Homemade butter pecan ice cream tastes like summer in a bowl. This homemade ice cream recipe has rich and creamy vanilla ice cream with toasted buttery and salty pecans in every bite.

This recipe is easy to make and tastes so good that you will want to make it again and again.

How To Make The Best Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream

I have included some of the tips that my sister and I have found really helped us when we tested this recipe. All the things we learned that has helped us to make the best homemade ice cream every time, and I hope they will help you as well!

How To Make the Ice Cream Base

First in a medium-sized pot, heat the heavy whipping cream, milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Stir to combine. Heat this mixture until it is hot and starts to steam, but doesn’t simmer or boil, about 10 minutes.

How to Separate the Egg Yolks

Next, we need to separate the eggs yolks from the whites. The easiest way to do that is to crack the whole egg into one bowl, then transfer the egg yolk into another bowl.

Crack the egg, then using your hands gently scoop out the egg yolk. Allow the egg whites to fall from between your fingers. Add the egg yolk to a large mixing bowl, repeat with the remaining eggs.

Next, add the sugar to the egg yolks. Whisk the eggs and the sugar until the mixture becomes pale yellow and ribbony smooth.

Tempering the Eggs

Tempering the eggs means that we are bringing the egg mixture up to a higher temperature without scrambling them.

Once the milk/ cream mixture is hot, transfer 2 cups of the mixture into a measuring cup. Then pour a few tablespoons of the hot milk/ cream into the egg/sugar mixture, then immediately whisk together.

We are slowly adding in the hot milk/cream to the eggs so that we don’t scramble the eggs.

Continue slowly adding in the milk/cream mixture a few tablespoons at a time, then ¼ cup at a time until all the milk/cream is gone. Pour the egg mixture back into the pot whisking in any remaining milk inside the pot.

Cooking the Ice Cream Base

Cook the ice cream base on low heat until it has thickened and has reached a temperature of between 170F – 175F degrees.

If you cook the mixture too fast the ice cream base can be lumpy and may not produce smooth ice cream when we churn it.

If the ice cream doesn’t thicken your ice cream won’t churn at all.

Cooling the Ice Cream Base

After the ice cream base has thickened and reached the right temperature, strain it through a fine-mesh sieve/ strainer into a large mixing bowl, to remove any egg chunks.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and allow it to cool on the counter for 2 hours. Then transfer it to the refrigerator to chill completely for 4 – 6 hours.

If you want rich and creamy ice cream, chilling the ice cream base completely before churning is very important. If you put a warm or slightly warm ice cream base into the cold ice cream bowl, the ice cream machine will spend part of the churning time warming up the ice cream base, instead of churning the ice cream.

How to Make the Butter Pecans

You can make the butter pecans while we are waiting for the ice cream base to completely chill in the refrigerator.

In a large skillet melt the butter, then add in the chopped pecans. Mix occasionally. Cook the pecans until they are toasted and brown, 3 – 5 minutes. They should smell toasty. Remove the skillet from the heat. After the nuts have cooled, add the salt. The nuts should taste salty.

Churning the Ice Cream

Once the ice cream base is completely chilled, it’s time to churn! Churn the ice cream according to your ice cream machine’s instructions, this usually takes about 20 minutes. The ice cream will look very soft and creamy.

When the ice cream is almost finished churning, add in the butter pecans. Allow the machine to mix everything together. Then transfer the ice cream into freezer-safe containers. Freeze the ice cream for at least 4 hours.

After 4 hours the ice cream will be firmer but still soft.

If you want very firm ice cream freeze it for 6 – 8 hours.

Serve and enjoy!

Homemade Ice Cream Tips:

Completely Chill Ice Cream Base: Make sure you completely chill the ice cream base before churning. Otherwise, the ice cream may not churn properly causing your ice to be less creamy.

