Making Vanilla Ice Cream From Scratch

Is there anything better than homemade ice cream? If there is, I'm not sure what it would be. We make ice cream several times throughout the year. We've made coffee ice cream, strawberry cheesecake ice cream, pumpkin pie ice cream, and strawberry ice cream. But today I'm keeping it super easy and making a simple vanilla ice cream. This ice cream is great on its own, topped with chocolate and nuts, or as a side to your favorite baked dessert. Check out this previous blog post on Making the Best Apple Crisp!!

And before you say, "I could just go buy vanilla ice cream...". Stop. It won't even compare to the taste of homemade vanilla ice cream.

Watch Me Make It

The Recipe

This recipe is so simple. All you need is 5 ingredients and an ice cream maker.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 cup whole milk

2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt

(if you want to be fancy, you can also split a whole vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the mixture)

Directions

1. Make sure your ice cream maker bowl is in the freezer for a full 24 hours before you start.

2. In a large saucepan, all ingredients. If using a vanilla bean, slice it lengthwise and scrape out the seeds and add those into the mixture. You can also toss in the rest of the bean, just remove it before chilling.

3. Heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

4. Chill the mixture for at least 2 hours or overnight.

5. Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker. Run the machine following the manufacturer's instructions. This will likely be for about 20-30 minutes.

6. Once the ice cream is the consistency of soft-serve, transfer it to an airtight freezer-safe container and freeze overnight or at least 8 hours, if you can wait that long.

Add-In

There are so many ways you can transform this basic vanilla ice cream recipe just by adding something a little extra right before you stop the ice cream maker.

• chocolate chips (or other flavored chips)

• crushed Oreos

• chopped nuts

• chopped candy bars

• drizzle in caramel sauce

• granola

• broken graham crackers

• chopped fruit

• several spoons of jam or jelly

  
  

• or change the flavor up a little when mixing the ice cream base. Use just 1 tsp vanilla extract and a tsp of another extract flavor like coconut, maple, lemon, or peppermint. (use more extract for a stronger flavor)

This simple recipe can be the base for so many different options!! Experiment.

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