Butter Pecan Ice Cream (No-Cook, No-Churn)

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This simple no-cook, no-churn Butter Pecan Ice Cream uses only 6 ingredients! It’s rich, creamy, and loaded with vanilla flavor and toasty pecans!

bowl full of scoops of homemade butter pecan ice cream

Butter Pecan ice cream is my husband’s favorite…a runner up favorite flavor isn’t even close. It was his dad’s favorite flavor – and that apple didn’t fall far from the tree!

Some butter pecan ice cream recipes are tedious because they involve cooking…and churning…and (even worse) raw eggs.

I don’t want raw eggs (and potential salmonella poisoning) in my cookie dough or my eggnog. And I don’t want them in my ice cream!

So I decided to develop a recipe for our family that gives that same rich buttery, caramel flavor without using raw eggs.

What is butter pecan ice cream made of?

Most basic ice cream recipes start with a custard base (using whole milk or cream, sugar, and eggs or egg yolks). This butter pecan ice cream recipe skips the cooking because I used heavy whipping cream to make a super easy, fuss-free, creamy ice cream with less prep time and effort.

vertical image of a bowl of homemade butter pecan ice cream

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Ingredients Needed For Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe

Salted Butter
Pecans – chopped
Granulated Sugar – divided
Heavy Cream
Salt
Vanilla Extract

How To Make Butter Pecan Ice Cream

The process for making this recipe is simple! Here’s how:

Step 1 – Chop And Toast Pecans

Add pecan halves to the food processor to chop the nuts. Pulse a few times to get a variety of sizes.

Add chopped nuts to a saucepan with 4 tablespoons of butter and a quarter cup of sugar. Place over medium heat and stir continuously until butter and sugar form a crust around the nuts.

Set aside the nuts to cool.

Step 2 – Make The Ice Cream Base

In a mixing bowl whisk the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Do not over whisk cream.

ice cream base for butter pecan ice cream

Step 3 – Combine All Ingredients

Once soft peaks have formed, add the remaining sugar, vanilla, salt and buttered pecans. Fold ingredients together.

mixing together ingredients for butter pecan ice cream

Step 4 – Freeze

Place cream mixture into a loaf pan and freeze for 6-8 or overnight.

Enjoy!

loaf pan of no churn butter pecan ice cream

Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe Notes And Tips

When you store your ice cream, cover it with plastic wrap to help prevent a skin from forming.
Toast your pecans! Toasting the nuts makes them crunchier and brings out their buttery, nutty flavor.
Let it sit before serving. I recommend letting the ice cream sit on the counter for 5-10 minutes before you serve it to give it a softer, creamier texture.

Variations To Try

Sugar – I used granulated sugar, but if you want an even deeper caramel flavor, swap out the granulated sugar for brown sugar.

Cream/Milk – Instead of using all heavy whipping cream, you could use 2 cups of whipping cream and 1 cup of whole milk.

What To Serve with Butter Pecan Ice Cream

This butter pecan ice cream is so good that it doesn’t need company, but if you want to pair it with something, we suggest these recipes.

How To Store Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream will last wrapped tightly with plastic wrap in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to serve, set the container out on the counter for 5-10 minutes to soften.

FAQs

Do I need to toast the pecans before adding them to this ice cream?

Toasting the nuts for this butter pecan ice cream is definitely necessary because it adds a caramel-like flavor to them, which enhances the flavor of the brown butter ice cream. Also, toasting the pecans makes them nice and crispy so they don’t get soggy after you add them to the ice cream.

Is “no cook ice cream” the same as “no churn ice cream”?

No – and this recipe is both “no cook” (instead of cooking a custard) and “no churn.” Making ice cream this way keeps you from needing to pull out the ice cream machine.

Can you use milk instead of heavy cream for ice cream?

In theory, yes, but I highly recommend sticking with the heavy cream. It’s what makes the ice cream extra rich, smooth, and creamy. The higher the fat content, the better the ice cream!

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