My Enchanting Kitchen: Creamy & Dreamy 3-Ingredient Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Creamy & Dreamy 3-Ingredient Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Store-bought ice cream has nothing on homemade. One bite and memories of childhood hot summer days and 4th of July holidays come flooding back, in a rush of creamy, sweet deliciousness.

When I mention to friends I’m making homemade ice cream or I have some in the freezer, the response is always the same. “Nothing beats homemade ice cream!” and “Homemade ice cream? Where? Can I have some?”

This ice cream recipe is special because it’s easy beyond belief. With only three ingredients and 30 minutes, you are on your way to some of the most delicious ice cream you’ve ever eaten. You can also make it without an ice cream maker!

Recipe (adapted from this recipe):
Ingredients:

1 can sweetened condensed milk (see note below to make your own.)
4 cups half-and-half or light cream (I use 3 cups heavy cream and 1 cup whole milk. I’ve made this several times with different combinations of whatever dairy products I had on hand (light/heavy cream, half-and-half, whole milk, etc), and it still comes out perfect.)
1/8 cup vanilla bean paste (pure vanilla extract will be suitable but the vanilla bean paste is special because you get the little black specks of real vanilla beans. I buy mine here.)

Ingredients for 3-Ingredient Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Instructions for 3-Ingredient Ice Cream:
Put your three ingredients in the ice cream maker and stir to combine.

Combining ingredients in ice cream maker

Follow directions according to your ice cream maker's manufacturer.

Churning ice cream

Don't have an ice cream maker? NO PROBLEM! Combine the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla bean paste. Fold in a pint (2 cups) of WHIPPED heavy cream. Put in a 2-quart freezer container and freeze for 6 hours.

This ice cream makes delicious root beer floats!

3-Ingredient Vanilla Bean Ice Cream in a root beer float

Every time I serve this ice cream to guests, I hear over and over again how delicious it is. Little do they know how EASY it is!

There are so many variations you could make to this recipe. Some ideas include:

Adding mashed bananas for "banana ice cream"
Adding chocolate chunks, miniature marshmallows, and crushed graham crackers for "s'mores ice cream"
Adding strawberry puree (or any fruit/berry puree) for "strawberry ice cream"

What variations can you come up with? Comment below and let me know! If you try any of the variations, let me know how they turn out!