Butter Pecan Ice Cream

This butter pecan ice cream recipe has a rich, creamy custard base flavored with browned butter and brown sugar. Butter-toasted pecans finish out this decadent ice cream!

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Chilling, Churning, and Freezing Time 12 25

Total Time 13 5

Servings

Equipment

Ingredients

For the ice cream base:

6 large egg yolks
8 tablespoons salted butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 ½ cups whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

For the pecans:

1 tablespoon salted butter
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 ½ cups chopped pecans
Flaky sea salt

Instructions

Make the ice cream base:

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Set aside.
6 large egg yolks
In a medium saucepot, melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, allow to continue cooking over medium heat, stirring or swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter has browned and has a nutty aroma. During this process, the butter will first sputter quite a bit; once the sputtering has subsided, the butter will start to foam up. This is when you need to start watching it carefully, as it can go from perfectly browned to burned quite quickly.
8 tablespoons salted butter
As soon as the butter has reached a dark amber color and smells nutty, add the brown sugar. Whisk to combine and cook for about 1 more minute, then pour in the heavy cream, followed by the whole milk.
1 cup packed dark brown sugar, 1 ½ cups heavy cream, 1 ½ cups whole milk
Whisk to combine, then allow to cook, whisking occasionally, until the mixture is very hot. It should be just shy of simmering, with steam rising off the top. Reduce the heat to low.
Slowly stream about 1 ½ cups of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Pour the heated yolk mixture into the pot, whisking to combine.
Continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened and coats the back of a spoon—when you swipe a finger though the custard on the back of the spoon, it should leave a clean line.
Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Transfer to an airtight container. Allow to cool, then cover and chill for at least 8 hours, but preferably overnight for the best flavor.
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Toast the pecans:

In a nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and pecans and cook, stirring almost constantly, for about 5 minutes or until the pecans are toasted and fragrant.
1 tablespoon salted butter, 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar, 1 ½ cups chopped pecans
Remove from the heat and add a pinch or two of flaky sea salt. Stir to combine.
Flaky sea salt
Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool completely. If making ahead of time, store in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to add to the ice cream.

Churn the ice cream:

Once the ice cream base has chilled, churn according to your ice cream maker’s manufacturer instructions.
At the end of the churning time, add the toasted pecans. Allow to churn for another 30 seconds to combine, then transfer to a freezer-safe storage container. Allow to harden for about 4 hours in the freezer before scooping and enjoying! (Ice cream will be a soft-serve consistency straight from the ice cream maker.)

Notes

Ingredients

I highly recommend using a good quality butter, such as Kerrygold or Kirkland Signature Grass-Fed Butter for this recipe.
If you do not have dark brown sugar, you can use an equal amount of light brown sugar in the ice cream base and add 1 tablespoon of molasses when you add the brown sugar to the browned butter.

Churning

Make sure you freeze the bowl of your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer instructions prior to churning the ice cream.
If you don't wish to add all of the pecans to the ice cream, you can add as many as you'd like and save the rest to add to snack on or add to a salad.

Nutrition