Vanilla Ice Cream

Now that I have two toddlers and always have an abundance of whole milk in the fridge, I recently began making vanilla ice cream again in my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. This vanilla ice cream recipe is great on its own or to use as a base - you can add in other things like Oreos, brownies, cookies, chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chocolate chips, etc. Just pour 1 cup of the add-in into the ice cream after it has been in the freezer bowl for 20 minutes, then let it run another 5 minutes before transferring the ice cream to a container in the freezer.

I personally love vanilla ice cream on its own so I make this recipe more than any other. Since there are no eggs in it and nothing needs to cook and then be refrigerated, this recipe comes together very quickly! I always keep my ice cream maker bowls in my freezer so I can make ice cream whenever I want (they need to be in the freezer at least 24 hours before making the ice cream). I also love the consistency of the ice cream right after it's made - it's like soft serve!

This recipe makes about 1.5 quarts of ice cream - you can increase the whole milk to 1.5 to 2 cups if your ice cream maker holds more.

Vanilla Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk, very cold

1/8 teaspoon salt

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 cups heavy cream, very cold

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a cold bowl, whisk together milk, salt and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Stir in heavy cream and vanilla.

Pour into ice cream maker's freezer bowl. Let it run for about 25 minutes or until ice cream is thick and done.

Transfer to container and place in freezer about 2 hours to completely firm up.