This homemade no-churn ice cream recipe is a popular method because it doesn’t require an ice cream maker. Combine a few simple ingredients together, then fold in blueberry sauce and a deliciously buttery brown sugar crumble. It’s ready to eat after 8 hours of freezing.
Meet your new summer love: no churn blueberry crumble ice cream.
Here’s Why You’ll Love No Churn Ice Cream
- literally the creamiest ice cream ever
- base is made from only 2 ingredients
- no ice cream maker required!!!
- ready to eat after a few hours in the freezer
I adore homemade churned ice cream and we actually made vanilla ice cream last summer with a hand-crank ice cream maker!!!! But for anyone who doesn’t have a retro or modern ice cream maker—or simply doesn’t want to break it out—try this popular no-churn method. Add your homemade touch on this basic no-churn ice cream by folding in vanilla extract, a swirl of blueberry, and crumble topping. Think crumb cake meets ice cream!
How to Make No-Churn Ice Cream
This ice cream begins with the very popular no-churn method originating from Martha Stewart. If you haven’t tried this simple homemade ice cream, now’s your chance. The base is 1 can of sweetened condensed milk and 1 pint of heavy cream.
Whip 2 cups (1 pint) of heavy cream into stiff peaks, a little stiffer than when we make homemade whipped cream. Using the mixer or by hand, fold in 1 can of full-fat sweetened condensed milk. The sweetened condensed milk adds a silky creamy texture as well as sweetness. Add any flavors or add-ins (I almost ALWAYS add vanilla extract), then spread into a container. Cover and freeze for at least 6 hours, but I find the ice cream has the BEST texture when frozen for about 8 hours or even overnight.
That’s it. Homemade ice cream has never been easier!
3 Parts to Blueberry Crumble Ice Cream
For the blueberry crumble ice cream flavor, we’ll combine the ice cream base with buttery cinnamon brown sugar crumbles and fresh blueberry sauce.
- Blueberry Swirl
- Crumble
- Ice Cream Base
Blueberry Swirl
Prepare the blueberry sauce first. You can use a blueberry jam, blueberry preserves, or even homemade blueberry sauce topping instead. Or simply cook a simple blueberry sauce on the stovetop with fresh/frozen blueberries, cornstarch, water, and 1 Tablespoon of sugar. The homemade blueberry sauce will thicken on the stove. When it’s done, cool it down in the refrigerator. You can prepare the blueberry sauce up to 1 week in advance and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
I strained the blueberry sauce before swirling into the ice cream. This is totally optional! If you want blueberry chunks in your ice cream, don’t strain. I’ll leave that up to you!
Crumble
While you’re waiting for the blueberry sauce to cool, prepare the crumble. You need flour, cinnamon, brown sugar, and melted butter. If you’re concerned about consuming raw flour, sprinkle it on a lined baking sheet and bake for 3-5 minutes. This heat-treated flour is now safe to consume. Combine the flour with cinnamon and brown sugar, then gently mix in melted butter. The crumble topping stays relatively soft after the ice cream is frozen and, as you can imagine, taste unbelievable with the blueberry swirls!
Ice Cream
Now put everything together! Fold in vanilla extract, the crumble, then very gently swirl in the blueberry sauce. The ice cream will turn purple/blue if the blueberry sauce is over-mixed. Just a couple folds with a large spoon or rubber spatula is all you need.
Spoon the thick ice cream mixture into a loaf pan or other deep bowl/pan. Super casual recipe here; use whatever deep pan you have. I find a loaf pan works great. No need to grease it!
Scoop, spoon, lick, melt. This is summer in a scoop. If you have any leftover heavy cream, go ahead and whip up some fresh whipped cream for on top!
More Frozen Treat Recipes
- Brownie Baked Alaska
- Easy Ice Cream Cake
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches & Cookie Dough Ice Cream Pie
- Blueberry Lemon Icebox Cake
- Ice Cream Loaf Cake
- Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie
Blueberry Crumble Ice Cream
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 6 hours, 25 minutes
- Yield: 1.5 quarts
- Category: Ice Cream
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Swirled with blueberry and crumb cake topping pieces, this homemade blueberry crumble ice cream will be your new favorite flavor!
Ingredients
Blueberry Sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons water
- 1 cup (140g) fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
Crumble
- 1/4 cup (31g) all-purpose flour*
- 2 Tablespoons (25g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted
Ice Cream
- 2 cups (480ml) heavy cream
- 14-ounce (396g) can full-fat sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make the blueberry sauce: Mix the cornstarch and water together in a very small bowl. Set aside. Combine blueberries and granulated sugar together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir constantly, bursting the blueberries against the sides of the pan. Once the blueberries have released some liquid, add the cornstarch/water. Turn the heat up to medium. Stir and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Mixture will thicken as it cools. I place it in the refrigerator to cool down quicker.
- Optional: Before or after cooling, strain through a fine-mesh strainer if you don’t want blueberry chunks in your ice cream.
- Make the crumble: I find a fork works best for mixing the crumble. Mix the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon together. Add the melted butter and mix until crumbles form. Set aside.
- Make the ice cream: In a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes. Add the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract, then beat on low speed until just combined. Using a large spoon or rubber spatula, fold in the crumbles. Lastly, gently fold in 1/4 cup – 1/3 cup of the blueberry sauce, creating swirls. (Use any leftovers to spoon on top!)
- Spoon/pour the ice cream mixture into a deep freezer-safe container or bowl. I suggest a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Cover tightly and freeze for at least 6 hours and up to 2 weeks.
