Butter Pecan Ice Cream

As we enter into the summer months, I am usually found in the garage dusting off the ice cream maker and gathering all of the parts for assembly. Ice cream is one of my favorite foods and it's even yummier when it's freshly homemade: it's pure, natural, soft-serve amazingness.

I have had this recipe in my "to try" folder for years. I'm not sure why I haven't tried it until now, and I have no idea where I got it so I can't give credit to wherever the recipe came from, but it was SO-GOOD! It was perfect the next week too. Unlike many homemade ice creams that go super hard in the freezer, this one stayed scoopable and was just as good days later as it was on the day it was made. The only thing I might change is to add Mapleine for half of the vanilla for more flavor, other than that - perfect!

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 cups half and half

1 cup brown sugar

2 TB. butter

2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla (I'm gonna try some Mapleine here too next time ;o)

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Combine the half and half, brown sugar and butter in a medium saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly over low heat, until bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Cool completely.

Put cooled mixture into the ice cream maker. Stir in the  heavy cream and vanilla (and Mapleine if you are using it like I'm going to). Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. As the ice cream begins to thicken up, add chopped pecans.