Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe (2024)

Desserts | Ice Cream Recipes | Recipes

ByJamie Sanders

46 Comments

Disclosure:This post may containaffiliate links.As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Jump to Recipe

I’m excited to share thisamazingly delicious Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe today!

Sweet vanilla custard ice cream swirled with toasted, butter-candied pecans. This recipe is way better than store-bought and might just become your new favorite ice cream flavor!

Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe (1)

The Best Butter Pecan Ice Cream is Homemade!

No dessert screams summer more than a big bowl of homemade Buttered Pecan Ice Cream!

There’s just something about that sweet, rich vanilla caramel-y flavor with crunchy sweet buttered pecans that can’t be beaten. Especially when I’m enjoying that bowl out on the porch, watching the sunset on a warm summer evening.

What is Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Buttered Pecan Ice Cream is a rich custard-based vanilla ice cream (at least this recipe is), full of deliciously crunchy, sweet buttered, and candied roasted pecans.

You’ll definitely want to try thecandied pecansrecipe on its own. The sweet, crunchy pecans make an amazing sweet treat for snacking. So good that I figured, what better way to enjoy these pecans than to add them to my favorite Vanilla Ice Cream recipe?

That was definitely a good call because this Homemade Buttered Pecan Ice Cream is one of the best ice creams I’ve had in a while!

Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe (2)

Ingredient + Notes:

See the recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and recipe instructions.

  • Butter |I prefer salted butter in the recipe. Unsalted will work in a pinch, just add a pinch of salt to your pecans while cooking them.
  • Pecans |Raw pecans work best as you will be toasting/candy-ing them in a pan.
  • Sugar |White granulated sugar is used in the ice cream base and for the pecans. However, many people love the extra flavor brown sugar gives to the pecans. If you want to use brown sugar, it is a one-to-one swap.
  • Milk |I generally use whole milk in my ice cream recipes. Sometimes I get fancy and want my ice cream to have a richer, creamy texture, so I will use one to one mixture of half-n-half and whole. Other times I will use just 2% milk. The taste will be similar, but the consistency of the butter pecan ice cream will vary based on the fat of the milk. More fat will give you a richer, decadent mouthfeel, and lower-fat or skim milk will produce a more icy result.
  • Eggs | Eggs give the ice cream that delicious custard flavor. (Cooking the custard base is up to you – Although I always do cook my egg-based ice cream recipes. See more info below in the recipe notes and FAQ section.)
  • Sweetened condensed milk:I use sweetened condensed milk in all my custard-based ice cream recipes, which gives it that extra rich homemade taste.
  • Vanilla extract:Use the best quality extract you can find.
  • Optional: Caramel Ice Cream Topping| I like to swirl in a bit of caramel ice cream topping at the end for an extra layer of sweet caramel flavor.

How to Make Butter Pecan Ice Cream

  1. Heat the milk: Combine the vanilla and 2 milks in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
  2. Beat the eggs:In a separate bowl, beat the eggs together for a minute or two, add sugar, and continue mixing for another minute until eggs and sugar are completely combined.
  3. Add the eggs to the milk mixture. Gradually whisk half of the milk mixture into eggs. Pour the egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 6 to 8 minutes. You may wish to pour the cooked egg mixture through a finesieve to remove any cooked egg chunks.
  4. Chill the ice cream base: To quickly cool the custard ice cream mixture, transfer the hot mixture to a chilled metal bowl, then set the bowl into an ice bath and stir til cooled. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour; ice cream base can be refrigerated up to 2 days ahead.
  5. Freeze:Add the ice cream base to the ice cream maker and process it according to your machine’s manufacturer’sinstructions. Add the toasted butter pecans (or whatever other mixins your like) toward the end of the processing time.
  6. Serve: Seve immediately as soft serve or place the ice cream in a freezer-safe container until desired consistency is reached.
Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe (3)

Variations

  • Add a swirl of caramel for an extra sweet caramel-y flavor.
  • Skip the eggs and make a Philadelphia-style ice cream base.
  • Add a combo of other nuts, like walnuts or almonds.
  • Make ice cream sandwiches. Add a scoop of ice cream in between two cookies. Yum!

Storage

For best results, store your Homemade Butter Pecan Ice cream in a freezer-safe airtight container for about a week. This is my favorite ice cream storage container.

Recipe Tips

  • Chilling the custard in the fridge before it meets your ice cream maker isn’t just a suggestion, it’s a must-do. This process allows the custard to cool down completely. If the custard is too warm when it goes into the machine, you might end up with an ice cream that’s more icy than creamy or unable to firm up all the way. To speed up the cooling, you can transfer the hot mixture to a chilled metal bowl, then set the bowl into an ice bath and stir til cooled. Then place in the refrigerator to fully chill.
  • If your ice cream has frozen too hard, let it sit on the counter for about 10 minutes before scooping.
Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe (4)

FAQ’s

Does This Ice Cream Have Raw Eggs In It?

