Creamy Butter Pecan Ice Cream

A few weeks ago, I decided to branch out from my plain ol' vanilla ice cream life (not that there's anything wrong with homemade vanilla—it's divine) to try something new. Conservative Boy was quick to suggest one of his favorites: butter pecan ice cream.


And, as luck would have it, the handy little cookbook that came with the ice cream maker included a recipe for that very thing.

It was, I discovered, a bit more complicated that the vanilla recipe. But oh goodness oh goodness it was worth the work. Treating myself to a little bowl of this is one of the highlights of each day.

The process begins by melting 4 tablespoons of butter in a skillet. As you may have learned by now, any recipe that starts out with butter is going to be good. I speak the truth.

Once the butter is melted, add 1 cup pecan halves and pieces and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Cook over medium-low heat until pecans are toasted and golden, stirring frequently, about 4 to 6 minutes. (I may have let mine get a bit too golden but, alas, every cooking adventure is a learning experience.)


Remove the pecans from the heat, strain (you can save the pecan-flavored butter if you like), and chill the pecans.

Next you'll combine 2 1/4 cups whole milk (although you can use a lower-fat variety if you like) and 2 1/4 cups heavy cream in a medium saucepan. Use a sharp knife to split 1 whole vanilla bean in half lengthwise, and use the blunt edge to scrape out the "seeds."

Stir the seeds and bean pod into the milk/cream mixture. Bring the mixture to a slow boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.


Combine 4 large eggs, 2 large egg yolks, and 1 1/8 cups sugar in a medium bowl. Use a hand mixer on medium speed to beat the mixture until it is thick, smooth, and pale yellow (about 2 minutes). Remove the vanilla bean pod from the milk/cream mixture and discard it.

Pour out 1 cup of the hot liquid. With the mixer on low speed, add the cup of hot milk/cream to the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream. When it is thoroughly combined, pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and stir to combine.


Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Transfer to a bowl, cover with a sheet of plastic wrap placed directly on the custard, and chill completely.

Now pour the chilled custard into the freezer bowl of the ice cream maker (or prepare your ice cream maker using whatever method is required to make ice cream) and let it mix until thickened (20 to 25 minutes in my mixer).


Five minutes before mixing is complete, add the pecans, and let them mix in completely.

Chill for about 2 hours for firmer ice cream like this.


See? I told you it wasn't exactly easy. But as I believe I mentioned way up there at the beginning of the post, it's oh so good.

Homemade Ice Cream

I'd like to admit something.

We have a lot of kitchen electronics. Probably more than any couple needs to have. But we also regularly use all of the kitchen electronics we have.

Conservative Hubby uses the toaster-egg sandwich maker every single morning without fail.

The coffee pot is very necessary each morning as well. Yes, we occasionally use the Toddy instead. And we could swap the coffee pot for a coffee press, which I've contemplated doing a number of times. But when you work at home and linger over a couple of cups of coffee throughout the morning, it's so nice to have it hot and ready.

The beautiful silver KitchenAid mixer, also on the counter, hasn't been used in a couple of weeks. But on average I've used it at least once (and often many more times than that) every week since it arrived on our doorstep.

We also have a blender, which I currently use every single morning for a post-workout smoothie.

And a food processor, which I've employed sporadically but plan to call into action more often now that it's pesto-making season.

There's the waffle maker, which admittedly we probably could do without. But it's one of those handy items worth keeping around for a lazy Sunday waffle-making spree.

And then there's one of our newest additions: our Cuisinart frozen yogurt and ice cream maker, a wedding gift from one of my brilliant, beautiful best friends and her musician-journalist honey.


Since we received this treasure, it has been sitting quietly in cupboard alongside the blender and food processor, waiting for its time to shine.

That time came last week, when I pulled it out and studied the instructions and made our first batch of homemade vanilla ice cream.

Goodness it was easy. Goodness it was good.

All you do is place the bowl of the ice cream maker in the freezer for at least 6 hours. It can stay in there as long as you like, and I've found the longer it stays in the freezer the better the ice cream turns out.

Once you're ready to make the ice cream, you blend heavy cream and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Then stir in whole milk and a bit of vanilla.


Then you place the bowl in the mixer, start it a-spinning, and pour the ingredients into the spout.


Let it do its thing for 25 minutes or so and, like magic, you have homemade ice cream.

No salt required. No cranking required.

Sometimes, modernity is a thing of beauty.


(Especially when accompanied by homemade hot fudge sauce.)


Butter thinks so too, even when this adorable face doesn't win him a single bite.