Blueberry Ice Cream Recipe
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This Blueberry Ice Cream Recipe is for all you blueberry lovers out there. Follow my simple 20 minute process of cooking and straining plump blueberries and then combine them with classic ice cream ingredients. So creamy and FULL of blueberry flavor, and makes this the BEST ice cream ever!
No matter which kind of ice cream maker you are using, you can adapt all of my ice cream recipes to fit. Join my Ice Cream of the Month Club to see my other recipes!
Best Blueberry Ice Cream
HUGE blueberry lovers here. Seriously…HUGE.
Mike and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary two years ago in Maine. Yup, the home of the blueberry! We enjoyed so many wonderful things there, especially blueberry beer (the best!), blueberry mules, and blueberry ice cream. We found the best soft serve just a few blocks from where we stayed in Bar Harbor, and I remember saying that I would recreate it for the blog.
To this day, we buy blueberries in bulk when they’re seasonal. Next up…blueberry mojitos!
For other blueberry recipes on the blog, try The Best Blueberry Muffins, Blueberry Baked Oatmeal Cups, and Blueberry French Toast Casserole!
Ingredients needed:
- Dairy – An even amount of heavy cream and whole milk is needed.
- Eggs – I used four whole eggs for this recipe.
- Sugar – Just a cup and a fourth of granulated sugar.
- Vanilla – I always use Watkin’s Vanilla.
- Blueberries – Fresh blueberries work best!
- Lemon – Some fresh lemon juice helps keep the blueberries fresh!
How to temper eggs:
You’ll want to temper your eggs so that they are safe to eat. You can also use pasteurized eggs instead if you can find them in the grocery store.
- Pour the whole milk into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until it reaches 165 degrees. stirring often. Do not boil.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugar and whisk well.
- When milk reaches 165 degrees, take a small measuring cup and pour into the egg mixture, whisking vigorously as you pour it in. Do not stop whisking, and continue to pour about a cup of hot milk into the eggs.
- Then pour the contents of the bowl into the saucepan and place back on heat. Continue whisking and heating until the mixture reaches 160 degrees.
- Remove from heat and let cool. Refrigerate.
How to make blueberry ice cream:
Step 1
Prep. If using KitchenAid attachment, place the bowl into the freezer a full day in advance (or at least 15 hours) before churning.
Step 2
Temper the eggs. See directions above.
Step 3
Cook the blueberries. In a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, the freshly squeezed lemon, and 1/2 cup of sugar. Cook on medium heat, and use a potato masher to smash the blueberries open while cooking. This will take about 20 minutes..
Step 4
Strain the blueberries/juice. Pour the cooked berries into a fine mesh strainer over a bowl, catching all the juices. Use a spoon to push the berries and allow all the juice to strain out. Cool.
Step 5
Combine ice cream ingredients. In a large measuring bowl, combine the cooled tempered egg mixture (whole milk, eggs, and sugar), the blueberry JUICE (not the berry pulp), the heavy cream, and the vanilla. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to use.
Step 6
Churn. If using a KitchenAid attachment (as pictured below), start the mixer with the attachment so that it’s turning BEFORE you pour the liquid in. Then pour in whisked ingredients and let it churn until finished. You’ll know it’s done when the mixer starts slowing down and it rises to the top of the bowl, approximately 25-30 minutes.
Step 7
Remove. Use a rubber scraper to pour the ice cream out of the bowl into a freezer safe container.
Step 8
Add the blueberry pulp. Add the blueberry pulp to the ice cream, and stir well.
Step 9
Freeze. Freeze the ice cream until ready to serve. The ice cream will be a bit soft so it needs a couple of hours to firm up.
Tips for using a KitchenAid Attachment:
- Place bowl attachment in freezer. You’ll want to be sure to store the bowl in the freezer for AT LEAST 15 hours before using. Since we have an extra freezer in our laundry room, I keep ours in there all the time. That way we can make ice cream on a whim!
- Run mixer in advance. Attach bowl to the KitchenAid mixer and add the attachments. Start mixer on the lowest setting BEFORE adding ice cream mixture. This will prevent the bowl from freezing up.
- Add liquid while mixer is running. Then carefully pour the liquid into the bowl attachment while it’s running.
- Let it slow down slightly. The ice cream is done when you see it expanding to the top of the bowl and the mixer starts to slow down.
Other Flavors
So tell me, which kind of ice cream do you want to make next?
- Something fruity? Peach | Blueberry | Very Berry | Strawberry
- Chocolatey? Double Chocolate | Chocolate Peanut Butter
- Classic? Vanilla Bean | Butter Pecan | Cookies and Cream | Mint Chip | Oreo
- Something different? Peppermint Stick | Pumpkin | Coffee Toffee | Reese’s PB
Kitchen Items Used: (affiliate links)
xoxo ~Sue
Blueberry Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pints blueberries – or 24 ounces
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar – divided
- 1 large lemon – freshly squeezed
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 Tablespoons vanilla
Instructions
Temper the eggs.
- Pour the whole milk into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until it reaches 160 degrees. stirring often. Do not boil.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the eggs and 3/4 cup sugar and whisk well.