This ice cream recipe does have eggs, but whether they are raw or not depends on you.

My favorite homemade ice cream recipe is custard-based, made with lots of vanilla and eggs. In the past, I would make our ice cream with a pasteurized-in-the-shell egg (which made it perfectly safe to consume raw eggs), but since these eggs no longer seem to be available, I do now cook my custard-based ice cream recipes before adding them to my ice cream maker.

So for this recipe, you have 2 choices for the eggs:

  1. Use the eggs raw. (My mom always did it this way, but I can’t bring myself to serve raw eggs to my family.)
  2. 2nd choice is to cook the ice cream base and let it cool completely before adding it to the machine. (After cooking the ice cream base, I transfer it to another bowl and place that bowl in an ice bath, stirring continuously for a few minutes to help it chill. Then put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes to an hour, chilling it enough for the ice cream maker.)
Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe (5)

I’ve updated the directions in the recipe card to include instructions for cooking your ice cream base, so here they are in case you choose to go this route:

How To Cook This Buttered Pecan Ice Cream Base:

  1. Combine the vanilla and 2 milks in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
  2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs together for a minute or two, add sugar and continue mixing for another minute until eggs and sugar are completely combined.
  3. Gradually whisk half of the milk mixture into eggs. Pour the egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 6 to 8 minutes.
  4. You may wish to pour the cooked egg mixture through a sieve to remove any cooked egg chunks.
  5. To quickly cool the ice cream base, set the bowl of custard in an ice bath and stir til chilled.
  6. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour; ice cream base can be refrigerated up to 2 days ahead.
  7. Add ice cream base to the ice cream maker and process according to your machine’s instructions.

Can I Use Egg Beaters In This Buttered Pecan Ice Cream Recipe?

I do not recommend the “egg beaters” type pasteurized egg product as all the fat from the yolks has been removed. Egg yolks have a lot of fat and fat, which freezes differently and is less hard than water, making ice cream soft and creamy.

Plus, ice cream made with real eggs has a deliciously rich custard flavor

What Milk is best for Ice Cream?

When making homemade ice cream, you’ll need milk and cream. Milk comes in different fat levels – Heavy whipping cream (36% fat, light (or regular) whipping cream (30% fat), half n half (around 11%), whole (3.25%), 2%, and skim (0%).

I have read that anywhere from 12 to 23% fat is the optimal fat level for homemade ice cream, and I agree that a combo of heavy cream and whole or half-n-half gives a fantastic result. When making ice cream for just the family, I just use what is in the fridge, but my preference is half whole milk and half half-n-half. For guests, I will step up the fat level to half heavy cream and half whole milk.

Can the ice cream be made ahead of time?

You can make the ice cream base and store it in the fridge for a few days. I would not process the ice cream too much in advance. Due to the lack of stabilizers in homemade ice cream, it will become icy after a prolonged time in the freezer.

Can I Make this recipe without an ice cream maker?

Yes, you can make this recipe no-churn. The results will be a little less creamy but still very yummy!

Add the ice mixture to a suitable container and place it in the freezer. Stir the ice cream mixture every 30 to 45 minutes over the next 4 hours. Once the ice cream has set, gently mix in the pecans and any other desired mix-ins. Cover the container with plastic wrap and continue freezing until the desired consistency is reached.

Which Ice Cream Maker Is Best:

The best ice cream maker is the one you already have, lol! However, if you are in the market for a new ice cream maker, I have to tell you I recently upgraded to the kind that uses a bowl you keep in the freezer. (This one ==>>Cuisinart ice cream maker.) And I can’t tell you how wonderful and easy to use this new machine is!

The machine makes slightly less ice cream than my old one that required ice and rock salt, but I’m ok with that since it is just so ridiculously easy to use.Ice cream in 25ish minutes from start to finish? Sign me up!

It’s on my wishlist to purchase a second bowl for the machine, so I can make two different flavors right in a row!

Can Butter Pecan Ice Cream Be Made in the Nija Creami?

Yes, make your ice cream base as directed, add it to a Creami container, and freeze. Then process as directed, adding your mixins at the end.

Quick tip

Like your ice cream super sweet? Add a few swirls of caramel topping at the end of the freezing time and you will be inice cream heaven!

Products used and recommended in this post:

  1. Ice cream machine
  2. extra freezer bowl
  3. bestice cream scoop ever
  4. Easy Scoop Ice cream tub for freezer.
  5. waffle cones

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a big double scoop ice cream conecalling my name!

Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe (6)

More Ice Cream Recipes to Enjoy:

  • Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe (No Cook Recipe)
  • Frozen Key Lime Pie Ice Cream
  • Homemade Banana Ice Cream Recipe
  • Homemade Orange Sherbet
  • Strawberry Ice Cream
  • Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe (No Cook)
  • 2 Ingredient Peach Sherbet Recipe
  • Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Did you make this Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe?

Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. If you share an image on Instagram or Facebook, be sure to tag me and use #scatteredmomrecipes!

Print

Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe (7)

Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe

5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star5 from 15 reviews

  • Author: Jamie Sanders
  • Prep Time: 10 min
  • Cook Time: 10 min
  • Total Time: 25 min plus freezing time
  • Yield: 1.75 to 2 quarts 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Ice cream maker
Print Recipe

Description

Thisunbelievably delicious Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe is super easy to make in your ice cream maker.

Ingredients

UnitsScale

IceCream

  • 4 eggs
  • 1.5 cups sugar
  • 1/2 can (about 7 oz) sweetened condensed milk
  • 1.5 tablespoons good quality vanilla
  • 4 cups milk (Your choice of whole or 2% milk, half n half, heavy cream- the higher the fat content of the milk, the creamier the ice cream will be.)
  • optional (but so good!) Caramel ice cream topping

Buttered Pecans:

  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans
  • 3 tbs butter
  • 1 tbs sugar

Instructions

Ice cream:

  1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs together for a minute or two, add sugar and continue mixing for anotherminuteuntil eggs and sugar are completely combined.
  2. Add vanilla, milk and condensed milk. Blend until all ingredients are combined. (*see recipe notes below about cooking your ice cream base.)
  3. Add mixture to ice cream machine and follow manufacturer’s directions to process.

ButteredPecans:

  1. Melt butter in a large pan over med-high heat.
  2. Add sugar and stir with a spatula until sugar is dissolved.
  3. Add pecans, reduce heat to medium and gently stir/toss pecans until toasted. (about 5 minutes.) Watch pecans closely they go from being done to burned, very fast.
  4. Transfer pecans to a plate and let cool.
  5. a few minutes before the ice cream is complete, add pecans to the ice cream and let the machine mix the pecans into the ice cream.
  6. Eat right away as soft serve or transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze 2 to 4 hours or until desired consistency is reached.
  7. Optional step using caramel: Transfer 1/2 of ice cream to a freezer-safe container. Spread/squeeze a generous amount of caramel over ice cream layer. Add remaining ice cream to the container and top with more caramel. Use a butter knife to gently stir the caramel around. Place in freezer for 2 -4 hours.

Enjoy!

Notes

How To Cook This Buttered Pecan Ice Cream Base:

  1. Combine the vanilla and 2 milks in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
  2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs together for a minute or two, add sugar and continue mixing for another minute until eggs and sugar are completely combined.
  3. Gradually whisk half of milk mixture into eggs. Pour egg-milk mixture back into saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 6 to 8 minutes.
  4. You may wish to pour the cooked egg mixture through a sieve to remove any cooked egg chunks.
  5. To quickly cool the ice cream base, set the bowl of custard in an ice bath and stir til chilled.
  6. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour; ice cream base can be refrigerated up to 2 days ahead.
  7. Add ice cream base to the ice cream maker and process according to your machine’s instructions.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/8 of recipe
  • Calories: 437
  • Fat: 18
  • Carbohydrates: 59
  • Protein: 10
Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe (8)

Don't miss any more posts!

Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe (9)

Follow along on:

Feedly,Bloglovin', your favorite feed reader, or signing up via email and have new posts delivered to your email box each week!

About the AuthorJamie Sanders is a wife and mom of 2, located in the heart of Texas. She founded Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom in 2011 as a place to share creative ideas and family friendly recipes. Her work has been featured on Martha Stewart, Woman’s World, HuffPost, TODAY, Pioneer Woman, HGTV, CNET, Good Housekeeping, Yahoo, Oprah Daily, and Redbook, plus many other publications. To date, she had given away just under a million free pdf sewing patterns.
Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the base flavor of butter pecan ice cream? ›

Simply put, butter pecan is a flavor that merges the nutty notes of pecan with rich butter and a hint of sweet vanilla extract. The distinctive flavor of the pecan is hard to pinpoint – even for experts – but is perhaps best described as having sweet, fat, and roasted undertones.

What is the secret ingredient to ice cream? ›

It's the fat. The milk fat in ice cream is mostly what gives ice cream that creamy rich taste and feeling in your mouth. The creamiest ice creams have about 16% fat and the least creamy have about 10% fat.

