint, and a second makes it softer, almost like soft serve.
What does blooming the cocoa actually do?
Whisking cocoa with a little hot milk into a paste before blending releases far more chocolate flavor. In the side by side test it roughly doubled the chocolate taste, and it also removes the dusty pockets that dry cocoa leaves behind.
How much protein is in this ice cream?
These are label-based estimates, not lab tested numbers, and they vary by brand. The pint carries roughly 38 g of protein in total, about 9 to 10 g per serving across 4 servings. Check your milk and powder labels for your exact numbers.
Can I refreeze and re-spin the leftovers?
Yes. Smooth the surface flat, lid the pint and refreeze it. Spin leftovers straight from the freezer on Ice Cream, with a tablespoon of milk if they look crumbly. The texture is best within 3 days.
