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This Easy Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream recipe is rich in butter, pecans, and creamy flavor.
You may not believe this, but homemade butter pecan ice cream is a lot easier to make than you might think
A no-churn ice cream recipe doesn’t need an ice cream maker to make! Learn how to make no-churn buttered pecan ice cream with just a whisk and some patience.
Butter pecan is one of the most popular flavors in America, so you know it’s going to be good. This no-churn homemade butter pecan ice cream recipe can easily become your new favorite dessert in no time flat.
No-churn homemade butter pecan ice cream is no fuss and no mess. All you need are a couple of ingredients, some patience to wait for it to freeze in your freezer. It’s one of those recipes that anyone can do because there isn’t any special equipment needed.
Key Ingredients:
To make this homemade no-churn ice cream, you will need the following key ingredients:
Heavy Whipping Cream
Whipped heavy cream that has been put through a strainer to give it a smooth and fluffy texture.
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Sweetened condensed milk makes the ice cream more rich, creamy and sweet.
Kosher Salt
Kosher salt is perfect for adding to a sweet recipe like this recipe because it brings out the flavor and enhances its sweetness.
Pecans
Pecans are the star of this dish.
Butter
Butter will add a rich texture to your ice cream.
Vanilla Extract
Vanilla extract brings to desserts a distinct flavor that can be described as buttery, sweet, nutty, with a slight touch of woodiness.
Dark Brown Sugar
Dark brown sugar is raw cane sugar that has been processed with molasses. It has about 6.5% of molasses were light brown sugar has 3.5% of molasses. More molasses equals a deeper maple flavor that pairs well with pecans.
How do you make no-churn butter pecan ice cream from scratch?
Making butter pecan ice-cream at home is really simple. Here’s how you do it.
Turn on the heat to medium-high in a fry small skillet toast pecans for 3-5 minutes, constantly stirring until pecans are fragrant. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
In a stand mixer or a bowl with a hand mixer, whip heavy cream and kosher salt until stiff peaks form, about 1 ½ minutes. Fold in condensed milk, make sure you keep some streaks of cream and be careful not to take all the air out of the stiff peaks.
In a small bowl, combine cooled melted butter and vanilla. Fold butter mix and pecans into the ice cream base. Pecans should be evenly distributed and covered in an ice cream base.
Transfer to dish and cover and pop in the freezer overnight before enjoying. Set ice cream out for 2 minutes before serving.
No-Churn Butter Pecan Ice Cream Tips & Tricks
Here are some of my top tips and tricks to help you make this dish:
- The secret to making an excellent butter pecan ice cream is toasting your pecans. It will add a toasty depth of flavor to the butter pecan ice cream. Omitting this step will make it taste like vanilla ice cream with pecans.
- The condensed milk eliminates the need for eggs like in a traditional ice cream recipe. Finally, condensed milk provides stability by adding sugar which prevents crystallization.
- It’s important to whip your whipped cream too stiff peaks. The very thick cream, won’t break or curdle when mixed with other ingredients.
- The cold temperature makes it easier and faster to make whipped cream. Place your bowl and beaters in the freezer for 10 minutes before whipping heavy cream.
Buttered Pecan Ice Cream FAQ
Here are some of the most asked questions about making homemade buttered pecan ice cream
Buttered pecan has a more buttery flavor. Butter pecan is not as rich tasting because it uses less butterfat. It’s also lighter in color and smoother with fewer chunks of pecans which may be preferred by some people.
I believe the real difference between the two is that Southern folk pronounce butter pecan “buttered pecan” because I know I definitely say the latter.
Stiff peaks are the final step before no-churn homemade butter pecan ice cream is ready, and it’s what gives this no-churn ice cream its texture. When you whip up egg whites or heavy whipping cream they should form stiff peaks that stand high on their own when you pull your whisk out of the bowl.
