Homemade Peppermint Ice Cream

Personally, I don’t think this recipe needs an introduction because anything with the words “homemade” and “ice cream” should be enough to convince you this is good!  This recipe is an essential in our family during the holidays – not only because it’s uber-delish, but because it’s also a family tradition passed on by C’s side of the family.  It goes without saying that I willingly obliged to continue this tradition in our growing, little family!  Oh, and kids are an important element in making this ice cream.  They get to bang and squash the candy canes into little, tiny pieces.  Of course, you could use a food processer, but banging is much more fun!  With some planning, this ice cream makes a great holiday gift, too.

Homemade Peppermint Ice Cream

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/4 cup milk

2 cups heavy whipping cream

3/4 – 1 cup candy canes (broken into tiny pieces)

Combine sugar and egg and beat together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Stir in milk and heavy whipping cream, mix well.  Pour ingredients into freezer bowl and follow manufacturer’s instructions for your particular *ice cream maker.  Add candy cane pieces from the start for a smooth consistency (because they’ll dissolve during mixing) -or- in the final minutes for chunky bits of candy cane left in your ice cream.

*We really like our electric Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, but have fond memories of taking turns at a hand crank ice cream maker, too.  We also find it helpful to have two freezer bowls ready in the freezer since it takes 24 hours for them to be ready to go.  Ours are stored in the freezer year round so that we can make ice cream at a moment’s notice because, well, we love ice cream!