Latest news with #Creami
Time Business News
24-05-2025
- General
- Time Business News
Best Ingredients for Mint Chocolate Chip Ninja Creami
Got milk from your Creami, but can't seem to get the right amount of minty goodness? A lot of people prefer an even texture and a balanced mint flavor, yet they often discover their peppermint just isn't right. To make the best frozen dessert at home, you must not only mix the components but also choose them so they suit Ninja Creami's heating and churning method. Let's find out the best way to make a Mint Chocolate Chip Ninja Creami recipe. While it's simple to drizzle mint extract over your brownie mix and stir in chocolate chips, using the wrong batches and quantities can spoil the final result. All the ingredients are chosen to help maintain balance in flavor, fat, and smooth texture. The base of any great frozen dessert commonly uses dairy products. Whole milk gives flavor, but heavy cream helps the mixture become thick and creamy. The cream fat provides a much smoother texture that doesn't turn to ice after it's frozen. Ninja Creami tends to fail with lower-fat milk varieties due to the grainy or hard texture these types create. You will achieve the silkiest cake by adding a good amount of fat to the mixture before beating. Most Mint Chocolate Chip Ninja Creami recipes that taste best call for adding one cup of heavy cream and one cup of whole milk for a solid body and good consistency. The strength and flavor left in your mouth from mint can differ a lot. Peppermint extract adds a nice, unbitter freshness to this recipe that spearmint or artificial extracts do not offer. You only need a small bit of tea (usually between ½ to 1 teaspoon) to flavor the whole mixture. Adding too much extract can cause your dessert to taste like toothpaste. If you're using tobacco for the first time, it's recommended to take small amounts and see what your taste buds like. If mixed in the right proportions, peppermint extract gives every Mint Chocolate Chip Ninja Creami its greatness. When you add just a spoonful of cream cheese, it keeps the cream from turning crumbly and stops ice crystals from appearing. A little bit of flour makes a big difference to the texture of your dish, especially when other thickeners are missing. If you like, you can amp up your protein by including powdered milk, which is a good source of protein for the body without additional liquid. These ingredients lock moisture in the base, so you can trust your Ninja Creami to give reliable results. If the balance is right, you won't end up with a collapsed Mint Chocolate Chip Ninja Creami when serving in bowls or cones. Most people use granulated sugar, though it should be completely dissolved before you freeze it. The texture becomes spoiled when sugar is not fully dissolved and is churned. Gently heating the base and stirring it helps all the sugar melt away. Certain home chefs prefer agave syrup or corn syrup since they dissolve smoothly and help stop crystallization. Though this recipe can use more sugar, ¾ cups is just right for keeping things light and minty. It is important to have a sweetness that goes well with the mint and chocolate from the same Ninja Creami. Chocolate chunks can be tempting, but once they've frozen, they might be hard to chew. Shaved or minuscule chocolate is a nicer addition to the batter. The crunch bits stay evenly spread and soften a little while you re-spin, making the food enjoyable but not too hard. Many people choose dark chocolate over milk chocolate because mint complements its rich flavor. Add the chips only once you've finished your first spin and use the 'Mix-In' function on your Ninja Creami for the best ice cream. Your Ninja Creami will taste different depending on the chocolate and its size. Most people will recognize a mint sugar because it has a pale green hue. While flavor doesn't depend on food coloring, it can make the food prettier and tastier. People wanting to avoid artificial colorants can choose spirulina or matcha to color their foods. Pick just a few drops—overdoing the food coloring can change the dessert's appearance awkwardly. How your dishes are presented becomes important both when inviting guests over and when food blogging. The way you serve your cooking matters a little for your enjoyment. You can't rely on guessing to perfect a great mint chocolate chip recipe. All the ingredients are crucial—the dairy, mix-ins, and stabilizers too. A proper ratio of ingredients will result in a homemade dessert that matches the quality and taste of any store brand. To get good results, starting with good choices and some trial and error is important. You've learned how to make your next Mint Chocolate Chip Ninja Creami turn out perfectly. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
