Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Since we're in the midst of an 8 day (thus far!!) heat wave here on the East Coast, I decided that now would be the perfect time to make some homemade ice cream to cool down with.  I recently bought the ice cream make attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer and was anxious to try it out.  So I decided that yesterday was the day!!

This recipe is one that I learned while I was a camp counselor one summer in college.  Making ice cream was one of our afternoon activities, only we did it hand crank style!!  Gotta give those kids a work out, right?!?!  I fell in love with it the first time I tasted it.  It is super sweet and dreamy.  It's the consistency of soft serve right out of the ice cream maker, so if you like your ice cream a little firmer, freeze until it's your desired consistency.  I think its delicious now matter what consistency it is.

I love this recipe because it's not custard based, so you don't have to worry about tempering egg yolks. My new ice cream maker performed beautifully!!  So glad that I bought it.  I think I'm just going to store it in the freezer so I am always ready to make ice cream.

I halve this recipe as it makes too much for my ice cream maker, which is a 2 qt maker.  I re-use Cool Whip containers to store the ice cream in in the freezer.

Here is the recipe:
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

1 quart milk (I used whole to give it a creamier texture)
1 quart heavy cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla

Mix all ingredients together.  Refrigerate until chilled.  Freeze according to you ice cream maker.  Place in a freezer safe container for 2-4 hours for a firmer consistency.  Enjoy!!

I hope you enjoy this recipe!!  Stay cool out there!!  Hoping that our heat wave breaks today!!  Until next time...