Homemade Ice Cream

I've had an ice cream maker for quite awhile.  My brother gave it as a Christmas gift few years ago and I had never used it.  I kept thinking that will be a someday item to made (and the fact it sat in my storage unit for almost two years certainly didn't help anything)

Then I decided to make my baking bucket list and decided to add it so I would actually try to make it.  After completing this recipe I realize just how silly it was having this on the list at all.  I mean - making homemade ice cream with an ice cream maker is so stupidly easy there's no real reason to buy ice cream from the store (although drumsticks, you should still buy those)

I decided just to make vanilla my first try as it's easy and I could see how the whole process works.  They kept saying add in extra ingredients with 5 minutes left in the churning process (my words) and I'm like well how the heck am I supposed to know when there is 5 minutes left.  I really just wanted something easy to see how it all goes.

I used the recipe in the instruction guide that came with my ice cream maker - might as well right? Since I knew that size recipe would work for my maker.

In the end it was delicious!  So light and on the softer side (I guess I could have left it in there longer, but honestly I like softer ice cream).  I can't wait to try out new combinations!  (Spoiler alert - I already made another batch with some brownie pieces from the brownies I made this weekend (I still need to hopefully get pics of the brownies otherwise I didn't really make them haha)

Strawberry and Chocolate Syrup!

So yummy and delicious

Here's the recipe I used, which came from my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker (I don't have the extra bowl) in the instruction guide

Vanilla Ice Cream

Preparation 5 minutes plus 20-25 minutes chilling time; optional 2 hours to ripen.
Makes then 1/2 cup servings

1 cup whole milk, well chilled I used 2% b/c that's what I had on hand
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream, well chilled This is the same as whipping cream, maybe I'm the only loser who stood in the milk aisle for awhile before I realized it's probably the same thing
1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, to taste I went with the maximum b/c I like flavor!

In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer or a whisk to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1-2 minutes on low speed.  Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla to taste.  Turn machine on, pour mixture into freezer bowl through ingredient spout and let mix until thickened, about 25-30 minutes.