NBC News
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Macy's Memorial Day Sale: Get up to 60% off Le Creuset, Ninja, Cuisinart and more
Another day, another Memorial Day sale. This time, we are looking at what Macy's has to offer over the long weekend. The TLDR: The department store is offering up to 60% items across all categories — including clothing, kids items, furniture and more. The sale runs through May 26 — during which the retailer will also be dropping daily beauty deals that last for 24-hours only. Worth noting: The last day of beauty deals is May 25. I scoured everything that's currently discounted and found the best deals to be in the home and kitchen departments — including items from Ninja, Le Crueset and Cusinart. Check out some of the top sales below. Want more from NBC Select? Sign up for our newsletter, The Selection, and shop smarter. Currently on sale during Macy's Memorial Day Sale Dyson makes some of NBC Select editors' favorite vacuums. This cordless stick vacuum has a powerful mode for everyday use and a MAX mode that can run for up to seven minutes to clean up bigger messes, according to the brand. It gives you 40-minutes of continuous runtime on a fully charged battery and has the ability to convert into a handheld vacuum. Have a few trips planned for summer? This carry-on bag can make packing easier. The bag weighs just over six pounds, has spinner wheels that go in all directions and it has a lightweight but durable polycarbonate shell. Inside you'll find that one side is fully enclosed by a zipper and the other side has compression straps to keep your stuff in place. I have a few high-quality knives that I've invested in — and then I have this affordable set in my drawer, too. I like that I don't have to be as precious with them because, at under $15, once they're dull or no longer in great shape, I can just toss them. The set comes in fun colors and prints and includes a chef's knife, slicing knife, serrated knife and paring knife — all of which come with blade guards. With this set, you get three rectangular baking dishes — a 1.1-, 2.5- and 4-quart dish. The dishes all have a scratch-resistant glaze in a bright color (choose from five shades) and are safe up to 500 degrees. Another bonus: You can put them in the dishwasher, according to the brand. One of our favorite ice cream makers, the Ninja Creami comes with two pint containers. Freeze your ice cream ingredients in them, then screw on the processing lid, stick it into the machine and the Creami will turn it into ice cream, gelato, sorbet or a smoothie bowl base (depending on the setting you choose). There is also a mix-in function that allows you to add things like crushed up cookies or fruit to integrate into your frozen treat. Created exclusively for Macy's, this sheet set has a 550 thread count and is made from 100% cotton. The fitted sheet will accommodate mattresses up to 17-inches deep and the set is available in sizes twin through queen. These sheets come in 15 different colors and have a 4.3-star average rating from nearly 10,000 reviews at Macy's. This rug is 7.6-feet by 9.6-feet in size and is currently 79% off. It's got a low pile, which makes it easier to vacuum and spot clean and has a multi-colored geometric pattern that will compliment an array of design aesthetics. Why trust NBC Select? I'm a writer at NBC Select who covers a variety of topics, including home, tech and beauty. I have been covering major shopping events like Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday for over a decade.
