I am so happy you’re here today so I can share an excellent Halloween-ish ice cream recipe with you. Meet no-churn Butterfinger ice cream. It’s packed with Butterfingers melted right into the base plus extra chocolate and peanut butter for good measure.
If you’re a huge Butterfinger fan, you may also really enjoy my crunchy Butterfinger candy recipe or my easy Butterfinger bark.
For ease of browsing, you can find all my ice cream recipes in one place.
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I wrote this post for #HalloweenTreatsWeek sponsored by Big Bear’s Wife and Dixie Crystals. The recipe and all opinions are my own.
Why You Should Make This Recipe
This is a great way to use up Fun-Sized (or full-sized) Butterfinger candy bars.
It’s rich, so a little goes a long way.
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This recipe is very creamy and crunchy, so there is a nice textural contrast in each bite.
After a couple of extra steps of melting ingredients into heavy cream, this is made just like regular no-churn ice cream.
How To Make Butterfinger Ice Cream
Here are the ingredients you’ll need along with substitutions you can make, the procedure, and equipment to make your Butterfinger ice cream-making life easier.
First, let’s take a look at the ingredients.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- heavy cream: Whipping the cream adds body and airy texture
- Butterfinger bars: Used twice, some melted into the base and more crushed candy bars layered into the finished ice cream. You can use Fun-Sized or full-sized bars. I don’t recommend using Butterfinger Bites because the chocolate layer is very thin and not delicious. They make for an underwhelming flavor. Trust me, I gave it a shot.
- cocoa powder: Just a touch melted into the cream with the candy yields deeper chocolate flavor
- peanut powder: To add a bit more peanut butter flavor to the base. Not strictly necessary, but it does boost the flavor.
- sweetened condensed milk: provides some of the sweetness and more milky, creamy goodness
- milk: whole milk, reduced fat, or lowfat milk will work here. It increases the bulk, keeps the base from being too thick and rich, and all the water in the milk ensures that the dessert will freeze nicely
- salt: brings all the flavors into focus, especially the peanut flavor
- peanut butter: I use natural peanut butter, but you can use your favorite, smooth or crunchy. Heat it for a few seconds in the microwave so you can drizzle it into the ice cream
Procedure
Here’s how to make no-churn Butterfinger ice cream, friends.
- Heat cream and stir in chopped Butterfingers, cocoa powder, peanut powder, and salt.
- Blend in your blender until smooth.
- Refigerate until cold, about 4 hours.
- Whip the cream mixture until lighter in color and a little bit thicker.
- Whip in the sweetened condensed milk and milk.
- Heat peanut butter so you can drizzle it.
- Into your freezer-safe container, layer in the chocolate peanut butter base, crushed Butterfingers, and peanut butter in 3 additions of each, starting with the base and ending with the last of the mix-ins.
- Freeze until firm, about 8 hours.
Tips and Tricks for Success
This is a pretty straightforward recipe to make, despite the steps.
Here are a few pointers for you to ensure success.
- Make sure to chill the heavy cream base thoroughly before whipping.
- You can use a hand mixer or a
stand mixer to make this ice cream, although I think you will get a lighter texture if you use astand mixer . - Whisk slowly to combine the sweetened condensed milk and milk. Since the two milks are very different in texture, it’ll be easier to combine them with the rest of the base if you completely whisk them together first.
- You can use more or fewer candy bars than I call for in the recipe. If using fewer, you can keep the chocolate peanut butter flavor front and center by adding a bit more cocoa powder and peanut butter powder to your base.
Q & A
Use 4-5 full-sized bars in the ice cream base itself and chop 2 additional for layering.
Full-sized Butterfinger bars are listed as gluten-free, but not the fun-sized bars that I used. If you need to make sure your ice cream is gluten-free, use full-sized bars rather than fun-sized.
For best flavor and texture, eat within the first week. Make sure to store your Butterfinger ice cream in an air-tight, freezer-safe container, ideally with plastic wrap also pressed down onto the surface.
Friends, this is a high-calorie ice cream recipe. It has way more calories in it than even super-premium brands. You can cut down on the calories by leaving out the melted Butterfingers in the base, but then you’ll have to play around with increasing the cocoa powder, peanut butter powder, and sweetened condensed milk. Personally, I’d make it as written and just consider it a seasonal treat.
