Here’s our best recipe for Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker…
Last fall, a friend of mine acquired an extra Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker and gifted it to me! One of my first thoughts was, “FUN! But when will I have time to figure out how to use a new kitchen appliance?” Reading instructions is not my favorite. ;)
Thank goodness the instructions were easy. And shucks, ice cream was the reward for taking time to figure out the new appliance, so that was motivating too. :)
Now that I’ve figured out how easy this is to use, I can’t tell you how many batches of ice cream we’ve made this summer. It is The.Easiest. There is no mess. Please admire my fancy homemade ice cream containers, haha.
People are like, “How do YOU have time to make homemade ice cream??” And they’d be right except that truly, I can put together a batch in three minutes and it’s completed in 20. No rock salt. No ice. No mess.
It’s so much fun treating guests to homemade ice cream!
If you love homemade ice cream but don’t love the mess and time it takes – invest in one of these sweet machines. They aren’t even expensive.
How to use a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker
Step One: FREEZE THE CUISINART CANISTER. It must be completely frozen in order for the ice cream to set up. Once you’re sure it’s ready to go…
I use my blender to mix 1 cup of milk with 1/2 cup of raw sugar or maple syrup.
Then I add in two cups heavy whipping cream, a dash of sea salt, and a teaspoon of vanilla and give that a whirl too.
I get my frozen canister out of the freezer and put it onto the base. I slide in the mixing arm and put on the lid. Then I plug in and turn on the machine. At that point, I pour in my ice cream mixture.
About fifteen minutes later, the ice cream is almost finished!
For vanilla ice cream, I wait another couple of minutes until the machine sounds a bit strained – then I know it’s done! If I’m adding anything to the vanilla ice cream, this is the point the add-in can be poured in.
Two minutes later, it’s mixed in well and the batch is complete!
Here’s a peek at a batch of Vanilla Ice Cream without any add-ins. Once the batch is finished, I use a wooden spoon to transfer the ice cream to a clean plastic container and put it in the freezer. The canister can be washed and put back into the freezer to be ready for the next round!
Great Ice Cream Add-Ins we’ve tried:
- 2 fresh peaches, blended into a puree
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, blended into a puree
- 10 oreo-type cookies, crushed
- 1-2 large butterfinger candy bars, crushed
Best Recipe for Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ cup real maple syrup or raw sugar
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- dash of salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Be sure your Cuisinart Ice Cream Bowl has been in the freezer for at least 8 hours.
- Whisk together milk and syrup/sugar.
- Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
- Set up Ice Cream Maker, getting out the frozen bowl at the last minute.
- Turn on the machine and pour ice cream mixture into the cold bowl.
- Allow mixture to turn into ice cream - about 15-20 minutes.
- *Pour any add-ins into the machine as the ice cream is almost complete and has just a few minutes remaining to process.
- Transfer ice cream to a freezer-friendly container.
I love how simple this is and how much fun it is to offer homemade ice cream with so little effort!
We love our Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker too.
Our favorite mix ins are 2-3 very ripe bananas, handful of toasted walnuts and 2-3 Graham cracker sheets (crumbled). It tastes just like frozen Banana pudding.
Banana Pudding ice cream sounds delish! Thanks for sharing this. I will definitely be trying it. (I never though of using graham crackers instead of vanilla wafers. Duh…) :)
Hello Laura!
I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker also I love the thing and only wish they sold the same thing but twice as big! lol
I wanted to pass along my simple recipe in case you need it at some point.
1 can sweetened condensed milk
4 cups milk (2 cups half & half, 1 cup whipping cream, 1 cup milk – or any combo of these to equal 4 cups of milk) (sometimes I just dump whatever I have of these ingredients together and then add the remainder of the 4 cups required with milk)
1 Tablespoon vanilla
I just stir the ingredients together in the same container that I’m going to use for the frozen ice cream (no blending needed; I just use a whisk). Refrigerate for a little bit – or not at all, whatever I have time for. Dump the contents into the ice cream maker and proceed. I rinse the container that I mixed in and then use it again when the ice cream is ready for storing.
I especially love cherry vanilla, using maraschino cherries.
I love your posts, Laura and especially enjoy seeing the big love your family has for each other.
I bought my Cuisinart when I was working at Crate and Barrel, and I have a very simple and easy peasy recipe for a FOUR ingredient Vanilla Ice Cream: 2/3 cup Organic Sugar
2 cups Organic Soy Milk : 1 tsp. Vanilla : 1 small container Heavy Cream!! Make your mix,let it sit OVER NIGHT in the fridge so that all the ingredients can come together,whisk before your put the mix in the freezer bowl,make Ice Cream. No extra stuff like honey or maple syrup or cookies or any of that stuff. Just simple, simple, simple!!!! Unless you really want all that other stuff,than go for it. I like SIMPLE!!!! IT WORKS!!
Making my Egg Nog ice cream for Christmas! I just substitute 2 cups of egg nog 2 cups of heavy cream with 1 (10oz) can of Sweetened Condensed Milk with the vanilla extract! Makes wonderful Christmas refreshment!!
If you get on the Cuisinart website, you can buy extra bowls. They are not a lot of money. That way you can make one flavor, then put it in the freezer in the bowl, and make a second flavor in the extra bowl.
Oops…I meant canister instead of bowl.
Hi I liked ur receipe, but still after 45 min my mix did not harden. Not sure what went wrong…maybe my Quasinart d I sent turn fast enough…nuts!
Thank you, Laura! We’ll have to give this a try! :-)
Anyone know if this process is comparable to the Ninja Creami? I was gifted one and have not unboxed it yet.
Ninja makes great ice cream too. Comparable.
I’ve had a Cuisinart ice ream maker for years…and pretty much had shelved it because I wasn’t satisfied with the recipes I found. I’ve used your recipe, using sweetened condensed milk, several times. I found that 4 cups of milk overflowed the container so I just use 3 plus the can of scm. I’ve done the same as you….use whatever I have, sometimes cream, sometimes half and half and whole milk. Thanks for sharing!
how much does it make
The flavor and versatility of this recipe is awesome. The genius of this recipe is the quantities of ingredients. I appreciate using a pint of heavy cream. These recipes calling for 1 and third cup of cream.., then what to do with that bit of heavy cream left over?
Use it in your coffee.
I just made a cottage cheese salted caramel ice cream which was good. My question is, how do I get the ice cream that is solidified/frozen on the bottom? I tried using a wooden spoon but can’t get it out!