No-Churn Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
Creamy, perfectly sweet ice cream that tastes just like pumpkin pie, with swirls of cinnamon graham cracker crust. This cold fall treat is for anyone yearning for fall but suffering through never-ending summer (or for those die hard ice cream fans living in cold weather—you are my people!). This quintessentially autumnal ice cream can be made no-churn or with an ice cream maker!
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Sooooo…it’s been a few weeks since my last post. Actually, closer to 6 I think? Honesty time: it’s been a very rough 6 weeks. My big brother passed away unexpectedly the beginning of September. Then my husband lost his grandfather three weeks later. Then, the day before our 4th funeral in five months, I ended up in the ER getting stitches after tripping and landing face-first in a wall.
It’s almost comical, except for all of the grief and all of the crying. And of course all of the holding back tears so I don’t make my stitches hurt.
I can’t explain why I’m doing okay. Not great, not fine, but okay. The only answer I have is all of the love in my life, all of the people who check in on me and remind me to take care of myself and to let myself grieve. Who demonstrate genuine, authentic faith in God, without pretense. Who know that platitudes are empty and instead encourage me to embrace how I feel, even when it’s ugly.
I’m learning a lot about the person I do—and don’t—want to be from watching how well I’ve been loved in this season.
What I love about this recipe
Annnnddd…on another note…ice cream! I’ve fallen behind on my fall baking, but we only just now got some relatively cold weather, with forecasts back in the 80’s this week. So, I figured why not share this ice cream that a good chunk of the world can savor in all of this unseemly heat right now.
This recipe is very simple to make. It does take about 20 minutes to prep, bake, and cool the graham cracker crumbles. But after that, it’s easy to stir and whisk just af ew things then go do something fall-esque while it chills. You’ll come back to an ice cream that really does taste like pumpkin pie!
Key ingredients
Graham crackers. If possible, use cinnamon graham crackers. If not, add some cinnamon and sugar as well.
Melted butter. This helps create that nice crunch to the crumbles.
Sweetened condensed milk. This is in lieu of cooking eggs to make custard, which creates that slow-churned texture. Plus, you don’t need to add any extra sugar!
Pumpkin puree. Obviously. Make sure it’s plain, not pumpkin pie filling.
Spices. You’ll use pumpkin pie spice as well as cinnamon.
Vanilla extract. Use high quality, pure extract.
Heavy whipping cream. Make sure it’s super cold so it whips well.
How to make no-churn pumpkin pie ice cream
1. Make the graham cracker crumbles. Grind the crackers (and sugar and cinnamon, if using plain grahams). Add the melted butter then bake for 5-10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Stir the pumpkin pie base. Combine the sweetened condensed milk, pumpkin puree, spices, and vanilla.
3. Whip the cream. You want it to still be shiny looking but start to take on a stiff texture and hold its shape.
4. Stir the cream into the pumpkin base. Do this in 3 additions, to keep from loosing the air from the whipped cream. Stir half the graham crackers in with the last addition of whipped cream.
5. Layer with the graham crackers in a pan or ice cream container. This will give swirls of graham cracker crust with each scoop.
6. Chill until set. This should take 4-5 hours, but overnight is ideal.
Enjoy!
Tips and FAQ’s for this recipe
Do I need to bake the graham crackers?
Yes and no. I love a crispy pie crust, so I chose to bake the graham cracker crumbles. The butter and sugar melt together and create a nice crunch. However, you can also create a graham cracker crust by just freezing it for 10 minutes. I wouldn’t stir it into the ice cream without freezing or baking it first, because you want to create crumbles that stick together, and that only happens from baking or freezing.
Can I use an ice cream maker anyway?
Yes! You’ll get a slightly more old-fashioned texture using a regular ice cream maker, if you have one and have the time to freeze the insert or have all that extra ice around (depending on the type you have). Mix everything for the ice cream base—un-whipped cream and all—and make according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. There should be a note about when you can add mix-ins (usually right at the end or after it’s done mixing), so add the graham cracker crumble at that point. You can either add all of it at once or save some to layer in whatever storage container you’re using, just as the recipe states.
What if I don’t have pumpkin pie spice?
That’s okay! You can make your own pumpkin pie spice and save it for all of the pumpkin things. Everyone has their own preference, but I like the following recipe: 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg.
My ice cream making tools
Here are my must-have tools I use for making ice cream. Affiliate links provided.
No-Churn Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
- prep time: 15-20 minutes
- bake time: 5-10 minutes
- chill time: 4-5 hours
- total time: 5 hours, 30 minutes
servings: about 12 ½ cup servings
Ingredients:
for the graham cracker crust crumble
- 6 full graham cracker sheets (20 tiny rectangles--approx 84g, depending on brand)
- 3 tablespoons (37g) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon (3g) cinnamon (or use cinnamon graham crackers)
- 4 tablespoons (56g) salted butter, melted
for the pumpkin pie ice cream
- 14 ounces (397g) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup (about 250g) plain pumpkin puree
- 1 tablespoon (13g) pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon (8g) pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon (3g) cinnamon
- 2 cups (462g) heavy whipping cream
Instructions:
- First, make the graham cracker crumble. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C. Blend the graham crackers, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a food processor until finely ground. Stir or pulse in the melted butter. Squeeze the mixture into crumbs and spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake 5-10 minutes, until slightly darkened. Watch carefully, as baking times may vary by oven. Remove from oven and set aside to cool while you make the ice cream base.
- Make the pumpkin pie ice cream. Stir the sweetened condensed milk, pumpkin puree, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon in a large bowl until well blended. Set aside.
- Add the 2 cups heavy cream to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a large mixing bowl, using handheld beaters). Beat the cream on medium until frothy and bubbles start to form, about 30 seconds. Slowly turn it up to high (you can start out on high, but you’ll most likely get quite a bit of splatter on you and your kitchen). Let mix for 1-2 minutes, until stiff peaks just start to form. It should hold its shape well but still be shiny looking--don’t let it turn matte. Watch it carefully, as your mixer and kitchen temp can alter the time this takes.
- Once the heavy cream just starts to form stiff peaks, turn it off.
- Add about ⅓ of the whipped cream to the pumpkin mixture and stir/fold it in gently until fully combined. Add another ⅓ of the whipped cream and fold it in gently until fully combined. Add the remaining ⅓ along with about half of the fully cooled graham crackers and fold it until fully combined. (Doing this in 3 additions helps keep it fluffier and get that “slow churned” texture without actually churning your ice cream.)
- In a bread loaf pan or similarly sized dish, spread about ⅓ of the ice cream on the bottom. Sprinkle ⅓ of the remaining graham crumbles. Spread another ⅓ of the ice cream, followed by another ⅓ of the grahams. Repeat this one last time with the remaining ice cream and the remaining graham cracker crumble.
- Cover and freeze at least 4-5 hours, or overnight, until set. Depending on your freezer, you may need to let it sit on your counter about 5 minutes before scooping.
Enjoy!
Store leftovers in an airtight container. Ice cream should last at least a month, but this can vary depending on your freezer and how well-sealed it is.
