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Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe

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Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » Dessert Recipes » Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe

Ice cream is a kid-favorite dessert (and let’s face it, adults too!), but store-bought ones often contain high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and flavors, or other ingredients that we avoid.

Enter making ice cream at home! This butter pecan ice cream recipe is a healthy and incredibly delicious alternative to store-bought ice cream. It’s also really simple to make at home.

Healthy Ice Cream? Really?

Well, yes and no. Ice cream still contains plenty of sugar and should always be considered a treat. However, since I make my own I can control which ingredients I use and avoid those that I don’t like.

The ingredients I like include real maple syrup and raw honey instead of refined sugar from sugar beets. I leave out all the stabilizers, thickeners, preservatives, and artificial colors and flavors.

Most of all, it’s really fun to be able to customize the ice cream to make exactly the combination that I’m in the mood for! Which is what I did when I wanted butter pecan ice cream.

Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Ever wonder where the butter in butter pecan ice cream comes in? I did too, but Google wasn’t a very big help. If anyone out there knows, I’d love to hear about it!

Since I didn’t find a satisfactory answer from a quick search I decided to interpret the name literally and use butter. I browned the butter in a saucepan to give it a nice toasty flavor.

Then, I stirred in maple syrup, honey, and whole milk and heated it just until it was warm. Once it was warm I whisked in the egg yolks. It’s important to make sure that the milk mixture is just lukewarm to start with or you’ll scramble your egg yolks. If you do accidentally scramble them at some point, just strain the finished product before refrigerating it.

After that, I heated and stirred the mixture until it was nice and thick, then stirred in the heavy cream and vanilla.

Important Note: The final step before freezing is to make sure the ice cream base is well chilled. If you try to churn a warm ice cream mixture it will take far longer to freeze or may not even freeze at all.

Do I Need an Ice Cream Maker?

Need? No. I know ice cream makers aren’t the cheapest appliances so I understand the hesitancy. And if you’ve never made ice cream before and you’re not sure whether you’re going to do it more than once, you may want to try an alternative method first.

There’s always the classic tin can method. It’s a super fun science project for kids. And this article describes four other options. Just know that if you choose one of these methods, your ice cream will freeze more firmly than ice cream churned in a machine.

However, I love my ice cream maker and the soft, creamy ice cream it produces. I get enough use out of it that I consider it a completely worthwhile investment. Also, because homemade ice cream is so much cheaper to make than store-bought (not to mention healthier), I’m really saving money in the long run, right?

I’ll let you judge for yourself whether homemade ice cream is delicious enough to warrant buying an ice cream maker. I sure think it is though, so without further ado, here’s the recipe so you can try it for yourself:

Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe

Nutty and sweet butter pecan ice cream packed with brain healthy fats and a boost of nutrients.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Chilling Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 45 minutes
Calories 217kcal
Author Katie Wells

Servings

16 servings

Ingredients

  • 4 egg yolks
  • 4 TBSP butter (or coconut oil)
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ¼ cup honey
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 2 cups whole milk (2 cups canned coconut milk)
  • 2 cups heavy cream (or an additional 2 cups canned coconut milk)
  • 2 TBSP vanilla extract
  • ½ to 1 cup pecans (chopped)

Instructions

  • In a skillet, toast the pecans for a few minutes or until aromatic.
  • Set aside to cool.
  • Separate the egg yolks from the whites.
  • Set the whites aside for another use and place the yolks in a medium-size bowl and whisk.
  • Set aside.
  • In a medium-size saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat until it’s foamy and the butter solids have browned. If using coconut oil, just heat it in the pan to melt it.
  • Whisk in the maple syrup, honey, salt, and 2 cups of whole milk or coconut milk.
  • When slightly warmed, quickly whisk in the egg yolks.
  • Heat until warmed and thickened, stirring constantly.
  • Remove from the heat and strain if you’ve accidentally scrambled the eggs.
  • Whisk in the remaining heavy cream or coconut milk and the vanilla extract.
  • Refrigerate until chilled or overnight.
  • Pour the ice cream mix and the toasted pecans into an ice cream maker or choose a method of freezing that does not require an ice cream maker.
  • Turn on the ice cream maker and follow user instructions.
  • Serve and enjoy immediately or freeze for later.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe
Amount Per Serving (0.5 cup)
Calories 217 Calories from Fat 162
% Daily Value*
Fat 18g28%
Saturated Fat 10g63%
Trans Fat 1g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 6g
Cholesterol 100mg33%
Sodium 89mg4%
Potassium 97mg3%
Carbohydrates 11g4%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 9g10%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 641IU13%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 69mg7%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

For the dairy sensitive, use coconut milk and either omit the butter or use coconut oil instead.

