Homemade Ice Cream Anyone Can Make (Because You Don’t Need Any Special Equipment!)

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What are the lengths to which you will go to enjoy your favorite ice cream?  My husband, being from the south, is a big (BIG) Blue Bell Ice Cream fan.  We don’t have Blue Bell here in Minnesota.  (Boo, Minnesota!)  When we visited my mother-in-law in Texas, we toured the Blue Bell factory.  And can I say, touring an ice cream factory is a great way to spend a day.

Visiting Tennessee in April allowed us to indulge all week long.  (And we did!  At one point our freezer had 5 containers.)  We even packed a cooler full of ice and Blue Bell to bring home…no kidding.  In case you’re wondering, Pecan Praline is our favorite, and the kids would probably say Birthday Cake.

And while it’s no Blue Bell, I’m here to tell you today how you can make homemade ice cream in minutes.  Minutes!  Well, minutes is all the time it takes to mix it up…of course there are a few hours of freezing time.

Homemade Ice Cream in Minutes

No ice cream churn.  No special appliances.  (We got an ice cream maker for a wedding gift, and I think we’ve used it about 5 times in the 22 years we’ve been married).  #Hassle

I learned this method a couple of years ago via a Pinterest post, and have made several varieties over the years.

I really started getting creative after finding a series of videos about no-machine ice cream on the same site I found all of my mug recipes recently.  If you’re looking for flavor ideas…this page has links to lots of variations.

Most of the recipes I’ve seen call for just 2 ingredients:  whipping cream and sweetened condensed milk.  I felt that the mixture needed a little added vanilla to really make it taste just right.

Just whip the cream, mix in the condensed milk and vanilla.  So easy!

You could freeze as is for vanilla ice cream, or customize to your heart’s content.

Here are a few of our favorite flavors:

Crush some Oreos and stir into your base, reserving some of the crushed cookies.  As you pour your ice cream into the container, layer in some of the reserved cookie crumbs.

Whiz some chocolate chips in your blender, pulsing until they are in smaller pieces (or chop with a knife).  Stir into vanilla base for the best chocolate chip ice cream ever!

When making the ice cream base, substitute a can of dulce de leche for the sweetened condensed milk.  Layer some swirls of caramel ice cream topping into your container. (I like toasted pecans in mine, too…mmmm).

I purchased a bunch of clear plastic containers to use for our homemade ice cream.  You could also use smaller containers and each person could customize their favorite.  How fun would that be!  Give each person a scoop of the plain base and let them have at it.  Fruit, nuts, peanut butter, candies… The sky’s the limit!

Full disclosure:  This ice cream has a slightly different texture than traditional ice cream.  It is a bit more dense, and has a heavier mouth feel.  I just wanted to give you the heads up so you know what to expect.  It is also decadent and rich and a little goes a long way!

Have you made no-churn ice cream before?  What do you think you’ll add to yours?