Butter Pecan Ice Cream with the best candied nuts
Homemade butter pecan ice cream can’t get any better. Filled with the best maple candied pecans and a buttered rum syrup swirl, you get the cozy flavors of toasty spice and buttery goodness.
Yes, it’s still no-churn ice cream too, so go ahead and set your old ice cream machine out at the neighborhood garage sale. You will not need it here.
| Taste | Texture |
| Buttery, spiced pecan with caramel notes | Creamy, smooth, with crunchy nuts |
| Active time | Total time | Yield | Difficulty |
| 15 min | 8 hrs 15 minutes | 6 cups | Easy |
Why you’ll love butter pecan ice cream
- So. Much. Flavor.: I don’t exaggerate when I say that the candied pecans make this ice cream. They are so good–lightly sweet with delicate spice that amps up the awesomeness pecans already have on their own. Mix up the same nuts into ice cream and you have something that is just meant to be.
- Real ingredients: There’s no weird thickeners or corn syrups. You can pronounce ever ingredient in this ice cream and each ingredient is there for flavor.
- For pecan lovers: If you love pecan sandies, pecan pie or pralines, this is another excuse to enjoy your pecans. Shoot, pair them all together and make something really special out of it. I’m currently dreaming up a cookie cake with the pecan sandies cookies as a base and this ice cream as a filling.
- No-chill base saves you time: As with all my no-churn ice creams, there are no eggs. This means you don’t have to first cook a custard base and then chill it for hours before you make the ice cream. Lest you think that sounds like the ice cream will taste flat and lack that rich custard-based mouthfeel, guess again. The heavy whipping cream more than makes up for the fat content here, giving you a rich tasting ice cream you’ll want to keep eating.
No-churn Buttered Pecan Ice Cream ingredients
- Candied pecans (homemade candied pecans are best, but packaged are also good)
- Vanilla sugar
- Butter
- Rum (substitute more vanilla)
- Vanilla paste or vanilla extract
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Heavy cream
- Salt (omit if using salted butter)
Equipment
- Loaf pan: you can use a disposable pan or whatever size you have on hand.
- Stand mixer + whip attachment or bowl + hand mixer
- Manual nut grinder : helpful for chopping nuts
How to make butter pecan ice cream
- Chill: Chill the bowl and the whip attachment in the freezer along with the heavy cream for 10 minutes.
- Make the buttered rum syrup: Melt the butter in a pan, and then add in the vanilla sugar and cook just until the sugar dissolves and starts to thicken slightly. Add in the rum and stir until smooth. You can cook the rum for about a minute to cook off the alcohol if you’d like or sub in vanilla extract in place of the rum. Set the syrup aside to cool while you prep everything else. It will thicken slightly as it sits.
- Chop the nuts: Chop the candied pecans. A little manual nut grinder here is extremely helpful. It’ll give you nice even bits of chopped nuts without having pecans flying all over your board like what happens when you use a knife.
- Whip the cream: Whip the cream with the vanilla and salt (if using) in the chilled bowl until it holds its shape.
- Mix the base: Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over the whipped cream and toss in all but a handful of the nuts. Fold everything together until you have a smooth, consistent cream without trails of the condensed milk.
- Swirl: Spoon over small amounts of the butter rum syrup at random over the top of the cream. Drag a spatula through the mix a couple times to swirl in the syrup but not completely mix it in.
- Freeze: Scoop the finished cream into a loaf pan, topping it with the rest of the pecans. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and freeze for 4 hours for soft serve consistency or 8 hours for scoopable ice cream.
Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream FAQ
No, you could use raw pecans or plain toasted pecans (toast them on a pan in a 350 degree oven for 7-8 minutes), though the candied pecans add layers of textural crunch and more flavor.
The vanilla sugar adds a little more flavor, but brown sugar can be used in its place to add some caramel depth too.
Great recipes to serve with pecan ice cream
Homemade pecan sandies cookies so good you’ll be dancing
Crisp buttery sandy textured easy slice and bake cookies filled with an extra layer of flavor in chai spiced maple candied pecans. You won’t believe how much flavor is packed into these little cookies.