- When milk reaches 160 degrees, take a small measuring cup and pour into the egg mixture, whisking vigorously as you pour it in. Do not stop whisking, and continue to pour about a cup of hot milk into the eggs.
- Then pour the contents of the bowl into the saucepan and place back on heat. Continue whisking and heating until the mixture reaches 160 degrees.
- Remove from heat and let cool. Refrigerate.
Prep blueberries.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, the freshly squeezed lemon, and 1/2 cup of sugar. Cook on medium heat, and use a potato masher to smash the blueberries open while cooking. This will take about 20 minutes..
- Pour the cooked berries into a fine mesh strainer over a bowl, catching all the juices. Use a spoon to push the berries and allow all the juice to strain out. Cool.
Make ice cream.
- If using KitchenAid attachment, place the bowl into the freezer a full day in advance (or at least 15 hours) before churning.
- In a large measuring bowl, combine the cooled tempered egg mixture (whole milk, eggs, and sugar), the blueberry JUICE (not the berry pulp), the heavy cream, and the vanilla. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to use.
- If using a KitchenAid attachment (as pictured in blog post), start the mixer with the attachment so that it’s turning BEFORE you pour the liquid in. Then pour in whisked ingredients and let it churn until finished. You’ll know it’s done when the mixer starts slowing down and it rises to the top of the bowl, approximately 25-30 minutes.
- Use a rubber scraper to pour the ice cream out of the bowl into a freezer safe container.
- Add the blueberry pulp to the ice cream, and stir well.
- Freeze the ice cream until ready to serve. The ice cream will be a bit soft so it needs a couple of hours to firm up.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Friday #BBQWeek Recipes
Appetizers and Drinks
- BBQ Deviled Eggs by The Spiffy Cookie
- Lemonade Margarita by Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Mojitos with Grilled Strawberries and Mint by Our Good Life
Side Dishes
- Caprese Salad by House of Nash Eats
- Classic Broccoli Salad by Family Around the Table
- Cowboy Caviar by Devour Dinner
- Grilled Peppers and Potatoes by Jolene’s Recipe Journal
- Wilted Mixed Green Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
Main Dishes
- Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Tropical Fruit Salsa by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Summer Steak Salad by Kate’s Recipe Box
Desserts
- Blueberry Coffee Cake by Sweet Beginnings
- Blueberry Ice Cream Recipe by SueBee Homemaker
- Copycat Dole Pineapple Whip by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Grilled Strawberry Shortcake by Blogghetti
Be sure to follow our Pinterest board for more summer BBQ ideas. Thank you to Christie from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures and Ellen from Family Around the Table for hosting the event.
Used this Blueberry recipe and procedure (including cooking/pressing berries) to make BLACKBERRY ice cream, but substituted Half & Half for the milk – did not blend the blackberry pulp into the batter or churned ice cream since it is too “seedy” (unlike blueberry pulp, which can be optionally blended into ice cream) – turned out delicious! I’m assuming this will work well for red or black raspberry ice cream also.
Sounds great, John!
I made your strawberry ice cream recently and it was great! In that recipe you use egg yolks only, but in this blueberry recipe you’re using whole eggs (yolks and whites) – what’s the difference? Also – you don’t add the blueberry pulp until after churning but is it possible (and maybe desirable) to add while churning, say during the last 5 minutes or so? I know this will break up the pieces somewhat but maybe that’s desirable…
As I’ve created more ice cream recipes, I’ve started using the egg yolks only. Using just yolks is my preferred way now as it tends to make the ice cream creamier. Either way will still result in delicious ice cream, however!
I added all 2 cups of the milk to the egg and sugar mixture. Am I screwed??? And need to start over?
I was out of town when you sent this, Tiffany. Please let me know how the ice cream turned out!
I did this also – if there was a problem I didn’t notice – the ice cream turned out delicious!
I’m making this now and it says to put everything in the kitchen aid mixer including the “remaining sugar.” But there isn’t any remaining sugar. Recipe calls for 1-1/4 cups of sugar and 3/4 went into the tempered eggs and 1/2 went into the blueberries. Am I supposed to add more when it comes to the mixing part? If so, how much?
Oh I’m sorry about that. There is no remaining sugar! I’ll fix that now.
I can’t wait to make this. About how many cups of the blueberry syrup should I end up with?
It should make about 1 1/2 cups of syrup. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Thanks! It was delicious. I used berries from a farm about a mile away from my house. Can’t get much more local than that!
I always forget how easy the Kitchen Aid ice cream maker is to use. Going to make peach next week and be as big as a house. LOL
So far I have made the custard and the blueberry juice/pulp, but I have been trying to find out if this recipe will work in a 1 1/2 quart ice cream maker. If not, I guess I have to do in two batches which will be annoying because I’ll have to wait a whole day for the machine to freeze again. I didn’t see any link that helps scale it. Well, too late now but still excited to see the results. Can’t wait to try this beautiful treat.
You can change the serving size (in the recipe card) to scale the recipe.
Another recipe we so lucky to try on our sisters weekend and we are a family of ice cream lovers!! So delicious and blueberryeeee!! Dad would have loved it too!!
We love this one too!! 🙂
Favorite ice cream to date!
This blueberry ice cream is absolutely delicious! It’s now a new family favorite!!