The Best Butterscotch Ice Cream Recipe| No Special Equipment!

Last year for my birthday, my husband gifted me an old-fashioned hand-crank ice cream maker (like Grampie had).

I “christened” it using this recipe, and it is my absolute favorite. I’ve made the recipe a few times since then (along with some other favorites), and we just can’t get enough of it.

Reader Michelle

Butterscotch Ice Cream

I considered making a no-churn ice cream, but with the amount of butter in butterscotch, I didn’t want to throw another pint of heavy cream into the mix, or you’d only be able to eat one spoonful.

I settled on making a Sicilian gelato base for the butterscotch extravaganza.

Why This Recipe Works

Sicilian gelato is basically a sweetened, whole milk ice cream base that is thickened with starch rather than egg.

Since it’s a whole-milk base, there is less butterfat than a base made using cream or even half and half, and that’s important since the butterscotch itself already sports a stick of butter.

Almost more important than the amount of butterfat is the lack of eggs in the recipe. Butterscotch is such a pure flavor I didn’t want to muddy it at all by introducing egg yolks.

You’ll note the recipe calls for a touch of cream cheese as well. This is a trick I learned from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.

Cream cheese not only adds additional body to the base, but it also acts as a stabilizer, helping to keep the ice cream smooth, creamy, and free of ice crystals.

How does this work? Cream cheese already contains stabilizers in the form of xanthan gum or guar gum, so we can “borrow” them to help stabilize our ice cream.

And as your final bonus, while you can churn this in a traditional ice cream maker, you can also churn it by hand–just a few whisks every hour or so while it’s freezing. Excellent!

How To Make It

Ingredients

Like most homemade ice cream, the ingredient list is pretty short and straightforward:

• butter and brown sugar: the backbone of any butterscotch dessert. Cook the two together until the sugar has caramelized and the butter has browned. You can use light or dark brown sugar, but I prefer dark brown. You can also use salted or unsalted butter, but I prefer to use unsalted and then salt to taste. Even if you use salted butter, it is likely you will need to add some extra salt
• whole milk: provides the volume for the ice cream. You can substitute 2% milk here, but up the cornstarch by an additional teaspoon or you risk having icy ice cream.
• cornstarch: thickens the mixture to provide body to trap air and to keep ice crystals small
• kosher salt: for flavor. Salt is an integral flavor component of butterscotch, so don’t leave it out
• cream cheese: provides a touch of extra fat and richness while not overwhelming the ice cream. It also helps keep it scoopable straight from the freezer
• vanilla extract: rounds out the flavor

Making the ice cream base is a pretty straightforward process. There are actually a number of ways to do it, but this is how I made my butterscotch base:

1. Make butterscotch by cooking together brown sugar (I used sponsor Dixie Crystals Light Brown Sugar although I honestly prefer dark brown sugar for butterscotch) and butter until the butter has browned and the sugar has caramelized.
2. Add half of the milk and stir over low heat until all the butterscotch has melted into the milk.
3. Whisk the cornstarch into the rest of the milk and add to the pot. Bring to a boil and let boil for one minute.
4. Whisk in the softened cream cheese until smooth.
5. Add vanilla. (I used sponsor Adam’s Extract Double Vanilla.)

Can I Make Ice Cream Without an Ice Cream Maker?

Yes you can. I did!

I do have this ice cream maker, and I love using it, but I realize not everyone has an ice cream maker.

And not everyone has a mixer for making no churn ice cream. So for today’s ice cream treat, I decided to make a conventional base (Sicilian gelato) and then freeze it without an ice cream maker.

How To

It is much easier than I thought to make ice cream without an ice cream maker. Wait. What I really should say is I can not tell the difference in texture between my ice cream I make in my churn and ice cream churned “by hand.”

I was afraid the ice cream would end up a little grainy or icy, but it is every bit as smooth and decadent as my traditionally churned and no-churn ice creams. Magic!

All you need is time at home. Here’s how you do it.

1. Make and chill your base until completely cold.
2. Put the base in a large bowl and put it in the freezer. Set a timer for one hour.
3. After the hour is up, take the bowl out of the freezer and whisk it very thoroughly, making sure to scrape all the frozen bits around the edges into the rest. Whisk until it is completely smooth with no lumps.
4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 at least two more times. It might take three more times depending on your base.

Here’s a collage with photos of what my base looked like as I was in the process of freezing it. Mine took 3 rounds of whisking and freezing.

How Do I Know When My Ice Cream Is Done?

If you’ve ever had soft-serve ice cream or frozen yogurt, that is the texture you’re looking for.

After 3 or possibly 4 rounds of freezing and thorough whisking, your base will hold its shape fairly well and will look like soft serve. (See Video)

And then you’re done.

Once you get to soft-serve consistency:

• pack the ice cream in whatever container you’d like
• press plastic wrap on the surface of the ice cream (if not using a container with a tight-fitting lid)
• freeze at least four more hours or overnight.

Thanks to whisking in some air, the cornstarch, and the cream cheese, your ice cream won’t be rock hard straight from the freezer, but it will be a bit easier to scoop if you let the container sit on the counter for five minutes or so before serving.

PRO TIP: If you forget about your base and it freezes solid before you’ve whisked enough air into it, cut it into chunks and blend it up in your blender or food processor. Then pack into your container and freeze.

Butterscotch Ice Cream Q & A

If you have any questions about this or any other recipe or post on the site, there are a few ways to get in touch.

You can leave a comment on the post, and I’ll be back in touch within 24 hours.

If your question is more pressing, don’t hesitate to email me, and I should be back in touch within 4 hours (unless I’m asleep) or often much more quickly than that.

A Note About Measurements

This is the kitchen scale that I recommend for home cooks and bakers. Using a scale will help you be more accurate and consistent in your measurements.

It is lightweight, easy to store, accurate, and very easy to use.

I hope you’ve learned something from this post or that you’ve decided to make the recipe.

It would really help me and other readers out if you’d rate the recipe using the star ratings in the recipe card.

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Disclaimer: These posts and recipes are part of the week-long event, #SummerDessertWeek but all opinions are 100% mine! We would like to Thank our amazing sponsors: Dixie Crystals, Adam’s Extract, Wilton, Sweets and Treats Shop and Anolon! These wonderful sponsors sent samples and products to the #SummerDessertWeek bloggers to use in their recipes.