Creamy Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Recipe: Elevate Your Ice Cream Game Ice Cream Desserts

If you always look for no-churn ice cream recipes and are a little intimidated by ones that need to be cooked, don't be! Cooking the ice cream base makes a rich, creamy ice cream, and it's not that hard to do. One bite of this vanilla bean ice cream and you'll be on the cooked ice cream bandwagon!

All you need for this creamy vanilla bean ice cream recipe is eggs, granulated sugar, a vanilla bean, whole milk, salt, heavy cream and vanilla extract. The base is cooked quickly on the stovetop, poured through a mesh strainer to remove any egg solids (if there are any) and then chilled before being processed in an ice cream maker.

Serve this vanilla ice cream for dessert or as a snack on hot summer days or nights. Grab an ice cream scoop and serve the family ice cream cones for a fun treat.

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Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes plus time to chill, process and freeze
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes plus time to chill, process and freeze
Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 4 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• large pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Helpful Products

• Mixing Bowl
• Saucepot
• Loaf Pan
• Ice Cream Maker
• Plastic Wrap
• Mesh Strainer
• Ice Cream Scoop

Recipe Notes

• Make sure the plastic wrap touches the ice cream base or a skin will form on the ice cream while it chills.

• If you can't find vanilla beans, you could use 2 teaspoons of vanilla paste instead.

• Remove the ice cream about 10 minutes from the freezer before serving to soften it a bit. 

Here's how to make it:

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and granulated sugar until pale yellow.
2. Put the milk and salt into a saucepot. Cut the vanilla bean in half and scrape out the seeds into the pot. Add the vanilla pod. Bring the mixture to just a simmer over medium heat, then immediately remove from the heat (do not let it boil). Add about 1/2 cup of the mixture to the egg mixture to temper, then whisk everything together. Turn the heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. 
3. Strain the ice cream base through a mesh strainer back into the pot. Add the heavy cream, vanilla and put the vanilla pod back. Pour the mixture into a bowl. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap, making sure it touches the ice cream base to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate the mixture for at least 3 hours. 
4. Pour the ice cream into an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's directions. When done, put the ice cream into a loaf pan or freezer container and freeze for at least 4 hours or until firm. 

Recipe cooking times and servings are approximate. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography. Need to convert cooking and baking measurements? Here are some kitchen conversion charts. Here's how to submit your recipes to 30Seconds.

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