Vanilla Ice Cream

This will, no doubt, be the foundation for many wonderful discoveries. From the manual.

Preparation: 5 minutes, plus 20 – 25 minutes chilling time;

Optional: up to 2 hours to ripen.

Makes ten 1/2-cup servings.

3 cups half & half, well chilled

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 – 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, to taste

In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer or a whisk to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 – 2 minutes on low speed. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla to taste. Turn machine on, pour mixture into freezer bowl through ingredient spout and let mix until thickened, about 25 – 30 minutes.

Note: This is incredible ice cream.

Nutritional analysis per 1/2 cup serving:

Calories 239 (68% from fat) • carbo. 17g • pro 2g • fat 18g •

sat. fat 11g • chol. 69mg • sod. 30mg
no wonder it's yummy. 

Variations: 

Cookies & Cream: when this gets to "soft serve" state (about 15 - 20 minutes), add a cup of crushed Oreos, or crushed peanut butter cups, or something yummy.

Banana Ice Cream: Add 3 ripe bananas (the riper the better). Puree into ice cream mix. Consider topping with (crushed?) vanilla wafers as sprinkles. 

Peanut Butter Ice Cream: Add 3 oz of melted creamy peanut butter (@ 40 seconds in microwave), blend with ice cream recipe. Consider topping with crumbled dry roasted peanuts as sprinkles.

Coconut Almond Ice Cream: Add 4-6 oz of Cream of Coconut to ice cream recipe. Use toasted shredded coconut & slivered almonds as sprinkles, or add them to the last 2 minutes of the mixing process. 

Alternative basic vanilla base:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 qt heavy cream or half and half
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla



Dairy Free base:
3 cups reduced fat coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
(Chill before making ice cream)



Alternative Dairy Free base:
3 cups dairy free milk (Soy, Hemp, Almond, Rice)
2 tablespoons soy milk powder
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
(Chill before making ice cream)