- Scoop, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Prepare and freeze the ice cream for up to 2 weeks. The blueberry sauce and crumble can be prepared 1 day in advance. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use in step 3.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Small Saucepan | Fine-Mesh Strainer | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Rubber Spatula | 9×5-inch Loaf Pan | Ice Cream Scoop
- Flour: If you’re concerned about consuming raw flour, sprinkle it on a lined baking sheet and bake for 3-5 minutes at 350°F (177°C) before using in step 3.
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s very popular no-churn method!
OH MY GOSH!! This stuff is fantastic. Made a half batch and it was just right. Reminds me of soft-serve ice cream. My variation was 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp espresso powder, 1 tbsp. Bailey’s and about a half cup chocolate chips.
Other than the wait for it to harden, only takes a few mins. (Only made the ice cream base).
Might be a weird question, but I was wondering if I could make half a recipe – ice cream part? I looked at the recipe and everything is easy to cut in half. Didn’t know how it would whip up, being less ingredients.
Thanks
This should be fine to cut in half. Enjoy!
This ice cream is heaven!!
I made this for a family reunion over the 4th of July holiday and my Dad refused to put it out with all of the desserts. He wanted to keep all of it for himself! It was delicious (what little he shared). Thanks for a perfect summer recipe!
I’m not sure mine is the right consistency – it poured into the pan; I didn’t need to spoon it. I got to whipped cream consistency and thought maybe that was past the stage of stiff peaks but maybe I was wrong. Do you think it will still freeze hard enough, or should I just blend the whole thing up and put it back in pan?
It should– did you use sweetened condensed milk, too? Just 1 can, right?
Yes, I did! I guess I just wasn’t sure I’d reached the “stiff peak” stage since it just looked like whipped cream but once I folded in the SCM and froze it overnight, it was the perfect consistency! Thanks for another A+ recipe 🙂
How do you think it would work if I poured the mix into popsicle molds to make ice cream bars? Thanks!
That would be DELICIOUS! Highly recommend.
Hi Sally ,
Would this recipe work if I am using a churning machine?
It should, yes!
Hi Sally! I was wondering whether I could successfully create a lemon meringue pie ice cream using this ice cream as the base? I was thinking of swirling in lemon curd, graham cracker crumbles, and swiss meringue to create an ice cream that mimics lemon meringue pie. Do you think the swiss meringue would give it actual flavor, or would it be lost in the ice cream/lemon curd? Thanks for your help! I appreciate that you always take the time to answer all the questions your readers have; it’s one of the things that makes me love your blog so much! 🙂
Hi Erin! I think that’s a fantastic idea and I’m happy to help you achieve the results you’re looking for! To be honest, I don’t recommend adding the meringue because– as you guessed it– it would just get lost in the other flavors and additions. The lemon curd and graham cracker crumbles would be enough, trust me! Let me know how it turns out.
I made this recipe without the fruit crumble (just vanilla) and my husband loved it so much he ordered me a set of reusable ice cream containers for the freezer! Your recipes never disappoint Sally! Thank you.
This is so good! And the variations you could come up with to change flavors are endless! My family loved this!
This ice cream is at the top of my list for desserts to make this summer! I’m planning on playing around with flavors to yield many different varieties; do you think it would be possible to fold things like Nutella, chocolate chips, cookie crumbles, melted chocolate, cookie dough chunks, lemon curd, marshmallow fluff/spread, etc. into the ice cream base? I’m thinking a s’mores ice cream would be AMAZING. Maybe swirl some marshmallow spread into the ice cream base along with toasted mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and graham cracker crumbles? Or Almond Joy ice cream with shaved almonds, shredded coconut, some coconut extract, and melted chocolate swirls? Ooh, I can’t WAIT for summer! 😀
It all sounds AMAZING! You can mix just about anything into this base recipe – the options are endless!!
Absolutely love this recipe. I made it for the first time last year, and now I’m a goner. I’ve had fun trying different variations of it too!
I have made this recipe many times! Our family prefers it to store-made ice cream!
We have made it with blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. I plan to try it with peaches and make a peachy-cream cobbler type ice cream!
Our current favorite version is with the your salted caramel recipe and 2x the crumble! Works great!
The recipe is very forgiving if you have extra cream or milk you would like to use up! I reccomend layering the flavoring in the pan to avoid overworking/deflating the cream and to get even distribution of crumble.
I made this for a church get together and it was a huge success. I made it exactly as written except I used frozen mixed berries. I will be making this again and again. Perfect summer treat!
I made a batch of ice cream yesterday using this base but leaving out the crumble, subbing fresh cherries for the blueberries, and folding in about 1/3 cup of chocolate hazelnut spread. It was phenomenal. The texture was lovely, which surprised me to be honest. I’ve never really believed that no churn ice cream could be so similar to churned ice cream. Thanks for another great recipe Sally!
Hi Sally,
I made this on Sunday exactly as written. Could not resist sampling it before bedtime… just to make sure it worked of course 🙂 Delicious! The perfect summer treat. Thank you for the recipe. I see other possibilities for summer fruit – strawberries, raspberries, peaches……
Made this yesterday and it was amazing!! We made it exactly as you did (no baking the crumble but I might have to try that just to see how it tastes 🙂 . My husband is so mad at me because he’s on a diet and since I made this and Blueberries are his fav he just had to try it lol!!! He loved it by the way 🙂 . My youngest daughter wants to try cherries next – can’t wait! Thanks!!
I made this last night. Typically I’m all about chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate in my ice cream, but you’re photos convinced me. I doubled the crumbs since I’m a crumb topping fiend, but it is so delicious. Thank you!
Hi Sally!
I tasted the ice cream 30 seconds ago, and my oh my!!! That’s DELISH!!!!!!!!!! It tastes soooooo good, super creamy!! Thank you for the awesome flavors combo!
P.S. you were right about the Magnolia cake stand, I love it!!