In case there was any doubt, summer is here! It’s in full swing, rearing its hot, humid, sweaty self at every opportunity. I, for one, am not complaining. And I don’t know about you, but I’m planning to celebrate with Blueberry Pie Ice Cream. I’m fairly certain that this alone encapsulates the complete essence of summer, and I want more.
Blueberry pie ice cream starts with homemade pie crust. It has taken me years to master, but here we are. Blind bake your favorite pie crust (store-bought is fine, I’ll tell no one), then toss it on top of homemade sweet cream ice cream with a pie-like blueberry filling swirled in.
Picking 5+ pounds of blueberries in almost 90-degree heat with 3 children in tow was apparently a good life choice. Here’s to many more scoops all summer long. We’ve earned it.
P.S. For another insanely good dessert, be sure to try our Blueberry Pie Milkshakes next!
What’s in this blueberry ice cream?
Don’t be put off by the lengthy ingredients list for this blueberry pie ice cream, a lot of the ingredients are repeats! For this homemade ice cream recipe, you’ll need pie crust (I’ve shared my recipe below if you’d like to make it yourself), fresh blueberries, a pinch of cinnamon and salt, lemon juice and zest, plus whole milk, heavy cream, eggs, and a healthy amount of sugar.
I honestly think this might be the best homemade ice cream I’ve ever made. I love that the blueberry pie filling gets swirled through the sweet cream ice cream. It makes you appreciate each bite of juicy blueberry even more!
How to make blueberry ice cream
First, prep and bake the homemade pie crust, if you go that route (which you totally should, btw). While the crust bakes, make the blueberry pie filling — add all the ingredients to a saucepan and cook until the berries burst and the mixture thickens.
Once that’s all taken care of, heat the sweet cream ice cream base in a separate pot and then allow it to come to room temperature before placing in the fridge to chill. After a few hours, you can churn the ice cream in an ice cream maker. Near the end of the churn time, swirl in some of the blueberry pie filling.
Once the blueberry ice cream has finished churning, you can either dish it out soft serve-style and crumble bits of pie crust on top, or you can freeze the ice cream until it’s scoopable. Finally, if you decide the freeze the ice cream right away, make sure to layer the blueberry pie filling and the crumbled pie crust so that every bite of ice cream is packed with the good stuff.
Can I use frozen blueberries instead of fresh?
Yes, since you’ll be cooking down the blueberries anyways it’s okay to use fresh or frozen. If fresh blueberries are in season, try to get your hands on some! The flavor is infinitely better, in my opinion.
Do I have to use an ice cream maker?
Yes, an ice cream maker is necessary to make this homemade blueberry ice cream. This is the newer version of our ice cream maker, if you’re looking for a recommendation.
Tips for making blueberry ice cream
It’s so important that you let every part of this homemade ice cream chill before assembling the ice cream. If you don’t let the sweet cream ice cream base chill in the fridge for a few hours, it won’t churn properly in the ice cream maker. And if you try crumbling warm pie crust into the freshly churned ice cream, it’ll melt — and so on, and so forth.
Also, don’t try to substitute half and half or regular milk in the sweet cream ice cream. You need the combination of whole milk and heavy cream to make a rich and creamy ice cream.
Finally, remember that you can multitask while making this blueberry ice cream. While the pie crust is baking, prep the pie filling and sweet cream base. This is a fairly easy recipe to multitask with since you just have to stand there and stir things.
If you make our homemade blueberry ice cream recipe, please let us know by leaving a review and rating below!
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For additional blueberry desserts, check out the following:
- Blueberry Streusel Mini Muffins
- Triple Berry Spelt Slab Pie
- Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake
- Mini Blueberry Galettes
- Coffee Kissed Blueberry Scones
Blueberry Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
For the pie crust
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, (cold)
- 7 Tbsp shortening (cold)
- 5 Tbsp ice water
For blueberry pie filling
- 2 cups blueberries (fresh)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- Zest and juice from 1 lemon
- ⅛ tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp kosher salt
For the ice cream base
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅛ tsp kosher salt
- 6 large egg yolks
Special equipment
- Ice cream maker
- Pie weights or dried beans
Instructions
To make the pie crust
- Combine dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add 7 Tbsp shortening and ½ cup butter, then pulse until pea-sized pieces form.
- Add 3 tablespoons ice water and pulse a few times. Add an additional tablespoon of water and pulse until the dough begins to form (4 or 5 Tbsp is typical). The dough should look smooth and hold together easily when pressed in your hand.
- Remove dough and form into a round disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 F. Roll pie dough out onto a lightly floured surface to a circle about 2 inches larger than your pie dish. Carefully transfer the dough to pie dish, trim the edges, and crimp with your fingers or the tines of a fork. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough (fine if it’s hanging off the sides a bit) and fill with pie weights or dried beans.*
- Bake for 40 minutes, then remove pie weights and parchment paper. Continue baking for another 10-20 minutes, or until edges turn golden brown. Set aside to cool, then break into small pieces and store in an airtight container.
To make the blueberry pie filling
- Combine 2 cups blueberries, ¼ cup sugar, zest, juice, ⅛ tsp cinnamon and ⅛ tsp salt in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until blueberries begin to burst and the sauce has thickened, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely.
To make the ice cream base
- In a small pot, simmer 2 cups cream, 1 cup milk, ⅔ cup sugar, and ⅛ tsp salt until sugar completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat. In a separate bowl, whisk yolks. Whisking constantly, slowly whisk about a third of the hot cream into the yolks, then whisk the yolk mixture back into the pot with the cream. Return pot to medium-low heat and gently cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer).
- Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cool mixture to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 4 hours overnight.
- Churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. When the ice cream is almost completely finished, swirl in about 1 cup of the blueberry pie filling. Reserve the rest to drizzle on top, as desired. Serve directly from the machine with crumbled pie crust on top for soft serve, or store in freezer until needed. If storing in a container, alternate layers of ice cream and pie crust, ending with pie crust on top, so you get bits in pieces in every scoop!
Let us know your thoughts!