Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

This is by-far my favorite base recipe for ice cream. It came in a small Cuisinart recipe book I got when I purchased my ice cream maker. It is so simple and easy to put together, but I always add different ingredients to it at the end to make a whole new flavor of ice cream! This particular recipe is extremely smooth and creamy (my favorite way to eat ice cream) and has a mouth-watering delicious vanilla flavor that definitely tastes homemade. I love store-bought ice cream, but for me there is nothing better than the classic taste of the homemade kind.




Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole milk (I use whatever is in the fridge - usually 1%)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• pinch sale
• 2 cups heavy craem
• 1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed or whisk to combine the milk, sugar and salt until the sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours, or overnight. Freeze according to ice cream maker directions.

For my particular ice cream maker, I add in the additional ingredients about 5 minutes before the ice cream is done mixing. My favorite varieties are are:

• crushed oreos
• pecans lightly sauteed in butter and brown sugar
• S'mores (crushed graham crackers, melted chocolate at room temperature, 3/4 cup marshmallow cream)
• 1 cup peanut butter and chopped peanut butter cups
• chopped peppermints