Breyers sugar-free ice creams are equally yummy plain, with sugar-free butterscotch or chocolate sauces or scooped into a Jeff's Diet Egg Cream. Photo by S. Nebula | CSP.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Since we first wrote this review, Breyers keeps reformulating their ice cream line; in the case of the No Sugar Added—an “extra creamy” version is the latest. Sometimes, the Vanilla, formerly a true delight, can taste so much of vanilla extract as to be unpleasant, and the other flavors can suffer as well. Other times, it’s back to good again. While we still take our chances and have had better luck recently, we’ve also been buying Turkey Hill No Sugar Added ice creams, which are available in Vanilla, Chocolate, Cherry Fudge Ripple and Peanut Brittle.
Call the Ivy League: We’ve found a smart low-calorie ice cream and it deserves a nomination to Phi Beta Sugar-Free.
We try every sugar-free ice cream in sight, and find that our favorites can be common names in the supermarket freezer case. Sometimes, the very best can be produced by the very biggest.
One winner: Breyers CarbSmart, a creamier (and slightly higher-calorie) version of its runner-up sibling, Breyers SugarSmart (also called No Sugar Added). Both ice creams are now sweetened with Splenda (sucralose), a quantum leap up in flavor from the No Sugar Added Nutrasweet (aspartame) formulation.
With a higher cream content, a 1/2 cup serving of vanilla CarbSmart weighs in at 4 grams Net Carbs, 130 calories and 9 grams of total fat. A portion of vanilla SugarSmart has 40 fewer calories and half the total fat.
If you can accommodate the calories and the fat, CarbSmart has a richer mouthfeel, and the fat adds so much more to the overall flavor. But for 90 calories a half-cup, you can have more SugarSmart—and be just as happy. The quality formulations make these sugar-free ice creams one of the smartest choices we’ve found to date.
Top off your ice cream with a
tablespoon of luscious sugar-free La Nouba preserves.
For another another 41 calories and 1.6 grams Net Carbs, a tablespoon of any La Nouba Sugar-Free Fruit Spread (preserves) adds a layer of luxury. The fruit is so ripe and concentrated (sweetened with maltitol) that just a dab of cherry, strawberry, or raspberry preserves on vanilla or chocolate ice cream is splendid, and erases any thoughts that you’re eating a “diet sundae.” Or, find more of our favorite sugar-free dessert toppings.
Beyond the bowl, don’t forget to the sheer enjoyment of a diet root beer float or—one of our all-time favorites—Jeff’s Diet Egg Cream, chocolate or vanilla, with a scoop of Breyers CarbSmart or SugarSmart. It doesn’t get better than this.
But if you think it does, click here to tell us about your most satisfying sugar-free favorites.