CNET
20-05-2025
- Business
- CNET
Ninja's New Ice Cream Machine Makes Swirling Soft Serve, and We Tried It
CNET's expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise. 9.5 / 10 SCORE Ninja Swirl by Creami Review $348 at Amazon $350 at Target Pros Easy to use Six soft-serve settings Clean design Great for prepping desserts, healthy alternatives and protein shakes Removable parts are dishwasher safe Cons Loud operation Larger footprint that may not be good for small spaces Pricier than other ice cream machines we've tested Ninja Swirl by Creami Review 9.5/10 CNET Score $348 at Amazon Homemade ice cream has come a long way from the hand-cranked machines and rock salt of the past. These days, countertop gadgets like the newly released Ninja Swirl by Creami are shaking things up—literally—and making it easier than ever to whip up smooth, dreamy frozen treats right at home. But I've found an even better use for it: the office. Because let's be honest, nothing melts workplace stress quite like a surprise ice cream party. The CNET team got the full scoop (pun very much intended), and morale has never been higher—or creamier. Many of the Ninja Swirl's recipes require only a handful of ingredients that you probably already have in your home. Corin Cesaric/CNET After breaking open the box and setting up the machine, CNET's Social Media Manager Tara Brown prepped up Ninja's vanilla soft serve at our NYC office in one of the Ninja Swirl pints included with the machine, then let it freeze overnight. The following day, Lai Frances, one of CNET's social media producers, and I put the machine to the test. Watch this: Ninja's Creami Swirl Gave Us the Ice Cream Party We Didn't Know We Needed 01:32 After reading the instructions, getting our soft serve spun was quick and easy -- albeit loud. But despite the fact that the machine makes a sound reminiscent of NYC construction (OK, maybe not that loud, but still pretty loud) the delicious soft serve it created helped our colleagues forgive us for the ruckus we made during the process. How the Swirl differs from the original Ninja Creami The main difference between the new Swirl and the original Ninja Creami, released in 2021, is that the Swirl has six additional soft-serve settings and a dispensing nozzle, so you can either eat your dessert directly out of the pint like the original or attach it to the soft serve side and use the lever to create a perfectly smooth swirl in a cone or cup. I loved the smooth texture of the frozen yogurt. Corin Cesaric/CNET For events and large groups, that nozzle plus the additional setting options come in handy by offering more variety and making it feel like you have an ice cream or frozen yogurt vendor right in your home or office. But, is that worth an extra $170 in comparison to the price tag on the Ninja Creami? We set out to find out. How the Ninja Swirl by Creami works The Swirl offers six soft serve programs: Soft serve ice cream, soft serve lite ice cream, fruit whip, frozen yogurt, frozen custard and CreamiFit (ideal for protein mixtures). Plus, it comes with a booklet of more than 30 recipes to help you get started using the machine and it offers substitutions in case you want to make the recipes vegan or low-sugar. When we created Ninja's vanilla soft serve, I thought it was delicious and tasted a bit like pudding. The following week, I was ready to give the Swirl another whirl, so I made a few more concoctions to see how different types of frozen treats would turn out. This time, a handful of the NYC staff indulged in one-ingredient frozen yogurt and dairy-free vanilla coconut ice cream, both of which were easy to prepare. The new Ninja Swirl has six additional soft serve settings Corin Cesaric/CNET You may notice that although the prep time needed for Ninja Swirl base recipes is a quick five minutes or less, the full time needed is about 24 hours. This is because the ingredients you prepare in the pints need to be frozen overnight before you can make your dessert. But pints don't take up too much room in the freezer, as do the necessary pieces of ice cream machines, namely freezer bowls. If you're planning to use the Ninja Swirl during the next event you host, you may want to snag some additional pints to prep up enough soft serve to go around. Setting up the machine was simple and quick after getting the hang of it the first time around and it took less than a minute to get everything ready. After placing the frozen pint into the outer bowl that has a handle, I