Every Independence Day, for as long as I can remember, we have enjoyed a tradition of eating home made ice cream! This tradition started back when I was a little girl, and I have continued it with my own family.
I remember the week before July 4th, my mom would bring out the old ice cream maker and we would put all the ingredients in the metal canister, put the top on and plug it in. We would alternate handfuls of ice with sprinkles of rock salt and layer them until we covered the canister. My hands would get so cold! The motor was really loud as it churned the ice cream, but that was all a part of our tradition of making this delicious treat!
At first, we only made vanilla ice cream and then after a few years we found a decent recipe for chocolate as well, so we would make a gallon of each flavor. At some point in my later teenage years, my mom found a fabulous new recipe for our ice cream tradition. Oh my lanta! It is absolutely amazing! The secret is that you use instant Jello Pudding in the recipe.
After I got married and started my own family, my mother asked if I would take over making the traditional ice cream for our annual Fourth of July picnic. Of course I said yes, and she passed on the old ice cream maker for me to be able to share this great tradition with my own kids.
I had received an ice cream machine of my own as a wedding present, so we could now make the ice cream two gallons at a time, which was really helpful since we had a pretty sizable crowd when we all got together on the 4th with our growing families. Needless to say, two gallons just wasn’t enough for our crowd! We also decided that having only two flavors just wasn’t cutting it anymore, so, I set out to add to our traditional chocolate and vanilla. I started with just two additions, cookies and cream and chocolate brownie, and now I’m up to making eight different flavors of deliciousness, and I would love to share my recipes with all of you!
The Right Machine
First of all, you’re going to need a good ice cream maker. The machine we used when I was a child as well as the one I received as a wedding gift was a Rival brand. They’re great quality. This year when I was out in our garage where I store our ice cream makers when we aren’t using them, I accidentally knocked one of the motors down and it broke into several pieces. I immediately went online to Amazon to price a new machine. They do have Rival machines, but they aren’t the same as what I wanted, so I looked at the Hamilton Beach models. Not only are they a bit cheaper but they look just like the ones I already have with all of the same features. I went ahead and bought this one, and I was very pleased with the way our ice cream turned out!
Now that you know which ice cream maker to get, I can share this yummy recipe with you. As you will see from the list of ingredients, this is definitely not a fat free, sugar free or diet friendly recipe in any way. (Good thing calories don’t count on holidays, right?)
All of my flavors start with one of my two original flavors which are chocolate and vanilla. From there, the add-in possibilities are endless. I would love to hear what different flavors you come up with if you decide to try your hand at making ice cream!
You will need a lot of ice and a big bag of rock salt.
CHOCOLATE or VANILLA
3 (14 oz) cans of sweetened condensed milk
2 (6 oz) boxes of instant pudding (chocolate or vanilla for whichever flavor you are making)
1 1/2 tsp of vanilla
2 1/2 – 3 quarts of half and half
Put the first 3 ingredients into the metal canister and stir well before adding the half and half to the fill line.
Put the paddle in and the top on and then place the canister in the machine. Hook up your motor and then plug it in and let it spin for a minute before adding your layers of ice and salt. It should take anywhere from 20 – 45 minutes to churn. As the ice begins to melt, continue adding more ice and salt to keep the canister covered. The motor will slow down or stop completely when it’s finished. You can put the metal canister right in the freezer or you can pour your ice cream into your own container. We save gallon sized ice cream containers throughout the year just so we will have them for July 4th! I should mention here that I make 2 different flavors per batch of ice cream. I have two containers ready and pour half into each before putting my add-ins in.
CHOCOLATE BROWNIE
After churning your chocolate ice cream, just add bite sized pieces of brownies. I like to buy Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies and just pick off the candies. Keep in mind, I am making 8 flavors at a time, so I don’t take the time to make home made brownies for this. It still tastes amazing and is one of the kids’ favorites!
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH
This is an add-in for the vanilla ice cream. Confession time. I use a whole roll of Nestle’s pre-maid cookie dough for this. Yup. Raw eggs and all. We haven’t gotten sick off of it yet, so I’m not going to stop, but for those of you who prefer the egg-less option, you can make your own dough with this recipe.
Just cut up your dough and mix it in the churned ice cream before putting it in the freezer.
COOKIES N CREAM
Take an entire package of Oreos and put them in a gallon size ziploc bag. Crush them up or roll them with a rolling pin and then mix it into vanilla ice cream before freezing!
CHOCOLATE MINT COOKIES N CREAM
Use chocolate as your base, and then follow the directions for Cookies N Cream using mint flavored Oreos instead! I’ve only ever used plain and mint flavored Oreos, but with all the different flavors that they have, I’m sure that you could add whatever your favorite flavor is to make a new flavor!
SALTED CARAMEL/SALTED CARAMEL TRUFFLE
I put 2 flavors here, because not everyone is a chocolate lover like me! For both flavors, you’re going to mix up a batch of caramel sauce ahead of time so that you can mix it into your vanilla ice cream when it’s cooled down. If you want to add the “truffle” flavor, cut up a handful of Ghirardelli Dark & Sea Salt Caramel Squares and mix them in. This is my mom’s favorite flavor!
CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER
This was my personal favorite this year. It has chocolate for the base. Take a cup of creamy peanut butter, a pinch of sea salt and 1-2 tablespoons of heavy cream. Mix it until smooth and then drop chunks of it into the ice cream.
The ice cream will need to freeze for at least 4 hours. I usually make mine several days in advance, since I always have tons of other food to prepare!
I hope that you enjoy this tasty tradition as much as we do!