Apple Crumble Bars are the best Sunday lunch dessert
Take cozy apple crisp and put it in a bar form, and then you’ll get these juicy crumb bars with buttery crisp streusel doing double duty up top and also as a crisp crust that lets you cut perfect bars. A scoop of pecan ice cream on top is pure heaven.
Pizzelle waffle cups your ice cream will scream for
Edible bowls are just fun, and these ones, crisp from the pizzelle iron and perfumed with vanilla are ideal for a scoop of your favorite butter pecan. My students often say, “This is the best thing we’ve made,” but I think they mean it with these.
Crazy easy apple tarts might be better than apple pie
Make quick little tarts with puff pastry and simply spiced apple slices. Add a scoop of buttered pecan and you’ve got a swoonworthy open faced ice cream sandwich.
Traditional apple strudel recipe that brings out all my opinions
There is nothing under the sun that beats perfectly crisp apple strudel. Practicing this dough is 1000% worth your effort. Add the pecan ice cream and you’ll have a Thanksgiving treat that’s pure luxury.
Mini waffle cones: the cutest way to enjoy ice cream
Made with a pizzelle iron, these buttery crisp mini waffle cones are an adorable addition to a scoop of your favorite ice cream. These are so cute for holding your ice cream!
Butter Pecan Ice Cream with maple candied pecans
- Total Time: 8 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups 1x
Description
Give regular buttered pecan ice cream a luxury upgrade with the addition of maple candied pecans for an extra layer of crunch and warm Fall flavor.
Ingredients
Buttered rum syrup
- 1/4 cup vanilla sugar or brown sugar (50 g)
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 Tablespoon rum or vanilla extract
- Butter pecan ice cream base
- 1 cup candied pecans (store-bought are ok), (105 g)
- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- 1/8 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter
- 2 cups heavy cream (472 mL)
Equipment
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
- Manual nut grinder (helpful but you can use a knife instead)
Instructions
- Chill: Chill the bowl and the whip attachment in the freezer along with the heavy cream for 10 minutes.
- Make the buttered rum syrup: Melt the butter in a pan, and then add in the vanilla sugar and cook just until the sugar dissolves and starts to thicken slightly. Add in the rum and stir until smooth. You can cook the rum for about a minute to cook off the alcohol if you’d like or sub in vanilla extract in place of the rum. Set the syrup aside to cool while you prep everything else. It will thicken slightly as it sits.
- Chop the nuts: Chop the candied pecans. A little manual nut grinder here is extremely helpful. It’ll give you nice even bits of chopped nuts without having pecans flying all over your board like what happens when you use a knife.
- Whip the cream: Whip the cream with the vanilla and salt (if using) in the chilled bowl until it holds its shape.
- Mix the base: Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over the whipped cream and toss in all but a handful of the nuts. Fold everything together until you have a smooth, consistent cream without trails of the condensed milk.
- Swirl: Spoon over small amounts of the butter rum syrup at random over the top of the cream. Drag a spatula through the mix a couple times to swirl in the syrup but not completely mix it in.
- Freeze: Scoop the finished cream into a loaf pan, topping it with the rest of the pecans. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and freeze for 4 hours for soft serve consistency or 8 hours for scoopable ice cream.
Notes
Swap out the nuts: While you can use raw pecans, they won’t have the crunch or the added caramel flavors of either toasted pecans (toast raw nuts at 350 F on a sheet tray for 7-8 minutes). Still, you choose whether you’d like raw pecans, toasted, or candied.
Flavor variations
- Soft serve butter pecan ice cream: Freeze the ice cream just 4 hours for a soft serve texture.
- Dairy-free butter pecan ice cream: Use coconut oil in place of the butter, coconut sweetened condensed milk in place of the condensed milk, and coconut whipped cream in place of the heavy cream for a dairy-free vegan butter pecan ice cream.
- Butter pecan cookie chunk: Make the ice cream as usual, but fold in 1 cup of broken pieces of pecan sandies cookies.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Ice Cream
- Method: Freezer, Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