added the lid with the Creamerizer paddle and locked it into place. Then I slid the bowl under the right side of the machine and twisted until I heard the tell-tale click that let me know I was on the right track. The pint fits perfectly inside the outer bowl. Corin Cesaric/CNET Next, I chose my selections based on the recipe I was using and waited for it to complete. The frozen yogurt and vanilla ice cream both took five minutes to spin while the vegan ice cream took four minutes. It was loud but it only lasted for the quick spin time. After it was finished spinning, I removed the pint from the outer bowl and placed the dispense lid on top of it, then clicked it into place on the soft serve side of the machine before using the lever to serve it. It takes a couple of seconds to dispense once you pull down the lever. In comparison, the coconut ice cream was the creamiest and it was only slightly sweet while the vanilla soft serve was by far the sweetest and the fro-yo was more tart as we used Greek yogurt to create a higher protein snack. The vegan ice cream had a great consistency after it spun in the machine. Corin Cesaric/CNET How we rated the ice cream we made We, of course, paid close attention to the taste and texture when rating the ice cream the Swirl made and compared it to store-bought ice creams we've had. Although taste often comes down to personal preference, in the office this week it was clear that the coconut ice cream beat out the frozen yogurt thanks to its distinct flavor, smooth texture and fresh taste. Nasha Addarich Martínez, managing editor at CNET and taster of numerous vegan ice creams, was impressed. "It's very comparable to high-end vegan ice creams, but this one tasted a lot fresher," she says. "I also liked that it wasn't overly sweet like some you find at the supermarket. This one just tasted like coconut deliciousness." Nasha Addarich Martínez dispensing the coconut vanilla soft serve during our taste test. Corin Cesaric/CNET When the soft serve runs out of the pint, the Swirl automatically retracts the pint for easy removal from the machine, then you can rinse off the pint and lid and pop it in the dishwasher until you're ready to create another batch. "I think it's so cool that you can create a tasty coconut ice cream whenever you want," said Meara Isenberg, a CNET writer, adding that she's excited to see what we will whip up with it next. Is the Ninja Swirl by Creami worth it? It ultimately depends on how often you will use it. Although $350 is nothing to scoff at, if you plan to use this machine weekly, then yes, it's worth the price tag. A pint of quality ice cream costs upwards of $9 while the ingredients to make one at home costs more like $2 or $3. If you just want to create frozen snacks occasionally and don't care as much about the texture or how they look at the end of the process, the less expensive Ninja Creami, which you can now find for as low as $180, will likely do the trick. The biggest advantage of the Ninja Swirl is that it offers nearly double the amount of settings than the Ninja Creami, making it possible to create six different and delicious types of soft serve. So no matter what dietary restrictions or preferences you may have, you can whip up something just as delicious -- if not more -- and far less expensive than what you'd find at any ice cream shop or grocery store.
CNN
09-05-2025
- CNN
I tested the viral Ninja Swirl by Creami. Here's what I thought about the soft-serve ice cream maker
When I was a kid, one of the best parts of going to summer camp was ordering a big cup of vanilla soft serve from the ice cream truck at the end of the day. Even with my camp days far behind me, I still enjoy grabbing a few scoops of store-bought ice cream or going to nearby ice cream shops for soft serve. But thanks to the new Ninja Swirl by Creami, I can enjoy vanilla soft serve from home year-round. The latest addition to the Creami lineup, this viral countertop appliance lets you make ice cream and a handful of other frozen treats from the comfort of your home. Its biggest appeal (and what makes it stand out from other Ninja Creami models) is its soft serve feature, which truly brings the ice cream shop right into your kitchen. Even though I already have the original Ninja Creami, I've never actually used mine for ice cream, only fruit sorbets. Shocking, I know. But when I heard about the Ninja Creami Swirl, my mind immediately went to vanilla soft serve, and I just knew I had to get my hands on one. To