Easiest Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

The other night, my family invited my sister's and my family over for a breakfast supper to enjoy their freshly-boiled maple syrup. My sister called me up and said, "I'll make the apple crisp if you make the ice cream." Deal.

Now, in a situation like this, when you're required to make ice cream in an afternoon (I didn't know until about two or three that this was going to be a thing), you definitely do NOT have time to cook up a custard and get it down to bone-cold temperature for churning. Thankfully, you can still make an awesome homemade ice without a custard base. 

All that's required is mixing all of the ingredients together and churning. BOOM. Ice cream in 30 minutes.

It's dangerous knowledge. 

By the way, if you're a big fan of homemade ice cream, you need a good ice cream maker. I love my Cuisinart. I'm sure it's not as nice as the fancy built-in-freezer kind, but it's less than a third of the price. Also, I'm considering buying a second freezer bowl so I can make MORE ice cream at a time.

Note: If you're looking for the creamiest possible ice cream, I would go for a cooked custard (I'll have to share a recipe sometime). However, if you're pressed for time or just don't feel like standing over a hot stove, this ice cream is still fabulous.

Easiest Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

recipe adapted from the booklet that came with my mixer | makes about 7 cups | Printable Page

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup evaporated cane juice
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 of a vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise and beans scraped out

Directions:

1) In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes; you can use a hand mixer or an old fashioned whisk. Stir in the cream, vanilla, and vanilla beans.

2) Pour the ice cream mixture into your mixer and churn according to manufacturer's instructions. Scrape into a freezer-safe container and freezer until desired firmness is achieved. 

Note: Links are affiliate. All opinions are my own. I would never recommend something to you guys that I don't like.