No-Churn Butter Pecan Fudge Ripple Ice Cream

No-Churn Butter Pecan Ice Cream – With a Fudge Ripple!

One of America’s favorite ice cream flavors, butter pecan ice cream starts with a vanilla base and adds buttery pecans to enhance the rich deliciousness. It also happens to be my mom’s favorite! However, when I mentioned I was making her a batch of homemade butter pecan ice cream, she said, “How about adding some chocolate, too?” And that’s how this Butter Pecan Fudge Ripple Ice Cream was born.

Oh yessssss! You don’t have to do much more than whip some cream, brown some butter, and throw it in the freezer – it’s so easy. Yeah, it’s rich. Yeah, it’s indulgent. But these are the sacrifices I make for my mom. Here’s why you have to try it…

• Versatile base. No-churn ice cream is made from folding sweetened condensed milk into whipped heavy cream and freezing it. But before you freeze it, you can add any of your favorite flavors and mix-ins. Keep it simple with vanilla extract or cocoa powder. Have some fun with Birthday Cake Ice Cream. Or even go with a seasonal flavor like Pumpkin Ice Cream.
• Fantastic flavors. A swirly ribbon of fudge winds its way through the dreamy base, and it is studded with crunchy pecans that have been toasted in some lightly browned butter for added nuttiness and a little salty flavor to balance all of the sweet goodness.
• Naturally gluten free. Yep, no ingredient swaps needed here! Though I will advise you to check your pecans, as some are processed where there is a cross-contact risk.

Recipe Ingredients

Here’s a quick rundown of what you’ll need for this fudgy butter pecan ice cream recipe. Read on for some of my top tips. Then scroll down to the recipe card for the full amounts and step-by-step instructions.

For the butter pecans

• Unsalted butter. If you only have salted, just omit the added salt.
• Pecans. Halved or chopped, depending on how chunky you like your ice cream.
• Kosher salt.
• Vanilla extract.

For the fudge ripple

• Water.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder. Hershey’s or Nestle are fine, you don’t need anything fancy.
• Light corn syrup.
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips.

For the ice cream

• Sweetened condensed milk. You cannot replace this with evaporated milk, but fat-free sweetened condensed milk does work.
• Heavy cream. Do not substitute with light cream or half and half, as it will not whip to soft peaks the same way, and you will not get a creamy ice cream. Make sure it is well chilled.

Quick Tips

• Watch it closely. Make sure you add the pecans when the butter turns a light golden brown, and just toast for a couple of minutes afterwards. You want both the pecans and butter to emit a nutty aroma, but you don’t want to burn the butter or it will taste bitter.
• Chill out. To be able to whip the cream to soft peaks without over-churning it, the heavy cream should be very cold. I also recommend using a metal bowl and putting your bowl and beaters in the fridge or freezer. The colder everything is, the easier it will whip up without overbeating.
• Speed things up. A hand mixer with a whisk attachment makes it quicker and easier to whip your cream, though a whisk works too (and burns off some of those ice cream calories). No need to break out the big Kitchenaid mixer for this recipe.
• Take care. You want to gently fold the sweetened condensed milk and pecans into the whipped cream to avoid deflating it. This produces creamier ice cream.
• Use the right size container. I find these no-churn ice cream recipes always fit nicely into a 9 inch loaf pan. Though they do make some nice insulated ice cream containers for storing homemade ice cream.
• Freeze thoroughly. The time it needs to freeze will depend somewhat on how cold your freezer is and the dimensions of your container. Generally, I recommend leaving it in the freezer for at least 4 to 6 hours, though usually I will make it the day before I plan to eat it so it can freeze overnight.
• Scoop and serve. If you’ve put the ice cream in the freezer overnight, you may need to let it sit out for a couple of minutes to make it easier to scoop. I’m a big fan of this ice cream scoop because it digs in well, even if your ice cream is a little hard.
• Make it last. If somehow you don’t devour this ice cream in a matter of days, you will want to make sure you wrap it very tightly with plastic wrap or otherwise create an airtight seal. This minimizes ice crystals and helps preserve the texture and flavor, since it does not contain preservatives or stabilizers like some store-bought ice cream. I recommend enjoying it within a month.

More No-Churn Ice Cream Recipes

• Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Ice Cream
• No-Churn Cheesecake Ice Cream
• Graham Cracker Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
• Nutella Brownie Ice Cream
• No-Churn Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
• No-Machine Caramel Swirl Ice Cream from Wine & Glue