see if Ninja's newest ice cream maker lives up to all the social media hype (and if it's worth its $350 price tag), I made several desserts with it over the course of a couple of weeks. Ninja Swirl by Creami Soft Serve & Ice Cream Machine Ninja's latest ice cream machine lets you create delicious frozen treats at home. And thanks to the new soft-serve feature, you can get even more creative with the types of desserts you make. You can customize your recipes What I love most about the Ninja Swirl is that you can get as creative as you want with your recipes. From Chocolate Hazelnut Frozen Yogurt to Cookies and Cream Frozen Custard, the options are pretty much limitless. I have no dietary restrictions, but if you prefer dairy-free recipes, you can easily swap ingredients (like whole milk for unsweetened oat milk, for example). The Ninja Swirl has several one-touch programs: Ice Cream, Creamifit (high-protein and low-sugar mixtures), Lite Ice Cream (mixtures with low sugar or sugar alternatives), Frozen Yogurt, Milkshake, Fruit Whip, Sorbet, Frozen Custard and Gelato, so you'll never get bored experimenting. It's worth noting that not every recipe, like sorbet, can be dispensed as soft serve, so it's important to keep that in mind when you're preparing your bases. I made several desserts during testing, including a one-ingredient sorbet and a peach fruit whip. The textures were pretty spot-on, and they were both so refreshing. Though I didn't need to use this feature for every dessert I made, the Ninja Swirl has a respin option if your mixture comes out crumbly. I found that to be the case with the sorbet I made, but respinning it again fixed this. I also noticed with both the sorbet and fruit whip mixtures, the parts against the walls remained icy after the first spin and I could still see tiny pieces of peach. I fixed this in both recipes by scraping down the sides of the containers and respinning them. The Swirl also has a mix-in option for adding ingredients like nuts and cookies to scoopable desserts. I used it to make a cookie crumble milkshake, and it came out perfect. The cookie pieces broke down well during the mixing process, and the chocolate chips remained intact just like I expected. But when I made strawberry frozen yogurt using the Ninja Creami Swirl, it didn't come out as sweet as I hoped it would. In the future, I'll experiment with adding a sweetener to the base before freezing it. I also followed Ninja's Easy Vanilla Soft Serve recipe, which has just five ingredients: granulated sugar, vanilla instant pudding mix, whole milk, heavy cream and vanilla extract. Though I wasn't sure how it would turn out, I was super pleased with how delicious the ice cream tasted. In its soft serve form, I was impressed by how similar it looked to something you'd get at an ice cream shop. It definitely holds up to the ice cream you can buy in stores or at places like Dairy Queen, and the ability to fully personalize your recipes makes it all the better. Using it is pretty straightforward Like the Ninja Creamis before it, there's some prep work required before you can get to the fun part. Because it uses a blade to shave frozen ingredients into creamy desserts, your mixtures need to be made ahead of time and left in the freezer for 24 hours (you may be able to get away with less) before they can be processed. This is a little inconvenient because you can't make and eat your dessert the same day, but the delicious results make it worth the wait (promise!). There are also some exceptions to this, since milkshake recipes don't require any freezer time. The Ninja Swirl comes with an easy-to-follow recipe booklet to help you get started and two containers to freeze your mixtures in. I also appreciated that plenty of single-ingredient recipes were included in the booklet to further simplify this part of the prep. To get your frozen base ready for processing, you have to install the container in the outer bowl, click the lid in place and attach the bowl to the unit. After that, the Ninja Swirl will light up with two options and two options only: Soft Serve and Scoop. From there, you're able to select from the nine other output programs I mentioned earlier. If you chose a Scoopable spin cycle, once it's done, you're pretty much free to enjoy your dessert. If you went with a Soft Serve cycle, you'll have to take it a step further by removing the pint from the outer bowl and attaching it to the dispense area. The handle at the side of the machine is how you