Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Recipe

Food is my love language.

Clean laundry is my husband’s love language.

So yeah, there’s a bit of tension there.

I hate everything about laundry. I hate washing it, I hate putting it into the dryer, I hate folding it, I hate putting it away. And I despise ironing with every fiber of my being.

Did you know some people actually iron their sheets? I’m pretty sure I couldn’t be friends with someone who irons sheets. I’d rather be canning in a 110 degree kitchen, or digging a million post holes by hand, or getting whacked in the face with my cow’s tail a dozen times.

So even though I outwardly attributed my impulsive creation of this blueberry cheesecake ice cream recipe to wanting to reward my husband for all the hard work he’s been doing on our house remodel lately; deep down inside I knew what he truly wanted was clean socks… And that I was really making the ice cream for my own selfish benefit. But hey, who can blame me?

There’s blueberry ice cream, and then there’s this Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream. It’s so good it deserves to be capitalized. It’s a whole different animal than your typical blueberry ice cream– it’s creamier, and richer, and you’ll want to eat it by the pound. You’re welcome.

(And I’m just kidding about not being friends with people who iron their sheets. Sort of.)

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Recipe

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• 2 cups fresh blueberries, divided (frozen will work in a pinch, if you must)
• 3/4 cup organic evaporated cane juice sugar (where to buy)
• 8 oz cream cheese (how to make cream cheese)
• 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream (how to make buttermilk)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract (how to make vanilla extract)
• Pinch of sea salt (I love this salt)
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 cups heavy cream or half n half

In a small saucepan, mash together the sugar and 1 cup of blueberries.

Cook the sugar/blueberry mixture over medium-low heat for 5-8 minutes and allow them to simmer and thicken. Cool slightly.

In a blender, combine the cooled mixture, the remaining fresh blueberries, buttermilk, cream cheese, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest. Blend until mixed completely.

Stir in the cream/half n’ half and allow to chill for one hour.

Freeze in a 2-quart ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s recommendations.

(This is the ice cream maker I have and LOVE)

Serve immediately, or place in freezer for a while to harden it up a bit, if you prefer harder ice cream.

Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs, if desired.

Makes approximately 1.5 quarts.

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Recipe Notes

• Regular granulated sugar will work here, too, if that’s all you have.
• If you don’t have lemon zest handy (I rarely do), you can substitute two drops of high-quality lemon essential oil instead. These are the essential oils I use— they are considered “food-grade.”
• I cooked half of the berries to add a greater depth of flavor to the finished recipe. However, if you’re in a hurry, just skipping the cooking and chilling and use all raw berries instead.
• The large amount vanilla extract in this recipe actually helps the ice cream from becoming crazy hard when you refreeze it. Actually, any alcohol will have that effect, and since homemade vanilla extract is made with vodka, it fits the bill just fine. However, if you want to omit it, that’s fine too.
• You can serve this with crumbled graham crackers, or add some graham cracker crumbs into the ice cream maker in the last 1-2 minutes of mixing. Or put it between two crackers for an ice cream sandwich. I made my own graham crackers using this recipe.
• Wanna get wild and crazy? Spoon your blueberry cheesecake ice cream into a graham cracker pie shell and chill until hardened for an ice cream pie.
• If you’re looking for a basic homemade ice cream recipe, here’s my Simple No-Cook Vanilla Ice Cream, and also my Homemade Frozen Yogurt Recipe. Or heck, if you’re reading this during the wintertime, try Snow Ice Cream.

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