Cook Ice Cream Base Low and Slow Until it Reaches the Right Temperature: Make sure when you cooking your ice cream base that it reaches 170 – 175F degrees before you strain it or start to chill it. If your ice cream base doesn’t reach this temperature it can cause your ice cream to not churn properly or not be as creamy.

Completely Chill the Ice Cream Bowl: Make sure the ice cream bowl is completely chilled before churning – this can impact churning as well.

Hot Environment Can Impact Churning: If you are churning in a hot room it can cause the ice cream to not churn properly.

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Tools You May Need:

Whisk

Freezer safe ice cream containers

Reusable Freezer Ice Cream Containers

I hope you try this recipe out soon! My family loves this recipe and I hope yours will too! If you make this recipe let me know in the comments or tag me on Instagram(@themidwestkitchenblog) so I can see! Enjoy!

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Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Author: Tonya | The Midwest Kitchen Blog
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Chilling time: 8 – 12 hours
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 13 hours
Yield: 4 cups 1x
Category: dessert
Method: stove top / ice cream machine
Cuisine: American

Print Recipe

Description

Homemade butter pecan ice cream tastes like summer in a bowl. This homemade ice cream recipe has rich and creamy vanilla ice cream with toasted buttery and salty pecans in every bite.

This recipe is easy to make and tastes so good that you will want to make it again and again.

Ingredients

Scale

Ice Cream Base

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 – 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 pinches salt
5 egg yolks
¾ cup cane sugar

Butter Pecans

½ cup pecans, chopped
2 tablespoons butter, unsalted
¼ teaspoon + a dash salt

Instructions

How to Make the Ice Cream Base:

In a medium-sized pot add the heavy cream, whole milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Heat the milk/cream mixture until it starts to steam, but not boil or simmer. This will take about 10 minutes.
While you are waiting for the milk/cream mixture to warm up, start separating your eggs. The easiest way to separate the egg yolks from the whites is to crack the whole egg into one bowl. Using your hands, gently scoop out the yolk. Allow the egg whites to fall down into the bowl through your fingers. Then add the egg yolk into a large mixing bowl. Repeat with the other 4 eggs.
Next, add the sugar to the egg yolks. Whisk the eggs and sugar until it becomes pale yellow in color, light and fluffy, and has a silky ribbon consistency.

Temper The Eggs

Pour 2 cups of your warm milk/ cream mixture into a measuring cup. Add a few tablespoons of the milk/ cream mixture to the egg mixture, then whisk to combine. Add a few more tablespoons, whisk. Then add ¼ cup and whisk. Repeat until all the milk is gone from the measuring cup.
Next, pour your egg/ milk/ cream mixture back into the pot whisking in the remaining milk in the pot. Cook this mixture on low heat until the ice cream base has thickened a little and has reached a temperature between 170F and 175F degrees. Your mixture will look creamy and will start to steam. This will take about 15 – 20 minutes.
Once your mixture is up to temperature, strain it through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, to remove any egg chunks.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow the ice cream mixture to cool on the counter for 2 hours, then transfer it to the refrigerator to cool completely for another 2 – 4 hours.

How To Make The Butter Pecans:

20 – 30 minutes before you start churning your ice cream, make the butter pecans.
In a large skillet, melt the butter then add the chopped pecans. Stirring frequently, toast the pecans until the butter is brown and the nuts are toasted and brown, this takes about 3 – 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Allow the nuts to cool completely then add the salt. The nuts should taste salty.

Churn The Ice Cream:

Churn your ice cream base according to your ice machine settings, it takes roughly 20 minutes. The ice cream should look like really creamy, soft-serve ice cream.
When the ice cream is almost done churning, add in the butter pecans. Allow the machine to mix everything together for 1 – 2 minutes. Then transfer the ice cream to freezer-safe containers to freeze for 4 hours to overnight.
After 4 hours the ice cream will be firmer but still soft. If you want to have a firmer ice cream freeze for 6 – 8 hours.