dispense your base and control the speed. I found that it takes a bit of time for it to start dispensing, so don't be surprised if nothing comes out right away. It doesn't take up a lot of counter space This appliance isn't small by any means, but it also won't eat up all your counter space. Compared to my first-generation model, the Ninja Swirl is considerably wider and taller (see below for a side-by-side). I was also pleasantly surprised to find that it fits perfectly under my built-in cabinets so I can push it against the wall. While I kept the ice cream maker on my counter during testing, I'll likely find a different spot for it now, since I know I won't be using it as much as some of my other appliances. It only comes with two containers One of the biggest drawbacks for me is that the Ninja Swirl only comes with two pints. If you want to freeze more than two mixtures at a time, you'll have to shell out additional money. You can purchase a four-pack for $65 or a two-pack for $35, but given its $350 price tag, I expected it to come with at least a few more. Since I didn't buy extra pints, I had to resort to using empty plastic containers for my leftovers so I could continue making more recipes. This isn't convenient at all, and I can see this being a pain point for families with kids who like to eat totally different things. The pints from the different Creami models aren't interchangeable either, so even though I have the ones that came with my older Ninja Creami, I can't use them in the Swirl. It's pretty loud and heavy When I reviewed Ninja's frozen drink maker last year, I mentioned finding it heavy. At nearly 21 pounds, the Ninja Creami Swirl is on the heavier side too, though it's lighter than the Ninja Slushi, which weighs 24 pounds. My older Ninja Creami weighs only 13 pounds, so I keep it on a shelf in my kitchen when I'm not using it to avoid having too many appliances out at once. But the Ninja Swirl is heavy enough that it probably needs a dedicated spot on your counter, so you're not forced to pull it from a shelf every time you want to use it. There's really no getting around this, but it's something to keep in mind (especially if you have limited mobility), since you'll have to get the box from your door to the kitchen, unbox it and then lift it to your counter. Weight aside, I also couldn't help but notice how noisy this appliance is. In fact, the first couple of times I used it, I was concerned that I had done something wrong because of how loud it was. I quickly realized this wasn't the case, though, and the Ninja Swirl is just noisy. If you're a midnight snacker living in a small, shared apartment, don't say I didn't warn you. The whole appeal of the Ninja Swirl is being able to have soft-serve ice cream on demand, and I won't lie, being able to make it from home so easily is pretty awesome. If you love the idea of having soft serve in a cone or a bowl, the Ninja Swirl is for you. If you're willing to ditch the soft-serve function, the Ninja Creami XL Deluxe might be a better option that can save you some coins too. How does the Ninja Swirl compare to the other Ninja Creami models? How does the Ninja Swirl compare to the other Ninja Creami models? The biggest feature that sets the Ninja Creami Swirl apart from the other two Ninja Creami models is its soft serve function. All of the Ninja Creami appliances can make ice cream, lite ice cream, gelato, sorbet and milkshakes, but only the original Ninja Creami can make smoothie bowls. The Ninja Creami XL Deluxe and the Ninja Swirl, on the other hand, both have a frozen yogurt program, while the Ninja Swirl has settings for Creamifits, fruit whips and frozen custards too. The Deluxe model is also able to make Italian ice, frozen drinks, slushies and creamiccinos (coffee-based frozen drinks). And then there's Ninja's dedicated frozen drink maker, the Ninja Slushi, which has five different presets: slush, spiked slush, frappé, milkshake and frozen juice. CNN Underscored has a team of skilled writers and editors who have many years of experience testing, researching and recommending products, and they ensure each article is carefully edited and products are properly vetted. We talk to top experts when applicable to make certain we are testing each product accurately, recommending only the best products and considering the pros and cons of each item. For this story, associate editor Rachel Dennis tested the Ninja Swirl by Creami over the course of two weeks to see if it's worth buying.
