This is a plant-based chocolate gelato made with chia seeds, Califia Farms coconut milk, and allulose. It is extremely low in calories compared to regular ice cream. I don't count the soluable fiber in chia seeds as calories, and I count allulose as negative calories. Given that, a pint of this ice cream has about 250 calories, about 85 calories a serving. Regular ice cream has 1000-1400 calories a pint. I use the organic version of Califia Farms coconut milk since it is minimally processed, but the ultra-processed version actually has less calories. I buy allulose at Kroger, it's a natural zero calorie sweetener that behaves almost exactly like sugar in desserts. Unfortunately, for this reason, any other sweetener besides allulose is unlikely to work. Due to a technicality, the FDA requires allulose to have carbs and calories listed on the nutrition information, even though it actually has negative calories because your body burns calories attempting to digest it. Most companies list the fiber in chia seeds as having carbs and calories. This is optional for the companies, and the net calories of chia seeds are actually much lower. Chia seeds are a super food, rich in vitamins and minerals, omega 3's and fiber. In fact, this is one way people on the plant-based diet can get omega 3's without eating fish oil. They make a good pudding, but they make an even better gelato. If you don't have a gelato machine, don't worry. Just put the liquid in a blender in a freezer, freeze it partially, then blend. This will create a soft-serve ice cream. It's not quite the same as gelato, but it's still great. Technically this is three servings, but as long as your digestive system can handle the allulose feel free to eat all of it. I'm not exactly sure how much cacao I used since I just dumped it in, so I put a quarter cup. Taste it so you can tell if it has the right amount. Tasting and adjusting is simple.
Procedure:
Mix together all the ingredients and place in a gelato machine. Taste the mixture, and adjust the amount of cacao and allulose if necessary. After the mixture is about the consistency of soft serve icing in the gelato machine, blend in a food processor, magic bullet, etc. Pour the mixture into a bowl and allow to freeze completely. Scoop into a bowl and serve.
If you don't have a gelato machine, let the chia seeds absorb the liquid some, then place in the freezer until partially frozen. Once the gelato is mostly frozen, blend in a blender, and eat fresh.