How to make ice cream 4 steps? ›

How to Make Homemade Ice Cream
  1. Cook the milk, cream, and sugar until the sugar has dissolved.
  2. Transfer the mixture to a measuring cup, then add the vanilla extract. ...
  3. Pour the mix into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's directions.
  4. Serve immediately or ripen in the freezer before serving.
Jun 22, 2023

How to make ice cream at home easy? ›

In a small plastic bag, add ½ cup heavy cream, ½ cup milk, 2 tablespoons fine sugar and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract. In another larger bag, add 2 to 3 cups ice and ¼ cup salt, then place the smaller bag inside and seal it. Shake the big bag for about 6 to 8 minutes, and presto! Instant ice cream.

Is butter pecan ice cream just vanilla? ›

Butter pecan ice cream is smooth vanilla ice cream with a slight buttery flavor, with pecans added. It is manufactured by many major ice cream brands. A variant of the recipe is butter almond, which replaces the pecans with almonds.

Is there a butter pecan flavoring? ›

LorAnn Butter Pecan Flavor Fountain, 4 oz Bottle

This brand is popular with other customers and this product is highly rated, well-priced, and available to ship immediately.

What are the 3 most important ingredients of ice cream? ›

If you have ever made ice cream, you already know what goes into it, ingredients such as milk, cream, and sugar. But there is one main ingredient that you may not have thought about, probably because you can't see it—air.

What is the best sugar for homemade ice cream? ›

Most home ice cream recipes call for simple table sugar, which is chemically known as sucrose. But in pro kitchens you have more options. Liquid sugars like invert sugar, corn syrup, honey, and glucose syrup all add body, creaminess, and stability to ice cream, and a little goes a long way.

What is the forbidden ice cream? ›

A tantalizing fusion of vanilla ice cream, our legendary Forbidden Chocolate® and ribbons of decadent fudge. It's a pleasure worth sharing.

How to make ice cream at home in 10 minutes? ›

Step 1In a small resealable plastic bag, combine half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla. Push out excess air and seal. Step 2Into a large resealable plastic bag, combine ice and salt. Place small bag inside the bigger bag and shake vigorously, 7 to 10 minutes, until ice cream has hardened.

Can I make ice cream without whipping cream? ›

Mix in almond milk, vanilla extract, sugar, and salt, then transfer the mixture into a freezer-safe container. Put it in the freezer for 3 to 4 hours. Stir the ingredients every 30 minutes with a whisk. Once your ice cream is frozen, spoon it into a bowl and enjoy!

Is homemade ice cream better with or without eggs? ›

Eggs add rich flavor and color, prevent ice crystallization and help create smooth and creamy ice cream.

What makes homemade ice cream creamy? ›

Sugar: it's more than just a sweetener

In addition to making your ice cream sweet, sugar affects its texture, enhancing creaminess and controlling how hard or soft it is. Adding too much sugar to a recipe can actually prevent your ice cream from freezing at all.

What is the difference between homemade ice cream and ice cream? ›

Conventional ice cream purchased at the grocery store may contain chemical additives that homemade ice cream does not. These additives are used to prolong the shelf life of store-bought ice cream and enhance the color and flavor.

What is the base flavor of ice cream? ›

According to Iced: 180 Very Cool Concoctions, many people often consider vanilla to be the "default" or "plain" flavor of ice cream (see "Plain vanilla").

Is butter pecan butterscotch? ›

Butterscotch Involves Brown Sugar And Butter

This gives butterscotch a richness in common with butter pecan, but the flavor profile is totally different owing to a lack of nuts. Unlike butter pecan, we have a much clearer sense of where butterscotch came from: 19th century England, possibly as early as 1817.

What is butter pecan syrup made of? ›

Combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and water in a large saucepan over medium heat. (Syrup will bubble up so make sure your pan is extra large). Stir constantly until butter is melted. Continue stirring until mixture comes to a boil; boil and stir for 1 minute.

Is butter pecan like caramel? ›

Butter pecan flavor, on the other hand, combines pecans, butter, and vanilla. The vanilla flavoring makes a big difference here — it distinguishes butter pecan as vanilla-forward, while pralines are more caramel sugar-forward.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Msgr. Benton Quitzon

Last Updated:

Views: 6506

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (63 voted)

Reviews: 86% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Msgr. Benton Quitzon

Birthday: 2001-08-13

Address: 96487 Kris Cliff, Teresiafurt, WI 95201

Phone: +9418513585781

Job: Senior Designer

Hobby: Calligraphy, Rowing, Vacation, Geocaching, Web surfing, Electronics, Electronics

Introduction: My name is Msgr. Benton Quitzon, I am a comfortable, charming, thankful, happy, adventurous, handsome, precious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.