CNN
09-05-2025
- CNN
I tested the viral Ninja Swirl by Creami. Here's what I thought about the soft-serve ice cream maker
When I was a kid, one of the best parts of going to summer camp was ordering a big cup of vanilla soft serve from the ice cream truck at the end of the day. Even with my camp days far behind me, I still enjoy grabbing a few scoops of store-bought ice cream or going to nearby ice cream shops for soft serve. But thanks to the new Ninja Swirl by Creami, I can enjoy vanilla soft serve from home year-round. The latest addition to the Creami lineup, this viral countertop appliance lets you make ice cream and a handful of other frozen treats from the comfort of your home. Its biggest appeal (and what makes it stand out from other Ninja Creami models) is its soft serve feature, which truly brings the ice cream shop right into your kitchen. Even though I already have the original Ninja Creami, I've never actually used mine for ice cream, only fruit sorbets. Shocking, I know. But when I heard about the Ninja Creami Swirl, my mind immediately went to vanilla soft serve, and I just knew I had to get my hands on one. To see if Ninja's newest ice cream maker lives up to all the social media hype (and if it's worth its $350 price tag), I made several desserts with it over the course of a couple of weeks. Ninja Swirl by Creami Soft Serve & Ice Cream Machine Ninja's latest ice cream machine lets you create delicious frozen treats at home. And thanks to the new soft-serve feature, you can get even more creative with the types of desserts you make. You can customize your recipes What I love most about the Ninja Swirl is that you can get as creative as you want with your recipes. From Chocolate Hazelnut Frozen Yogurt to Cookies and Cream Frozen Custard, the options are pretty much limitless. I have no dietary restrictions, but if you prefer dairy-free recipes, you can easily swap ingredients (like whole milk for unsweetened oat milk, for example). The Ninja Swirl has several one-touch programs: Ice Cream, Creamifit (high-protein and low-sugar mixtures), Lite Ice Cream (mixtures with low sugar or sugar alternatives), Frozen Yogurt, Milkshake, Fruit Whip, Sorbet, Frozen Custard and Gelato, so you'll never get bored experimenting. It's worth noting that not every recipe, like sorbet, can be dispensed as soft serve, so it's important to keep that in mind when you're preparing your bases. I made several desserts during testing, including a one-ingredient sorbet and a peach fruit whip. The textures were pretty spot-on, and they were both so refreshing. Though I didn't need to use this feature for every dessert I made, the Ninja Swirl has a respin option if your mixture comes out crumbly. I found that to be the case with the sorbet I made, but respinning it again fixed this. I also noticed with both the sorbet and fruit whip mixtures, the parts against the walls remained icy after the first spin and I could still see tiny pieces of peach. I fixed this in both recipes by scraping down the sides of the containers and respinning them. The Swirl also has a mix-in option for adding ingredients like nuts and cookies to scoopable desserts. I used it to make a cookie crumble milkshake, and it came out perfect. The cookie pieces broke down well during the mixing process, and the chocolate chips remained intact just like I expected. But when I made strawberry frozen yogurt using the Ninja Creami Swirl, it didn't come out as sweet as I hoped it would. In the future, I'll experiment with adding a sweetener to the base before freezing it. I also followed Ninja's Easy Vanilla Soft Serve recipe, which has just five ingredients: granulated sugar, vanilla instant pudding mix, whole milk, heavy cream and vanilla extract. Though I wasn't sure how it would turn out, I was super pleased with how delicious the ice cream tasted. In its soft serve form, I was impressed by how similar it looked to something you'd get at an ice cream shop. It definitely holds up to the ice cream you can buy in stores or at places like Dairy Queen, and the ability to fully personalize your recipes makes it all the better. Using it is pretty straightforward Like the Ninja Creamis before it, there's some prep work required before you can get to the fun part. Because it uses a blade to shave frozen ingredients into creamy desserts, your mixtures need to be made ahead of time and left in the freezer for 24 hours (you may be able to get away with less) before they can be processed. This is a little inconvenient because you can't make and eat your dessert the same day, but the delicious results make it worth the wait (promise!). There are also some exceptions to this, since milkshake recipes don't require any freezer time. The Ninja Swirl comes with an easy-to-follow recipe booklet to help you get started and two containers to freeze your mixtures in. I also appreciated that plenty of single-ingredient recipes were included in the booklet to further simplify this part of the prep. To get your frozen base ready for processing, you have to install the container in