Serving Suggestions
- You can obviously eat this ice cream plain, but it would also be delicious with some of the best hot fudge sauce in the world or my quick hot fudge sauce.
- And I’ve had it with butterscotch ice cream sauce on top, and I can highly recommend that!
- Consider serving a scoop of Butterfinger ice cream on top of a fudgy brownie or a marbled chocolate peanut butter brownie. Top with some hand-whipped cream for a great Butterfinger sundae.
More Halloween Treats
Check out all of these great #HalloweenTreatsWeek recipes for today
- Jack-O-Lantern Apple Slice Pops from Big Bear’s Wife
- Monster Eyeball Cupcakes from Semi Homemade Recipes
- Ghost Meringue Cookies from Jen Around the World
- Apple Cider Donut Whoopie Pies from Pint Sized Baker
- Graveyard Pudding Cups from Fresh April Flours
- Churro Cookies from Devour Dinner
- Halloween Monster Donuts from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Witches’ Brew Whiskey Sour from The Redhead Baker
- Witches Hat Cheese Ball from 4 Sons ‘R’ Us
- Pumpkin Swirl Brownies from Eat Move Make
- Layered Halloween Jello from from House of Nash Eats
- Mummy Wrapped Brie from Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Mummy Cupcakes from The Flour Handprint
- Halloween Candy Cracker Toffee from Sweet ReciPEAs
- Old Fashioned Apple Fritters from It’s Shanaka
- Pumpkin Mint Patties from Sweet Beginnings
- Butterfinger Ice Cream (No-Churn) from Pastry Chef Online You’re here!
- Chocolate Frogs from The Spiffy Cookie
- Halloween Cupcake Treat Board from Strawberry Blondie Kitchen
- Skull Cake from Lemon Blossoms
- Halloween Brownie Pizza from Back To My Southern Roots
- Halloween Mini Bat Taco Cheeseballs from Savory Moments
- Ghostly Poptarts from An Affair from the Heart
- Deadly Dark Chocolate Layer Cake from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
Questions?
If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.
Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.
If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.
A Note About Measurements
My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.
For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.
I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.
This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.
Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.
Please Take a Moment to Rate and Share
It will help me and other readers so much if you take a moment to rate and leave a review for this recipe.
You can use the stars to rate 1-5 (5 is best), and leave a review in the comments. It helps me make adjustments if any are needed, and comments help others decide whether the recipe is worth making.
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Thank you so much for taking the time!
Best Butterfinger Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 15 Fun-Sized Butterfinger candy bars 1 bag
- 12 oz heavy cream about 1 1/4 cups
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2 Tablespoons peanut butter powder
- 8 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 8 oz milk
- 8 Fun-Sized Butterfinger candy bars finely chopped
- ½ cup natural peanut butter
Instructions
- Chop the 15 Butterfingers into small bits.
- Heat the cream in a microwave-safe bowl until hot.
- Whisk in the chopped Butterfingers, cocoa powder, and peanut butter powder. Not everything will melt smoothly, but that’s okay.
- Transfer the cream mixture to your blender and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours.
- Add the chilled cream mixture (it will be very thick) to your mixer bowl (or to a large bowl if using a hand mixer), and whip until lighter in color, about 45 seconds or so. Scrape the bowl.
- Whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and milk until well-combined and add to your mixing bowl.
- Whisk on medium-low speed to combine. Scrape bowl as necessary.
- Heat the peanut butter for a few seconds so it is easy to drizzle.
- Layer 1/3 of the ice cream base into a freezer-safe container.
- Sprinkle on 1/3 of the second amount of chopped Butterfingers and drizzle on 1/3 of the peanut butter.
- Repeat twice more, finishing with the mix-ins.
- Press plastic wrap directly on top of the ice cream and freeze until firm, 8 hours or overnight.
- Enjoy within 10 days to 2 weeks.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Notes
To Use Full-Size Bars
Melt 4-5 full-sized Butterfinger bars into the base in place of the 15 fun-sized bars. Chop 2 full-sized bars to use for layering.Storing
Keep in the freezer with plastic wrap pressed directly on top of the ice cream for up to 2 weeks. It really is best within the first week, though. After that, flavor and texture will suffer.Nutrition
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