The recipe for homemade no-churn ice cream calls for heavy whipping cream and sweetened condensed milk. Unlike classic ice cream, which has a custard-like texture and richer flavor because it uses egg yolks and milk or heavy whipping cream in place of sweetened condensed milk, no-churn ice creams are lighter in texture but still just as delicious as classic ice cream.
What does “no-churn” mean?
No churn means that this recipe doesn’t have eggs in it as traditional ice creams do. This makes it much easier to make at home because you don’t need an industrial mixer or special equipment.
How long does it take to make no-Churn?
It takes about 10 minutes to make no-churn homemade butter pecan ice cream depending on how much you’re making. It’s a similar process time as traditional recipes, but without the eggs and making this ice cream recipe goes quickly!
What is the best brand of butter pecan ice cream?
I did a side-by-side tasting to figure out which brand would inspire my no-churn butter pecan ice cream recipe.
The brands were: Haagen-Dazs, Blue Bell, and So Delicious.
My Chef tasting notes are as follows:
Haagen-Dazs had a rich flavor and the best creamy consistency. It’s also the most expensive, but it tasted like vanilla ice cream with pecans. C
Blue Bell had the best flavor and a great creamy consistency. A
So-Delicious was the only non-dairy brand I tried. It was my second favorite flavor. However, the ice cream needs to set out for a few minutes before I could dive in, and it had a slight aftertaste. B-
The Blue Bell ice cream had the best flavor and the most significant difference was the toasted pecans.
Can you make it ahead?
Storage
Freezer: Butter Pecan Ice Cream: Transfer to a dish and cover. Cover and pop in the freezer overnight before enjoying.
You can freeze this homemade butter pecan no-churn ice cream recipe up to one month ahead of time! You’ll need less time if you set it out at room temperature when you’re ready to enjoy it.
Latest Recipe Video:
Common One to One Substitutions:
Sweetened Coconut Condensed Milk = Sweetened Condensed Milk
Coarse Sea Salt = Kosher Salt
Light Brown Sugar = Dark Brown Sugar
Non-Dairy Heavy Cream = Whipping Cream
What to serve with No-Churn Butter Pecan Ice Cream?
Ice cream is delicious on it own but it’s incredible when served over a warm dessert. Here are some of my favorites warm dessert recipes.
- Grilled Bourbon Butter Pecan Cake
- Strawberry Whisky Cake
- Buttermilk Doughnuts
- Ciroc Peach Cobbler Parfait
- Wakanda Cake with Strawberry Mint Salad
- Cherry Galette with Port Sauce
- Port Plum Biscuit Cobbler
More No-Churn Ice cream Desserts:
- Vanilla Ice Cream
- Blueberry Lavender Sorbet
- Apple Spiced Mint Julep Ice Cream
- Blueberry Basil Ice Cream
No-churn butter pecan ice cream is one of the simplest recipes you can make. It doesn’t take any time or effort to whip this up, and it tastes delicious! So check out my recipe below, give it a try for yourself, and let me know what you think in the comments section at the bottom of this post.
I hope that after reading these instructions (and tasting some homemade no-churn butter pecan ice cream), your summer will be off to a fantastic start! Happy cooking!
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Recipe:
Easy Homemade No-Churn Butter Pecan Ice Cream
Ingredients
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 4 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon cold, 3 tablespoons melted
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 2 cups cold heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 14 oz. sweet condensed milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Turn on the heat to medium-high in a fry small skillet toast pecans for 3-5 minutes, constantly stirring until pecans are fragrant. Remove from heat, add 1 tablespoon of butter and dark brown sugar, stir to combine and cool.
- In a stand mixer or a bowl with a hand mixer, whip heavy cream and kosher salt until stiff peaks form, about 1 ½ minutes. Fold in condensed milk, make sure you keep some streaks of cream and be careful not to take all the air out of the stiff peaks.
- In a small bowl, combine cooled melted butter and vanilla. Fold butter mix and pecans into the ice cream base. Pecans should be evenly distributed and covered in an ice cream base.
- Transfer to dish and cover and pop in the freezer overnight before enjoying. Set ice cream out for 2 minutes before serving