the outer bowl, click the lid in place and attach the bowl to the unit. After that, the Ninja Swirl will light up with two options and two options only: Soft Serve and Scoop. From there, you're able to select from the nine other output programs I mentioned earlier. If you chose a Scoopable spin cycle, once it's done, you're pretty much free to enjoy your dessert. If you went with a Soft Serve cycle, you'll have to take it a step further by removing the pint from the outer bowl and attaching it to the dispense area. The handle at the side of the machine is how you dispense your base and control the speed. I found that it takes a bit of time for it to start dispensing, so don't be surprised if nothing comes out right away. It doesn't take up a lot of counter space This appliance isn't small by any means, but it also won't eat up all your counter space. Compared to my first-generation model, the Ninja Swirl is considerably wider and taller (see below for a side-by-side). I was also pleasantly surprised to find that it fits perfectly under my built-in cabinets so I can push it against the wall. While I kept the ice cream maker on my counter during testing, I'll likely find a different spot for it now, since I know I won't be using it as much as some of my other appliances. It only comes with two containers One of the biggest drawbacks for me is that the Ninja Swirl only comes with two pints. If you want to freeze more than two mixtures at a time, you'll have to shell out additional money. You can purchase a four-pack for $65 or a two-pack for $35, but given its $350 price tag, I expected it to come with at least a few more. Since I didn't buy extra pints, I had to resort to using empty plastic containers for my leftovers so I could continue making more recipes. This isn't convenient at all, and I can see this being a pain point for families with kids who like to eat totally different things. The pints from the different Creami models aren't interchangeable either, so even though I have the ones that came with my older Ninja Creami, I can't use them in the Swirl. It's pretty loud and heavy When I reviewed Ninja's frozen drink maker last year, I mentioned finding it heavy. At nearly 21 pounds, the Ninja Creami Swirl is on the heavier side too, though it's lighter than the Ninja Slushi, which weighs 24 pounds. My older Ninja Creami weighs only 13 pounds, so I keep it on a shelf in my kitchen when I'm not using it to avoid having too many appliances out at once. But the Ninja Swirl is heavy enough that it probably needs a dedicated spot on your counter, so you're not forced to pull it from a shelf every time you want to use it. There's really no getting around this, but it's something to keep in mind (especially if you have limited mobility), since you'll have to get the box from your door to the kitchen, unbox it and then lift it to your counter. Weight aside, I also couldn't help but notice how noisy this appliance is. In fact, the first couple of times I used it, I was concerned that I had done something wrong because of how loud it was. I quickly realized this wasn't the case, though, and the Ninja Swirl is just noisy. If you're a midnight snacker living in a small, shared apartment, don't say I didn't warn you. The whole appeal of the Ninja Swirl is being able to have soft-serve ice cream on demand, and I won't lie, being able to make it from home so easily is pretty awesome. If you love the idea of having soft serve in a cone or a bowl, the Ninja Swirl is for you. If you're willing to ditch the soft-serve function, the Ninja Creami XL Deluxe might be a better option that can save you some coins too. How does the Ninja Swirl compare to the other Ninja Creami models? How does the Ninja Swirl compare to the other Ninja Creami models? The biggest feature that sets the Ninja Creami Swirl apart from the other two Ninja Creami models is its soft serve function. All of the Ninja Creami appliances can make ice cream, lite ice cream, gelato, sorbet and milkshakes, but only the original Ninja Creami can make smoothie bowls. The Ninja Creami XL Deluxe and the Ninja Swirl, on the other hand, both have a frozen yogurt program, while the Ninja Swirl has settings for Creamifits, fruit whips and frozen custards too. The Deluxe model is also able to make Italian ice, frozen drinks, slushies and creamiccinos (coffee-based frozen drinks). And then there's Ninja's dedicated frozen drink maker, the Ninja Slushi, which has five different presets: slush, spiked slush, frappé, milkshake and frozen juice. CNN Underscored has a team of skilled writers and editors who have many years of experience testing, researching and recommending products, and they ensure each article is carefully edited and products are properly vetted. We talk to top experts when applicable to make certain we are testing each product accurately, recommending only the best products and considering the pros and cons of each item. For this story, associate editor Rachel Dennis tested the Ninja Swirl by Creami over the course of two weeks to see if it's worth buying.
