Salted Double Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

As much as I love fun ice cream flavors (like this one), nothing beats a classic homemade vanilla bean ice cream. And this ice cream is perfect: a custard-base, double vanilla bean ice cream, that’s creamy, rich, and silky smooth!!

This ice cream is dairy-free, refined sugar-free, and uses whole-food ingredients like egg yolks, homemade nut milk, and honey (so you can technically call this breakfast haha)! 

And the beauty of this recipe? You can make this ice cream with regular dairy if you’re not dairy-free, swap in cane sugar if you prefer, etc. It’s such a forgiving recipe!

Sidebar, let’s chat base recipes, aka my cheat sheet to baking. Because in essence, that’s exactly what this vanilla bean ice cream is: a base recipe that you can riff off in a million different ways.

Base recipes are tried and true recipes (like a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe) that you have in your arsenal to riff off and create different flavors with. Once you have a solid base recipe, you can create endless variations. And this homemade vanilla bean ice cream is the perfect base to play around with. Leaving tons of ideas here for fun ice cream flavors and inventive ways to serve this!!

Ingredients for the BEST Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

• Egg yolks: The egg yolks in this recipe not only stabilize the ice cream but also give it a rich and creamy mouthfeel that you can’t replicate with anything else.
• Homemade nut milk: A high-fat creamy homemade nut milk is the key to getting this dairy-free vanilla ice cream to taste like it was made with dairy. To replicate the combo of milk and cream that’s used in traditional ice cream, I used a combo of cashews and almonds in my milk-cream hybrid. The creaminess of the cashews perfectly replicates the richness of heavy cream, and the almonds add protein and structure that you would normally get from 2% milk. 
• Honey: Feel free to swap the honey for regular cane sugar.   
• Vanilla extract AND ground vanilla: Love the ground vanilla from Beyond Good – it’s so good haha. A whole vanilla bean or vanilla bean paste both work as well in place of the ground vanilla.
• Kosher salt: Specifically, Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If you’re using Morton kosher salt, reduce the salt by half. Morton is much saltier and denser than Diamond Crystal kosher salt.

Kitchen Tools You Need

• A digital scale because it’s the most accurate.
• An ice cream maker (linking the one we’ve had for the past 15 years here that’s phenomenal) or the KitchenAid ice cream attachment which I finally caved and bought (it’s worth it)! 
• Large pot
• Medium glass bowl 
• Whisk
• Flexible rubber spatula 
• Loaf pan or a container to store the ice cream 

How to Make Homemade Ice Cream

Consider this a visual guide – the full recipe and measurements are in the recipe card below!

Prep the Cream

Make the homemade nut milk by blending together 4 cups (910 g) of water with 1 1/2  cups (215 g) of raw cashews and 1 cup (140 g) of raw almonds on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds or until super creamy and smooth. Strain in a nut milk bag and store in a glass jar. It’ll keep well for 5-6 days so feel free to make this ahead of time. 

Make the Base

To a large pot, add the cream (or milk and cream if you’re using dairy), honey, ground vanilla, and salt. Heat over medium heat until it just begins to simmer (it should be hot but not boiling). 

Next, temper the eggs (so you don’t make scrambled eggs). Carefully scoop out about 1/2 cup of the cream mixture, and whisking the eggs constantly, add the cream to the bowl with the egg yolks. Repeat, adding another 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture to the bowl of yolks. Whisking constantly, carefully pour the egg yolk mixture into the pot of cream. 

Swap the whisk for a spatula and stir the custard mixture constantly as it cooks (still on medium-low) until it thickens and coats the back of a spatula or wooden spoon. It’s easier to see if the custard is at the right stage with a wooden spoon. NOTE: Now that the egg yolks are in the pot, keep the heat gentle and low; otherwise you run the risk of the custard breaking (aka the eggs will scramble). So if you’re new to ice cream making, keep the heat low which will slow down the process and it’ll make it easier to watch. It will take longer, but at least you won’t make any mistakes!

Strain the base through a fine mesh sieve into a clean container. Place in an ice bath and stir until room temp, then stir in the vanilla extract. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight to chill. 

Churn & Freeze

Pour the chilled base into your ice cream bowl and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Mine takes about 20-25 minutes to churn up – it should be the consistency of soft serve.

Pour the ice cream into your prepared container, smooth out the top, and chill for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. Scoop and serve whenever you’re ready. For perfectly scooped ice cream, let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes.

Notes & Tips

• Prep the homemade nut milk ahead of time. It’ll make the ice cream-making process a bit smoother and less time-consuming if you already have the milk prepped a few days ahead. 
• Freeze your ice cream bowl at least 16 hours (preferably 24 hours) in advance. Otherwise, it won’t be cold enough to properly churn the ice cream.
• Freeze the ice cream after churning for 4-6 hours, ideally overnight. This is the last stage in the ice cream process – yes you can eat it right after churning but it won’t be the right texture. Freezing helps the ice cream firm up and develop even more flavor.
• If you’re not dairy-free, use the cream and milk measurements included in the recipe. While I prefer using honey in this recipe for multiple reasons, feel free to swap it out for regular granulated cane sugar. 
• Tempering eggs can be a bit scary if you’re new to ice cream making, but it’s super important, otherwise, they’ll scramble in the hot cream (insert sad face emoji). Watch my video to see how I tempered the eggs.

Riff Off this Recipe – Endless Ideas!!

You can make almost any ice cream flavor with this base recipe, but leaving a few ideas below. If you have any questions about a flavor you want to make, just drop a comment below!

• Grilled peaches n’ cream – Halve some juicy peaches, throw them on the grill until soft and slightly charred, and serve with a generous scoop of this vanilla ice cream.
• Cherries, chocolate, and cream – Stew some pitted and halved cherries with a sprinkle of sugar or honey until jammy and the juices become syrupy, spoon over this vanilla ice cream, along with a drizzle of melted dark chocolate. 
• Ice cream sammies – Sandwich this ice cream between a waffle, oatmeal cookies, etc.
• More mix-ins than ice cream – Fold in crumbled chocolate chip cookies, chopped dark chocolate, etc. Have fun with the mix-ins.
• Matcha ice cream – Once you’ve cooked the custard, take it off the heat, remove 1 cup of the custard and whisk in 1 tbsp of matcha (I would use Ippodo’s Sayaka matcha), then dump it back into the custard and whisk well. Then strain and continue as directed in the recipe. 
• Mint chip ice cream – Before churning the ice cream base, whisk in 1 tsp of mint extract. Once the base has churned, fold in 3/4 cup chopped dark chocolate (or dark mint chocolate) by hand. Then continue as directed in the recipe.
• Cookies n’ cream ice cream – Once the ice cream is done churning, fold in 1 1/4 cup roughly chopped Oreos or your favorite sandwich cookie.

Happy ice cream making! 

-Yasmeen

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