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

Next on our list to make: Mint chip, raspberry chip, mocha, and others…. what is your favorite?

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

60 responses to “Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe”

  1. sheryl Avatar

    What is the inside of your ice cream maker consist of? Aluminum or non-stick?

  2. Hillary Avatar
    Hillary

    Okay, used the recipe exactly. Even bought this ice cream maker!! Did not work. What did I do?? What can I do?? I really want this recipe to work!

  3. SUSAN Avatar

    Would this work with raw cow’s milk and 1 pint of medium heavy cream?

  4. Crystal Grothoff Avatar
    Crystal Grothoff

    Dear Katie, This recipe looks wonderful, and upon your recommendation we just purchased the Cuisinart ICE-21 1.5 ice cream maker. I have been unable to determine whether the inner pot is made of aluminum. The comments on Amazon are not decisive, and none of the representatives at Cuisinart were able to answer my questions. Do you have any thoughts on the matter? With gratitude, Crystal

  5. Sabrina Avatar

    Raw milk is against the law in Canada. And, honestly, I was a kid when I tested raw milk (S Europe), and me being born in a city, I drank pasteurized milk since I was switched to cow milk. But, when I visited a friend in a rural area, they had a cow, and she brought me a glass with freshly “brewed” milk. I tried but I did not like it at all. So while living there we had raw milk, but my mum always boiled it before using it for me. I know that raw milk has different composition than the boiled one similar to raw honey vs pasteurized. I would do yogurt and cheese with raw milk, but just to drink a glass of milk, no thank you. And to do that, I need to take up farming and have my own cow. Easy, breezy.

    1. Destiny Avatar
      Destiny

      4 stars
      Delicious recipe. However, I did not like the distinct flavor of egg, so I recommend using no more than 3 eggs for this serving size. Thank you for sharing!!

  6. Shannon Avatar

    5 stars
    I’ve ordered some genuine Stevia leaves (dried which can be made into powder) because I’m on a sugar free diet. Have you ever used STEVIA in your ice cream? Or has it worked out for anyone else?
    Thank you! 🙂

  7. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    I just made this; it was perfect! My teen thought it was the best thing ever.

    Thanks for this wonderful recipe and all you do!!

  8. Marie Avatar

    5 stars
    Hello everyone!

    I am in agreement. This amazing ice cream. To prevent the butter from clumping did you try bringing all the ingredients to room temp?

  9. Christine Avatar
    Christine

    4 stars
    Made this tonight, it was delicious! I used all maple syrup, no honey. However, like others have stated, the butter didn’t mix very well. It all seemed mixed after blending, but the butter re-hardened in small clumps during the ice cream making process.

  10. Michelle Goldsmith Avatar
    Michelle Goldsmith

    5 stars
    Brrrr! It’s too cold to make ice cream right now (just before Christmas), but I will definitely be making this when it warms up next year — This is almost my favourite flavour. The only thing better would be to substitute praline for the plain pecans, that would be sensational! Thank you for this recipe!!

  11. Sandra Avatar

    Thanks Katie, looking at buying this ice cream maker. It gets very good reviews and not that expensive. Will have to make some ice cream with stevia as hubby won’t eat it otherwise.

  12. Jean Avatar

    5 stars
    Perfect timing! Was online searching two days ago for a low/no sugar ice cream recipe using coconut milk and fresh fruit. Suppose any fresh fruit would be amazing in this: nectarines, peaches, blueberries! Thanks, Katie!

  13. marce Avatar

    4 stars
    Thank you. This blended well as long as I kept the canned coconut milk and the butter at room temperature before blending everything together. I used 2 tbs of vanilla and two whole eggs in mine along with 2 tbs ground flax-seed and 2 tbs melted coconut oil. I poured the mixture into my ice cream maker and 30 minutes in I added the pecans. Definitely will do again. This was definitely a little more than 4 servings and very rich.

  14. Savi Avatar

    Hi
    Are the raw eggs optional ? I am allergic to eggs and wanted to check if there was a substitute for the eggs ?

  15. Samantha Avatar
    Samantha

    Hi in the process of making this, put everything in the blender (not the pecans) and my butter clumped up. Is it suppose to do that. I haven’t added it to my ice cream maker yet. Also the raw egg yolks is that safe, because they don’t seem to be getting cooked. Please let me know.

    Sam

  16. Carolyn Avatar
    Carolyn

    That is a ton of vanilla extract! I am thinking this is a misprint and you mean teaspoons?

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